By Denis Carmel
CARTT.CA HAS LEARNED large Canadian broadcasting and telecommunication enterprises collected significant amounts from the federal government’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) in 2020 and will likely receive more for 2021.
The following companies have, according to the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), received subsidies:
BCE: $122.9 million
Québecor: $3.1 million
Rogers: $90.5 million
Telus: $38.6 million
Stingray: $25.2 million
Corus: $34.9 million
Pelmorex: $6.3 million*
According to the administer these programs, “a Canadian employer who has seen a drop in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be eligible for a subsidy to cover part of its…
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SPRUCE GROVE, Alta. – Telus and the City of Spruce Grove announced today they are investing a total of $54 million to connect the city to Telus’s PureFibre network.
The City of Spruce Grove will contribute $4.25 million to connect commercial and industrial areas while Telus will invest $50 million to connect over 90% of homes and businesses within city bounds, a press release says.
This investment is part of Telus’s commitment to invest $14.5 billion in infrastructure and operations in Alberta through 2024.
“Work on the PureFibre network in Spruce Grove is starting this month,” the press release says. Telus…
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BRITISH COLUMBIA – The BC government announced this week Telus will receive up to $3.6 million in funding from the Connecting British Columbia program to improve Internet access in nine First Nations territories.
The territories include Ashcroft Indian Band, Upper Nicola Band, Cook’s Ferry First Nation, Shackan Indian Band, Bonaparte First Nation, Saik’uz First Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Lheidli T’enneh, Coldwater Indian Band.
The government also announced ABC Communications will receive up to $322,010 to improve high-speed Internet access in the Yekooche First Nation territory.
“These projects are an important step to ensuring people in Indigenous communities have the connectivity they need…
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MONTREAL – Telus announced yesterday it will collaborate with Civalgo to bring a fully integrated Internet of Things (IoT) approach to connected job sites.
Civalgo is “an operational management platform built to accelerate digital transformation activities and processes in the construction industry,” a press release says.
“We are very excited to work with Civalgo on expanding our Connected Worker solution offering,” said Julio Villalta, Telus director of products and services, Internet of Things, in the press release.
“This association brings next-generation technology to construction teams aiming to increase connectivity and efficiency in their operations at the execution level and beyond,” Boris Germanov,…
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Office life unlikely to return to what it was in 2019
By Amanda Oye
AS COMPANIES AROUND the country make plans to bring employees back into offices, and grapple with how to do so safely, Cartt.ca asked a variety of Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting companies about their own plans.
Few companies Cartt.ca reached out to have, at this point, decided to require staff to be fully vaccinated. Fourteen companies responded to our request for information on back to office plans, only three of which indicated they were requiring some or all employees to be vaccinated.
OUTtv is one of those companies. While…
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TORONTO – TikTok has big plans to reach beyond mobile around the world, including in Canada.
The company hired Dan Page (above) in April as its head of global business development, new screens. Since then, Page has been working “to ensure that TikTok is distributed beyond mobile, with the goal to be on every other screen around the world, while also overseeing all Distribution in Canada,” he said in an email to Cartt.ca.
Page, who noted it is interesting the company often gets compared to social networks when it is not one, described TikTok as “an immersive, entertaining platform that enables…
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TORONTO — The Canadian Telecom Summit — which will be held as a hybrid event from Nov. 15 to 17 — will feature Robert Ghiz, president and CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, as one of its keynote speakers, event organizers announced today.
Ghiz (above) will address attendees on Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET.
His keynote will be followed by the Canadian Telecom Summit’s “regulatory blockbuster” panel (from 3:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. ET), with confirmed participants including: Geoff White, executive director of Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC); Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) last week gave Telus permission to appeal the CRTC’s April 2021 wireless review decision, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-130.
Telus went to court, not to argue against the CRTC’s decision requiring it to introduce a wholesale service that will enable eligible regional wireless carriers (Editor’s note: like Vidéotron) to use national wireless carrier networks to provide competing services while they build out their own networks.
No, when the CRTC issued its decision in April 2021, it took the opportunity to rule on other issues raised during the proceeding as well, including…
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MEDICINE HAT and BROOKS, Alta. — Telus Communications announced today it has expanded its 5G network to the communities of Medicine Hat and Brooks, Alberta.
This 5G expansion is part of its $14.5 billion investment in infrastructure and operations in Alberta through 2024, according to a company press release.
“The significant investments we are making in our world-leading network to rapidly expand our 5G footprint is enabling us to connect the citizens of Medicine Hat and Brooks to the people, resources and critical information they need as we continue to navigate the global pandemic,” said Darren Entwistle, president and CEO of…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a letter sent to François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (IC), on August 13, Videotron CEO, Pierre-Karl Péladeau responded to claims made by Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) CEO Mirko Bibic in an interview on BNN Bloomberg (owned by BCE) that Videotron should not have been eligible to bid on set-aside wireless spectrum in the 3500 MHz auction, the results of which were announced on July 29.
IC set aside portions of spectrum in the last few auctions that the larger wireless players (Bell, Telus and Rogers) could not bid on, to try…
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