MONTREAL – Advanced wireless spectrum auction rules that favour new entrants would certainly drop cellular prices in the short term – but such rules may also damage Canadian consumers in the long run, says a new paper published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal.
The rules for the 2008 auction are expected to be released by Industry Canada before Christmas, with the auction to happen early in the new year.
The paper’s authors, University of Toronto economics professor Frank Mathewson, and associate principal at CRA International, Andrew Tepperman, say that any company wanting to…
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TORONTO – The final day of nextMEDIA – Monetizing Digital Media should be a very interesting one.
The two-day gathering will wrap up with a town hall meeting examining a broad range of issues related to the changing face of the Canadian and global media industry and with the group planned, some verbal fireworks are almost assured.
New media consultant Mark Kuznicki of Remarkk! Consulting moderates the session, which includes a discussion between industry panelists and conference delegates. The town hall contributes to Phase Two of the CRTC’s New Media Project Initiative, a study that will help the CRTC…
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TORONTO – Wireless service providers and phone manufacturers in Canada take note. Your customers are not happy.
The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study released Wednesday indicates customer satisfaction has decreased considerably since 2006.
Now in its third year, the study examines perceptions of wireless customers with their service, the phone itself and their retail experience.
Overall customer satisfaction with contract service this year declined by 18 points, from an average of 675 on a 1,000-point scale in 2006 to 657 in 2007.
In the prepaid service segment, overall customer satisfaction averaged 652, down from…
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TORONTO – A weekend of free Movie Central programming is coming up in western Canada.
The free preview goes from 6 p.m. MT (5 p.m. PT) on Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11 at midnight. It will be available through Shaw Communications, as Bell ExpressVu, MTS, SaskTel, TELUS, Access Communications, and Westman Communications.
During the free preview, viewers can see first-run Hollywood hits and the newest HBO and Showtime series, including episodes of Dexter, Flight of the Conchords, Entourage and Californication, and feature presentations such as The Last King of Scotland, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, School for Scoundrels and…
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MONTREAL – With Industry Canada preparing to auction off new wireless frequencies in the new year (and nearing the announcement of the rules surrounding that auction), Videotron is keeping up the pressure so it can too can get a piece of the action, more cheaply than in a wide open auction.
In a speech to the Metropolitan Montreal Board of Trade Thursday, Videotron president and CEO Robert Dépatie relaunched his company’s attack against the three existing wireless carriers, saying they’re afraid to see “real competitors who’ll offer better prices and will force them to reduce their own rates.”
At…
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VANCOUVER – Third quarter revenue increased 4.5% to $2.31 billion compared to the third quarter of 2006, reports Telus this morning.
The performance in the quarter ended September 30th was driven by 9% growth in both wireless revenue and wireline data revenue, partially offset by ongoing declines in local and long distance wireline revenues. Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 3.6% to $987 million due to an increase in wireless EBITDA of 8%, while wireline EBITDA decreased by 1%.
Net income in the quarter was $410 million and earnings per share (EPS) were $1.24, up…
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MONTREAL – Telus has won a long-term contract to provide the information technology infrastructure for the Western Canada-based operations of the Yellow Pages Group.
YPG is Canada’s largest directory publisher and the contract is valued at approximately $90 million, said Telus. The exact length of the deal was not disclosed.
“We are pleased to entrust Telus with the day-to-day support of our information technology infrastructure,” said Yvan Proteau, YPG’s chief information officer, in the press release. “This allows us to focus on strategic issues, drive the business forward and support our growth strategy.”
Under the agreement, Telus will provide…
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VANCOUVER – Dow Jones has ranked Telus among the world’s top economic, environmental and social leaders by naming the company to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the seventh year in a row.
Telus is the only North American telecommunications company on it and one of just 10 Canadian businesses across all sectors included in the global index.
The index’s judges gave Telus high marks for corporate governance, risk and crisis management, privacy protection, environmental reporting, human capital development and stakeholder engagement, says the company’s press release.
“At Telus, we are committed to being a good corporate citizen and…
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TORONTO – Score Media (owners of sports channel The Score) announced the launch of ScoreMobile 2.0 today.
As the two-dot-oh would suggest, this is the next stage of the company’s mobile app and is currently available across Canada on Telus, with other carriers coming “in the near future,” says the press release.
"With nearly 20,000 registrants to date, ScoreMobile 1.0 has been the most successful mobile application of its kind in Canada," said Benjamin Levy, senior vice-president, Score Media Ventures, in a press release. "Now with ScoreMobile 2.0, we are going to give those hardcore sports fans more of what…
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TORONTO – The newest technical trial from Rogers Wireless will certainly put a dent in the debate on whether or not the cutting edge in telecom can be found in Canada.
Following the successful expansion of its high-speed HSPA network to 25 Canadian markets earlier this month, Rogers today announced it has begun field trials of its 7.2 Mbps wireless data service.
The Brampton and Montreal trials utilize 3.5 generation wireless HSPA/UMTS technology (High Speed Packet Access/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), enabling a peak download speed of 7.2 Mbps, by far the fastest in the country, or anywhere.
Rogers, which…
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