MONTREAL – Bell Canada finished off a pair of acquisitions today that will boost both its wireless subscribers as well as its branding and distribution capabilities.
First off, the company has completed its previously announced $135 million purchase of Canadian electronics retailer The Source. Now operating independently as The Source and as La Source in Québec, the company is already selling Bell TV, and will offer Bell and Virgin Mobile wireless products exclusively in January 2010. The stores used to sell Shaw Direct (formerly Star Choice) gear, but no more.
The Source had been owned by the bankrupt…
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GATINEAU – Earlier this week, the CBC attempted to give the CRTC a little advice before the Regulator releases its public notice announcing the September hearing into an overhaul of the regulation of the TV business in Canada this coming Monday.
As reported by Cartt.ca, this past Monday the CBC offered up a proposed new distribution order which would govern new fee-for-carriage negotiations between broadcasters and cable and satellite companies (actually, the broadcasters are trying to “re-brand” the fee-for-carriage battle to one entitled value for signal, but we digress…)
Together, Shaw Communications, Telus, Rogers Communications, Cogeco and Bell…
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TORONTO – Mobile advertising should be part of marketers’ media buy now – “not next year, not in six months, the opportunity is now” – said Phil Barrett, vice-president of digital and mobile for Toronto-based marketing communications agency B-Street Communications.
Barrett made his comments during a panel discussion on mobile marketing, advertising and commerce at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re not suggesting you forget about online and TV and other media, but our point of view is that mobile is now about 10% of our marketing business… and we’re seeing great click-through rates on mobile advertising,”…
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WATERLOO, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) has added another Blackberry to its family of smart phones.
The Blackberry Tour was designed for CDMA customers in North America – such as Bell, Telus, Verizon, and Sprint’s legacy networks, allowing customers to “stay seamlessly connected – across town and around the world”, according to the press release.
"BlackBerry continues to be the top selling smart phone brand in North America and we are proud to add this powerful new 3G world phone to our successful product portfolio," said RIM president and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, in the release. "With its striking design and…
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TORONTO – A recent survey from KPMG International suggests wireless subscribers are more willing to pay for broadband content if it means they can avoid having to view ads on their mobile devices. In addition, an increasing number of mobile customers are being turned off by content bundles that don’t let consumers pick and choose the applications they want.
Peter Greenwood, a partner at KPMG in Canada, presented some of his organization’s survey results at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Monday during an afternoon session on the mobile evolution.
“There were comments made during lunchtime today that ‘everybody loves…
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TORONTO – Canadians may soon be able to send and receive money using their mobile phone, thanks to a new application called Zoompass.
Launched Monday by mobile commerce company EnStream, Zoompass allows customers to link their personal bank account or credit card to load and transfer money via a secure account, much like PayPal does.
This will allow users to conduct everyday transactions such as splitting a lunch bill, requesting money from parents, or even pay a babysitter, directly from a mobile phone.
The service also has the ability for customers to make purchases in stores and on the Internet using…
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BANFF – Home Box Office’s (HBO) John Adams was the big winner on Monday as it picked up the Grand Jury Prize as the best of the best – as well as the best drama award at the Banff World Television Awards, or Rockies, ceremony.
“OMFG. We got the big one,” said David Baldwin, executive vice-president of programming planning at HBO, in accepting the Grand Jury Prize. “John Adams was a special project for HBO.”
The U.S. mini-series about U.S. president John Adams also has Emmy and Golden Globe wins.
The Rockie for best Canadian program went to Passage,…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Reaction to the CRTC’s broadcasting in new media report has been swift, and predictably, mixed.
The news that the Commission will continue to exempt new media broadcasting services from its regulation got high marks from Internet service providers (ISPs) Telus and Rogers.
“The CRTC is often criticized, but give them in credit in this case,” Rogers’ senior vice president of regulatory, Ken Engelhart, told Cartt.ca on Thursday. “The Internet’s power comes from the consumer, not regulation and not taxes. This decision is very progressive and far reaching and we support it.”
Michael Hennessy, Telus’ senior…
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OTTAWA – Former Canadian Association of Broadcasters exec Jay Thomson has launched a consulting company offering strategic communications policy and regulatory advice.
Jay Communications Consulting will focus on Internet, broadcasting and copyright matters.
Thomson recently helped lead the CAB on the BDU framework hearing and other significant CRTC files as its vice president of regulatory and policy. He also spent four years at Telus, and was the first full time president of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP).
He may be reached at jay@jaycom.ca
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for input on whether it may conduct Canadian ownership and control reviews on a public basis, as opposed to a confidential basis, in certain instances.
Telus sent a letter to the Commission on April 20, 2009 asking it to conduct “an open and transparent process” to review whether wireless newcomer Globalive Wireless Management is under Canadian ownership and control, as required by section 16 of the Telecommunications Act. Shaw sent a letter two days later in support of Telus’ request.
But Globealive opposed the move, saying the Commission has a “longstanding practice” of conducting…
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