By Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor, who is set to appear before the House industry committee today in the Rogers-Shaw hearing
In 2007, under the leadership of the late Jim Prentice, the government of Canada decided on a competitive policy in the wireless industry for the benefit of Canadians. If the Big 3 had not been required to allow access to their networks at that time, Videotron would not have been able to substantially reduce wireless prices within its historical footprint and invest $3.5 billion to build out its own network, innovate, and offer Quebecers bundled multiservice…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER – Telus announced today that it has created a new division, called Telus Consumer Solutions, which merges other company segments and creates its first chief product officer position.
Consumer Solutions will bring together Mobility Solutions, Home Solutions, and Customer Excellence into a single team managed by Zainul Mawji, who will be executive vice president and president, a press release said.
Jim Senko, who spent more than two decades with the company and will retire from the company at the end of this year, will be chief product officer and executive vice president of the division. He will “establish an integrated…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
MANITOBA — Investment firm Globalive said today that it has bid for the spectrum licences of Manitoba’s Xplore Mobile, which shuttered its wireless business this past summer.
The investment firm, which has been trying to purchase Freedom Mobile from Rogers and Shaw, said it has made an offer to Xplore for the licences and is waiting for its response. The firm is promising a mobile wireless-only competitor that will provide lower prices nationally.
“We are building a national independent wireless carrier across Canada and we are acquiring spectrum in all markets to realize our long-term vision of a globally…
Continue Reading
BURNABY, B.C. – Hundreds of Telus workers and members of the United Steelworkers union gathered outside of company locations across the country on Sunday for picket training after their union and the telecom failed to hammer out a tentative agreement, according to a press release released yesterday.
“Telus will not move off massive and unnecessary concessions they brought to the table,” said Donna Hokiro, USW Local 1944 President, in the release. “After months of bargaining, we tried to reach a deal through the federal conciliation process, but before Christmas, Telus made a unilateral decision to halt bargaining and walked away…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Telus Corp. has filed a lobby registration with the City of Toronto to talk about infrastructure resiliency.
The purpose of the registration, approved January 5, is to “discuss infrastructure resiliency with a focus on climate change and impacts on critical services, including telecommunications networks.”
The lobby category is filed under emergency planning and restoration.
The largest city was just one of many affected in the nationwide blackout in July of Rogers’s network, which impacted governments and private sector services.
The fallout from the blackout led to a commitment from the major telecommunications companies to support each other during…
Continue Reading
With nearly three decades of communications policy and regulatory experience under his belt, Ian Scott has quite a bit to say as he leaves his CRTC leadership post today. Listen in as Scott asserts his “vision” for the commission and what it truly means to serve the public interest.
Scott doesn’t hold back on accomplishments, such as narrowing the digital divide, consensus building, and the biggest challenges faced on the Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications fronts since 2017.
Scott, never a media-hound, is blunt and frank when addressing criticisms of his tenure. This is a no-holds-barred conversation that includes a few personal…
Continue Reading
Federal Court of Appeal holding conference today on hearing issues
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – In approving the Rogers and Shaw combination, the Competition Tribunal said the evidence shows Freedom under Videotron “would not in fact have a smaller scale” as opposed to its ownership under Shaw.
“Videotron will have more revenue, more wireless subscribers across the country, and more spectrum,” the tribunal said in its reasons for approving the deal released yesterday, which follows its announced decision on Thursday night.
“In addition, Videotron’s national presence will give it the ability to offer new incentives to businesses that operate nationally,”…
Continue Reading
Competition Bureau “considering our next steps”
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Canada’s competition court has dismissed an application by the Competition Bureau to block the merger between Rogers and Shaw, leaving only approval from Innovation Canada in the way of the blockbuster $26-billion deal.
The deal involves the sale of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile brand to Quebecor’s Videotron, which the competition commissioner had argued in his application was not satisfactory to allay competition concerns.
But the tribunal did not agree, saying the deal’s components and compromises “are not likely to prevent or lessen competition substantially,” the Thursday decision said.
In fact, the tribunal said it…
Continue Reading
Note: This story has been updated on Tuesday morning with comments from the Competitive Network Operators of Canada and former CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced today the appointment of lawyer Vicky Eatrides as chairwoman of the CRTC for five years, effective January 5.
Eatrides will replace outgoing chairman Ian Scott, who leaves the post on January 4.
Eatrides is a lawyer who has worked since 2005 in various federal positions, including for the Competition Bureau, Natural Resources Canada, and Innovation Canada. Over a 12-year period at the Competition Bureau, she held senior positions…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A lawyer for Shaw Communications argued before the Competition Tribunal today that the competition commissioner “exaggerated” Freedom’s success during testimony, saying Shaw’s wireless subsidiary was over the last five years hobbled by market competition and federal government pricing promises.
The thesis of Kent Thomson’s argument today was that Shaw could not and cannot compete in today’s market, hence why it must combine with Rogers. Thomson noted that Telus, Shaw’s west coast rival, has greatly outspent the Calgary-based company by $7 billion over the last handful of years.
In pushing against suggestions that Shaw and Freedom have successfully…
Continue Reading
