TORONTO – The 2006 Canadian Telecom Summit is already rounding into fine shape.
Keynote speakers include Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski, Canadian telecom pioneer Terry Matthews, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, Avaya CEO Don Peterson, Vonage founder and CEO Jeff Citron, IBM Canada CEO Dan Fortin and a host of other industry leaders.
The Canadian Telecom Summit, now celebrating its 5th year, is Canada’s leading industry event, attracting more than 500 of the most influential people who shape the future direction of telecommunications in Canada. The 2006 edition will take place from June 12 to 14th at the Toronto Congress Centre….
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CANADA’S CABLE AND SATELLITE companies want one thing when it comes to high definition television: More.
More HD channels. More HD content. More HD Canadian content. In the larger markets at least, HDTV set owners are increasingly tuning to their HD channels only, taking advantage of their big, bright, new toy. They, in turn, are beginning to apply some pressure on their cable company or satellite provider to make more channels available.
“Demand is high,” says the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance’s legal counsel Chris Edwards. “Everyone is looking to get as much high def as they can get.” The…
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THE SCORE HAS SEEN its share of challenges.
Launched in 1997 as Headline Sports as part of the 17-channel tier III, it struggled from the outset. It had no background, so it had to knock extra-hard on the doors of leagues and teams to get them to listen.
Then, since it had no live event programming of its own, TSN, for one, wouldn’t give the sports news channel any highlights from sports properties it owned, like the Canadian Football League. Clips like that are normally traded and the sports channel newcomer had nothing to trade with, said TSN at…
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TORONTO – The outlook for Canada’s traditional fixed-line telecom industry in 2006 is poor, while things are looking better for wireless services and the cable industry, according to the latest credit ratings report by Standard and Poors.
Competition for wireline business will hurt incumbent telcos (Aliant, Bell Canada, Manitoba Telecom Services, and Telus) as the cable operators and other players enter the telephony market, the report says. Likewise, though, the cablecos (Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, and Videotron) will face more competition from telephone operators providing video services via DSL. “The blurring of boundaries between wireline, wireless, and cable will continue,”…
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LAST WEEK’S ANNOUNCEMENT of BCE’s divestiture of all but 20% of its ownership holding in Bell Globemedia left one enormous burning question.
What is the company going to do with the $1.3 billion in proceeds from its sale of control of one of Canada’s largest media companies? BCE CEO Michael Sabia told an analyst conference call last week that the company won’t be announcing what it plans to do with the money until February.
Here, in no particular order, is the www.cartt.ca Top 10 List of things BCE could do with its new pile of money, when it…
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IF YOU WANT AN EARLY look at what the communications infrastructure in Canada is going to look like, it might be worth studying Saskatchewan.
The incumbent telco, SaskTel, has embarked upon an ambitious, aggressive, costly push to modernize its network, driving fibre deep into its communities, taking dead aim at the two large cable companies in the province with its MAX high speed Internet and digital television service.
The reason why this might offer a glimpse into the future is that this is a province where the “normal” economic guidelines the rest of the communications companies in Canada are…
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WINNIPEG – Over 750 employees will be let go in early 2006 as part of a multi-faceted push to cut costs at MTS Allstream.
Calling it the “Transition Phase II Plan” which will “position the company to grow profitably in the rapidly changing telecommunications industry,” the Winnipeg-based provincial telco – and CLEC when outside of Manitoba through its Allstream division – announced today it “is targeting a minimum of $100 million in expense savings over the next two years,” in the press release.
"We have a long tradition of successfully capitalizing on change at our company," said CEO Bill…
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MISSISSAUGA – “After months of suffering with substandard phone service, British Columbians can now fire their phone company in favour of a better choice,” said Vonage Canada on Wednesday – taking a shot at the incumbent, Telus, and its recent labour woes.
The U.S. VOIP company announced the availability of its flat-rate service to six new communities in British Columbia beyond Vancouver and Victoria, where Vonage is currently available. These new communities are: Penticton, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Richmond, and Vernon.
"Over the last couple of months residents of BC have seen a considerable reduction in the level of service…
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TORONTO – When Maclean’s magazine was able to buy the supposedly confidential phone records of Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, and publish a cover story last week on what looks like a potentially scary security loophole, the big three wireless carriers – all of whom were mentioned in the article – sprang into action.
And, with each company counting on huge wireless growth in the Christmas season and throughout 2006 and 2007 (all companies saw record levels of subscriber growth in 2005) all moved quickly to try and repair the damage.
First out of the gate was Bell Canada….
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TORONTO – Think Broadband Solutions was officially launched this week by Tri-Vision Electronics.
The new, wholly-owned subsidiary “will focus on new telecom and wireless business opportunities and to complement Tri-Vision Electronics Inc.,” says the company.
Think will provide in-country equipment sales and supply, logistical support, niche product research, design and development, in-house and offshore manufacturing capabilities and equipment test, repair and refurbishment. Progress is well underway to represent major brand names in Canada, says the press release.
In fact, the company announced yesterday that it will offer Andrew Corporation subscriber access cable products including CATV coaxial cable and connectors for…
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