CALGARY – Speculation on just what Shaw Communications will do on the wireless front has been rampant since the winter when the company decided to shelve its HSPA build in the face of high costs and accelerating next generation technology.
Rumours of a pact with Rogers Communications to build a national LTE network were pretty hot for a while and others are guessing the big cable and broadband company just might forget about cellular altogether and go for a wi-fi strategy.
Back in June, Shaw CEO Brad Shaw told Cartt.ca the company would have a decision “over the next month”, so after our story this week which outlined the possibility of a wi-fi plan, we dropped him a line this week to see how close the company is to a decision.
To his credit, he gave us a quick answer in an e-mail, writing: “We are on track to make announcement the end of summer.”
When we asked about whether he meant the end of the kids’ summer (basically Labour Day, to our thinking) or the official end of summer on the September Equinox (the 23rd), he clarified, adding: “The kids’ end.”
So, while that won’t stop the speculation on what the company will announce, we do now know the big western media, cable and satellite company will outline its wireless plans before the first school bell rings.
– Greg O’Brien
