MISSISSAUGA – Solo Mobile is rolling out new rate plans and have added two more smartphones to their roster in time for the holidays, the company announced today.
The flip smartphone Samsung CLEO will now be exclusive to Solo, and the BlackBerry Pearl is also available. Two new rate plans called “Unbeatable” and “Solo in the City” promise competitive rates and options, says the company release.
"Solo Mobile always offers the very best value in Canadian wireless. Now we’ve sweetened the deal further still with new pricing on our Unbeatable and Solo in the City plans – including waiving…
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GATINEAU – Shaw Cable must change the way it treats and markets Canada’s gay and lesbian category one digital specialty service Outtv, the CRTC ruled today.
The specialty service and Shaw have had a long and rocky history, dating to its launch in 2001 as Pridevision, back when it was owned by Score Media. Ownership of the channel has changed a couple of times since and the most recent owners, extremely frustrated at how the big western cableco has treated the channel, went to the Commission earlier this year for help.
Tuesday’s decision found that Shaw has subjected the…
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HALIFAX – Bell Aliant grew operating revenue 0.8% to $815.3 million for their third quarter, compared to the same period a year ago, the company said in a release this week.
The growth came primarily from Information Technology (IT) and Internet revenues which offsetting declines in local, long distance and other revenues.
The company press release also announced a long-term agreement with controlling shareholder Bell Canada to provide an enhanced transport network connecting Bell Mobility’s cell sites in Atlantic Canada and regions of Ontario and Quebec. This investment will add "HSPA" technology to the existing network, and support Bell’s…
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SAVE FOR THE CONVENTIONAL broadcasters who wanted their new fee, many in the industry are, if not slapping the Commission heartily on the back, recognizing that coming up with new regulatory frameworks for BDUs and discretionary TV channels wasn’t likely an easy task and that the Regulator has done a decent job in addressing the myriad issues.
Click here for our summary of Thursday’s release.
Sure, cable, satellite and telco TV companies don’t want to divert another 1% of revenue to yet another programming fund, the broadcasters’ bet on fee-for-carriage didn’t come through and many wish advertising in…
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TORONTO – A mini new media hearing took place yesterday at the St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre as delegates at Insight Information’s Entertainment Industries Summit practiced advocating their positions in preparation for the real thing when the CRTC’s new media hearing begins in February 2009.
Stakeholders from the arts community predictably called for cultural protections and funding mechanisms in any new media broadcasting legislation, while broadcasters – equally predictably – advocated an industrial strategy for new media that is separate from any arts strategy discussion.
What all delegates seemed to agree on is that a review of new…
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MONTREAL – Claiming “abusive, arbitrary” tactics by parent company Bell Canada that have caused a “decline in customer service and will force layoffs in stores,” Bell Canada’s independent retailers have launched new lawsuits against the big telco.
The dealers – members of the Independent Communications Dealer Association of Canada (ICDAC), and representing over 80% of Bell’s independent dealer stores – say that Bell has broken its contract with the dealers in several ways, according to a press release the group issued yesterday.
“This is the result of a downward spiral in our relationship that has escalated under Bell’s current…
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TORONTO – It’s a marketing plan sure to make a splash – and raise both awareness and subscription levels of digital television in Canada.
HBO Canada began to greet Canadians from coast-to-coast on Monday via an extensive national campaign from Astral Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada). Set to launch next Thursday, October 30, HBO Canada is a new multiplex channel of The Movie Network and Movie Central that will offer subscribers a full slate of HBO’s renowned programming, as first reported by Cartt.ca last month, and further profiled here….
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SAN DIEGO – The CDMA Certification Forum, in partnership with operators and vendors around the world, has announced the next evolution of its device certification process.
This evolution gives operators and vendors of all sizes access to the world’s most efficient and consistent CDMA device certification process.
The early focus of CCF was to deliver the fastest and most reliable device certification solution to emerging markets. Merging the former CDG-recommended test guidelines into the efficient CCF process now gives operators and vendors in all markets a single, comprehensive, affordable, and clearly defined device test process. This new process certifies…
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PAUL TEMPLE SUGGESTS that the current economic crisis should give The CRTC pause to consider whether the world has changed in the 6 months, since the CRTC’s hearings on BDU and Specialty services. No doubt.
As he writes in his commentary from this morning, entitled: “Is the economic crisis a cautionary tale for our broadcasting system?”
“As governments around the world pour money into the financial sector to correct the sins of the past, you can be sure it’s too little too late. You can’t roll back history. Are we headed for the same crisis in Canadian broadcasting? Will we…
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TORONTO – While the recent advanced wireless spectrum auction has no immediate ratings’ impact, the outlook for the Canadian Wireless sector has been revised to stable from positive because of prospective changes in the business environment, Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday.
"The auction is one milestone in a series of events that are expected to unfold over the next three-to-five years," says Moody’s vice-president Bill Wolfe.
In the near term, participation by new entrants is expected to increase competition. "The number of spectrum holders has increased in every region, and most now have at least one new entrant with…
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