Search Results for: telus

Radio / Television News

Teletoon splashes into multimedia pool

TORONTO – Canadian animation fans will soon have two additional outlets from which to get their favourite Teletoon content. The channel is taking some of its most popular Canadian cartoons to viewers "where and when they want them," says the press release, with the launch of two new digital services, video on demand on April 27 and mobile TV on May 15. Building upon the recent re-branding of the network, the expansion positions Teletoon as a driver in the move towards fully integrated digital content. "Teletoon now offers a more flexible and far reaching suite of services from traditional… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Wireless war brewing

OTTAWA – If 2006 was the year of local forbearance and the fight over deregulating the wireline phone market, 2007 will be the year newcomers and incumbents wrestle over wireless. In fact, the lobbying has already begun. Last week, as reported by Cartt.ca, Quebecor Media CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau told Ottawa’s Canadian Club that the cozy oligopoly of existing players keeps prices high, stifles innovation and ensures new wireless applications already available in other countries are slow to market in Canada.  On Monday at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, a large roomful of wireless regulatory lawyers, financial analysts,… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus wins $16.3 million Calgary courts multimedia contract

CALGARY – Telus has been awarded a $16.3-million multimedia contract by the Alberta government for the Calgary Courts Centre, which is scheduled to open this August. The province’s newest courthouse will have state-of-the audio and video technology that will be used in prisoner transfers, the presentation of digital evidence, the linking of remote witnesses and the improvement of courtroom efficiency. Telus will design, install and maintain more than 73 courtrooms with multimedia technology. “We’re very pleased to be working with the government of Alberta to help realize their vision of introducing innovations in the justice system that continue to… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus expands de-reg applications

VANCOUVER – Telus announced Monday it has applied for local phone service deregulation in Calgary, Victoria, and Rimouski. These applications follow similar filings for Vancouver and Edmonton last Wednesday. The company intends to file additional applications for deregulation in the near future. Telus’ application to the CRTC follows the April 4 announcement by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for relaxation of local phone service regulations in communities where significant competition exists. “Local service deregulation in Calgary, Victoria and Rimouski will bring the full benefits of competition to these cities,” said Janet Yale, Telus executive vice-president… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Bell wants pan-regional dereg

MONTREAL – Bell Canada has applied to the CRTC to deregulate the most populous regions inside its Ontario and Quebec territories. The company has asked for forbearance from regulation of local telephone services in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, London, Hamilton and Quebec City. Bell filed separate forbearance applications for residential services in 139 exchanges and for business services in 103 exchanges in the six cities. These applications are the first made by Bell under the new framework for forbearance announced by the federal government on April 4, 2007. Additional applications for forbearance in other qualifying areas will follow shortly. The… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Telus turns on Klemtu

VANCOUVER – Telus turned on a new cell tower providing digital cellular service to Klemtu last week. The $250,000 tower covers most of the B.C. community as well as extending out into Queen Charlotte Sound. “This service is important not only for residents of Klemtu, but for boaters travelling through the area," said Shaun Greffard, Telus general manager for Interior North. The addition is part of the company’s continued rollout of cellular service across B.C. The Klemtu project follows recent connections on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Bella Bella, and Bella Coola, as well as a $500,000 investment enhancing cellular… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Aliant and Telus first out of forbearance request gate, less than a week after government shift

HALIFAX and VANCOUVER – Two releases within an hour of each other early Wednesday evening, one from western telco Telus and eastern incumbent Bell Aliant, say the companies have filed for local forbearance in some major metropolitan centres. While Telus has asked for Vancouver and Edmonton, Aliant has filed for deregulation in Halifax and its surrounding regions of Hubbards, Ketch Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Prospect Road, Sackville, St. Margarets, Waverley and French Village. Aliant has asked for deregulation in Halifax, where the local cable operator has taken in excess of 35% market share, before, only to be rebuffed by the… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

The TUESDAY INTERVIEW: CWTA CEO Peter Barnes on the wireless alphabet soup and the spectrum auction

SO FAR, SO GOOD for wireless number portability, says Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association president and CEO Peter Barnes. There have been few issues the association has had to solve since March 14, the day Canadians could take their phone number with them, no matter which telephony carrier they chose to acquire service. A more contentious, far less decided matter, is the upcoming Industry Canada wireless spectrum auction. The association’s majority want a free, unfettered auction but certain factions want constraints on the existing players so that newcomers may bid for spectrum and win. The CWTA is even holding a… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Unshackled

THAT SOUND YOU HEARD from Ottawa late Wednesday afternoon was that of Industry Minister Maxime Bernier jangling his keys to the shackles Canada’s incumbent telephone companies have said repeatedly they are burdened with. The regulations holding back Bell Canada, Telus, Bell Aliant, MTS, SaskTel and the other smaller ILECs are on their way out far sooner than the CRTC perhaps envisioned when it made public its local forbearance decision a year ago tomorrow. In that decision, the Commission set out a number of conditions that had to be met before any traditional incumbent telco could be granted deregulation. Until… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Seeing through Rogers Vision

TORONTO – Captain Kirk warped into Toronto today to help Rogers Wireless launch wireless video calling, a new service that will turn customers’ mobile handsets into a webcam for face-to-face calling. Customers will be able to talk and watch their friends, family and business associates in real time and so far, Rogers is the first and only wireless carrier in North America to offer video calling. It’s a new part of the Rogers Vision suite of services that "allows customers on the go to enjoy the kind of hi-speed Internet and multimedia experience previously only possible on a PC,"… Continue Reading