TAGGED AS COGECO INC.
UPDATED: CRTC cuts wholesale broadband rates by 10 per cent, launches new rates proceeding, and will expedite review of FTTH access; competitors pleased
Internet and Governance | 03/08/2023 4:24 pm EST
The CRTC Wednesday made good on newly-minted chair Vicky Eatrides' January promise to reassess the wholesale broadband market, and launched a notice of consultation that will...
Shaw defends off-tariff agreements, Telus calls for review in TekSavvy complaint
telecom | 02/23/2023 12:11 pm EST
Shaw Communications Inc. has argued that the type of off-tariff-agreement (OTA) that its hopeful future owner Rogers Communications Inc. has agreed to enter into with Quebecor...
CRTC reopens basic television price hike proceeding
Media | 02/21/2023 5:25 pm EST
The CRTC is reopening its proceeding into whether or not BCE Inc., Cogeco Inc., Bragg Communications...
Cogeco announces acquisition of Oxio
telecom | 02/21/2023 5:05 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. announced it is acquiring independent internet service provider (ISP) Oxio.
In a Tuesday...
Telus, Cogeco back Bell on pausing contributions; PIAC comes up with idea for unawarded money
telecom | 02/10/2023 4:33 pm EST
Telus Corp. and Cogeco Inc. are rowing in behind...
CRTC grants Cogeco five new speed tiers
telecom | 01/09/2023 4:34 pm EST
In a Monday decision, the CRTC approved five new disaggregated Ethernet passive optical network...
CRTC rejects new commercial radio station for Rouyn-Noranda, Que.; will put community radio application to a hearing
Media | 09/22/2022 5:08 pm EDT
The Rouyn-Noranda market cannot support another commercial radio station, the CRTC wrote in a decision released Thursday as it denied an application for a broadcasting license...
Champagne announces network sharing agreement following Rogers outage
telecom | 09/07/2022 4:35 pm EDT
Wednesday Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe...
Quebecor’s Freedom deal doesn’t change MVNO plans; CRTC framework is ‘first step’: Cogeco CEO
telecom | 07/14/2022 5:20 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. president and CEO Philippe Jetté said...
CNOC back regional carriers’ call for roaming rates review
telecom | 06/24/2022 5:00 pm EDT
The Competitive Network Operators of Canada has filed an intervention in...
ILECs and CLECs spar over telecom fees amendments
telecom | 06/10/2022 4:33 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. and Cogeco Inc. are among competitors protesting proposed changes to the...
Regional wireless carriers seek review of incumbents’ roaming rates
telecom | 05/24/2022 5:43 pm EDT
A consortium of regional wireless competitors have filed an application...
Facebook doesn’t rule out blocking news content if C-18 passes, docs reveal telecom opposition to online harms framework
Internet and Governance | 04/26/2022 5:43 pm EDT
Representatives of Twitter Inc. and Meta Platforms...
Telecom fee changes would lead to “significant increases” in financial contributions, Cogeco tells CRTC
Internet and Governance | 04/21/2022 4:06 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is raising concern with the CRTC that...
Cogeco still waiting on MVNO terms and conditions, reports increase in Q2 revenue and profits
Media | 04/14/2022 4:45 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is preparing its entry into Canada’s mobile wireless market but has no definitive timeframe, as it is still contingent on the approval by the CRTC for the terms...
Little support for CRTC forbearance policy review following Part 1 application
telecom | 04/12/2022 3:53 pm EDT
The Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) is the only intervener in a CRTC proceeding that supports a Toronto-based attorney’s request to consider whether...
CRTC sides with regional wireless carriers in roaming decision
telecom | 04/06/2022 6:24 pm EDT
The CRTC mostly accepted the arguments of small wireless carriers against...
Feds rollout $20 a month internet for low-income families and seniors
telecom | 04/04/2022 1:22 pm EDT
The federal government is providing low-income families and seniors with...
CRTC approves Arsenal, Cogeco, radio swap
Media | 03/25/2022 2:42 pm EDT
The CRTC approved two separate applications by Cogeco Inc. and Arsenal Media which would essentially see...
Union files for mediation in talks with Cogeco
Media | 03/21/2022 5:44 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has two different labour disputes brewing, according to the union representing two different...
Paper billing for vulnerable customers, not universally: CRTC
telecom | 02/10/2022 5:42 pm EST
The CRTC has determined that all communications service providers (CSPs), including telecommunications service providers (TSPs), Canadian carriers, and broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), must provide certain market segments with free paper billing, in an effort...
Class-action will not shrink despite Videotron arbitration clause, court rules
telecom | 01/31/2022 6:20 pm EST
The Superior Court of Quebec denied an application by Quebecor Inc.’s...
Commission approves POI removal, declines to mandate aggregated regime for Quebec-based Bell subsidiary
telecom | 01/12/2022 5:21 pm EST
The CRTC Wednesday approved a request from BCE...
Intervenors take issue with ISED’s proposed Tier 5 service areas in rural spectrum consultation
telecom | 01/11/2022 5:00 pm EST
Tier 5 service areas are “too large” to meet...
Rogers, Quebecor, Cogeco lag behind in pandemic pick up: analyst
telecom | 12/02/2021 5:48 pm EST
Of Canada’s big three telecom companies, Rogers Communications Inc. is...
At CRTC, Cogeco cites Rogers opposition to Bell-Astral merger
Media | 11/25/2021 10:05 am EST
On the third day of CRTC hearings into the proposed takeover of Shaw...
Bell says no evidence spectrum will go unused without deployment reqs, supports contiguous holding
telecom | 11/18/2021 5:38 pm EST
The telecoms companies that supported Innovation,...
Cogeco given permission to provide telephony service Lambton, Que.
telecom | 11/16/2021 10:44 am EST
The CRTC is permitting Cogeco Connexion Inc. to provide telephony services...
Cogeco’s Jetté concerned about MVNO tariff negotiations
telecom | 11/15/2021 2:59 pm EST
MISSISSAUGA - Even at the earliest stages of the CRTC’s new mobile...
Cogeco expects to enter mobile rate negotiations by spring, summer 2022 earliest
telecom | 11/12/2021 5:02 pm EST
Cogeco Inc.’s CEO said it is a multi-step process it has to follow before it can enter the mobile market -- with its 38 new spectrum licences, purchased for $295...
Dynamic site-blocking case gets Nov. 23 hearing date
Media | 11/03/2021 5:51 pm EDT
A test-case for Canada's first-ever "dynamic" site-blocking order is headed...
Delay Rogers-Shaw CRTC hearing until its clear who controls Rogers: PIAC
Media | 11/01/2021 5:35 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has asked the CRTC to delay a hearing...
Bell, Rogers, Quebecor apply for extended site-blocking in GoldTV
Media | 10/26/2021 9:30 am EDT
A trio of Canada's biggest broadcasters has asked the Federal Court for a...
CRTC approves work on Cogeco, Columbia Basin, Broadband Fund projects
telecom | 10/22/2021 6:14 pm EDT
Two telecom companies can start work on their Broadband Fund projects now...
Bell, SaskTel, not buying ISED proposal to reintroduce deployment requirements for cellular bands
telecom | 10/20/2021 12:04 pm EDT
BCE Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. are not in favour of a proposal from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to adopt its 20-year 3500...
CRTC to allow CPAC to participate in Rogers-Shaw hearing
Media | 10/13/2021 6:28 pm EDT
The CRTC has granted Cable Public Affairs Channel Inc. -- more widely known...
CRTC issues consultation for several broadcasting applications
Media | 10/05/2021 4:06 pm EDT
The CRTC is holding a consultation to determine a series of applications...
CRTC sending Cogeco and Wildbrain to mediation over channel drop dispute
telecom | 08/18/2021 5:03 pm EDT
A dispute over Cogeco Inc. dropping children’s television content creator...
CRTC orders some incumbent disclosure to CNOC in disaggregated regime consultation
Media | 08/13/2021 11:13 am EDT
In a dispute between a trade organization representing wholesale-based...
Cogeco hires Fido VP Nancy Audette
telecom | 07/26/2021 4:56 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. cable subsidiary Cogeco Connexion has signed on Fido Mobile VP Nancy Audette as its own vice...
High spectrum costs could be driven by competition for set aside: analyst
telecom | 07/15/2021 6:32 pm EDT
Industry analysts are declining to speculate too much on what caused the...
Cogeco reports rise in Q3 revenue as it eyes a ‘landmark year’ in 2022
telecom | 07/15/2021 5:58 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. saw a rise in revenue and profit this spring and though CEO...
Bell, Rogers, and Quebecor seek first-ever ‘dynamic’ site-blocking order
Media | 07/08/2021 6:22 pm EDT
Nearly six weeks after a Federal Court of Appeal upheld Canada's first-ever...
Cogeco getting millions more in high-speed funding
telecom | 06/08/2021 5:53 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is getting more than $40 million in funding for high-speed internet projects in Quebec.
As part of the federal-provincial fund Canada-Quebec Operation High Speed, Cogeco will connect more than 6,000 households in the Monteregie and Montmagny regions by...
Incumbents “should be comforted”, Rogers could move first on mandated access: analysts
telecom | 04/16/2021 5:11 pm EDT
Industry analysts are calling Thursday's decision to mandate access to incumbent wireless networks for a limited number of regional wireless competitors a "moderate net...
UPDATED – CRTC rejects broad MVNO model, will mandate limited access for regional players
telecom | 04/15/2021 4:01 pm EDT
Incumbent telecom companies will be required to...
Rogers, Shaw execs mum on spectrum at Industry committee
telecom | 03/29/2021 7:40 pm EDT
On the opening day Monday of hearings into Roger's proposed acquisition of...
CRTC awards $57 million for transport projects in Que., Ont., and B.C.
telecom | 03/19/2021 3:51 pm EDT
The CRTC is handing out $57.7 million through its Broadband Fund for the construction of thousands of kilometres of network transport infrastructure. The commission announced Friday that seven...
Cogeco accuses Wildbrain of “glaring abuse” of CRTC process over Part 1
Media | 03/03/2021 5:26 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has responded to a Part 1 from television company Wildbrain, calling the company’s attempts to invoke the CRTC’s standstill rule “a glaring abuse of the...
Telecoms split on ISED’s proposed approach to opening 6 GHz band
telecom | 03/02/2021 5:20 pm EST
The federal government’s proposal to open up the 6 GHz spectrum band for WiFi use has received broad support in an Industry, Science and Economic Development Canada consultation. Every...
Focus turns back to CRTC as SCC rejects incumbent wholesale challenge
telecom | 02/25/2021 5:46 pm EST
As the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an incumbent challenge to an...
Wildbrain says Cogeco breached CRTC rules by dropping channels
telecom | 01/29/2021 2:08 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. breached the CRTC’s standstill rule by announcing its intention to drop Wildbrain’s family programming while in commercial negotiations about their ongoing carriage, Wildbrain claims....
Cogeco launches IPTV
Media | 01/18/2021 5:25 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has officially launched its IPTV service, dubbed Epico. Epico, which runs on the MediaFirst platform, is now available to the “majority of Cogeco customers in the territories served by the company,” according to a press release Monday. “This new service will allow customers...
Cogeco revenues up on pandemic internet demand
telecom | 01/15/2021 7:14 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. reported $646.4 million in revenue in its first quarter, up 4.5 per cent from a year earlier. Profit, meanwhile, was up 27.8 per cent to $120.5 million in the three months ending Nov. 30. The company said in its...
Michel Lorrain steps down from Cogeco media division
Media | 12/14/2020 5:29 pm EST
President of Cogeco Inc.'s media division Michel Lorrain has stepped down from the position, the company...
ISED proposal to displace spectrum for fixed wireless divides ISPs
telecom | 12/11/2020 11:37 am EST
A pair of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada proposals on changes to midband spectrum allocation that would affect fixed wireless service has drawn a mixed response from telecoms....
Telecom complaints down 19%, CCTS says
telecom | 11/30/2020 12:50 pm EST
The number of complaints from Canadians about their telecom services fell 19 per cent last year, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said in its annual report Monday. It’s the first time...
Regulatory delays a slow-moving incumbent tantrum: CNOC
telecom | 11/19/2020 1:53 pm EST
On the heels of the incumbent appeal of a Federal Court of Appeal decision upholding the CRTC's setting of third-party access rates for wholesale internet to the Supreme Court of Canada, Competitive Network Operators of Canada's director of legal and regulatory affairs Geoff...
Cogeco hires Paul Beaudry as VP of regulatory
telecom | 11/11/2020 6:14 pm EST
Paul Beaudry is to become the new vice-president for regulatory affairs at Cogeco Inc., taking over from Nathalie Dorval. Beaudry announced the news on Twitter Thursday morning. “It’s an exciting time to be in the...
Telecoms object to Telesat’s proposal to auction 3800 MHz spectrum
telecom | 11/10/2020 5:48 pm EST
A number of Canadian wireless providers have objected to a proposal that...
Cogeco Q4 keeps profits stable, helped by internet demand
telecom | 10/28/2020 6:30 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. announced its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, increasing...
Cogeco acquiring Quebec telecom for $405M
telecom | 10/21/2020 6:07 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is buying Quebec cableco DERYtelecom for $405 million, the company announced Wednesday. The acquisition will see Cogeco add around 100,000 customers in various regions of the province, including Estrie,...
Increased offer for Cogeco rejected by Audet family
Media | 10/19/2020 5:00 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. and Altice USA Inc. upped their offer in a joint takeover bid of Cogeco Inc. from $10.3 billion to $11 billion over weekend, a bid that was rejected by the controlling shareholder of the company, the Audet family. The offer, in which Rogers would take over Cogeco's Canadian operations while Altice takes over assets south of the border, would see Rogers increase its own offer by $300 million, from $4.9 billion up to $5.2 billion. "As we did on September 2nd, 2020, following the announcement of their first unsolicited proposal, members of the Audet family...
Cogeco wireless plans ‘probably part of the equation’ for Rogers: Ouimet
telecom | 09/15/2020 5:09 pm EDT
As Cogeco Inc.’s CFO speculated Tuesday that a bid for his company’s...
Canadian internet users almost universally getting ISP’s advertised speeds
telecom | 09/08/2020 5:11 pm EDT
In almost all cases, Canadian internet consumers are receiving service at...
Refusal to sell Cogeco is ‘definitive,’ Audet says
Media | 09/08/2020 1:34 pm EDT
Louis Audet, former CEO of Cogeco Inc. and current executive chairman of...
Rogers says it would keep Cogeco headquarters in Quebec
telecom | 09/04/2020 4:46 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. says if its proposed acquisition of Cogeco Inc.’s Canadian division went through, it wouldn’t move the headquarters, management team or operations of Cogeco’s media...
Audet family declines Altice USA, Rogers offer to buy Cogeco
telecom | 09/02/2020 9:54 am EDT
The controlling shareholder of Cogeco Inc. — the Audet family — has...
CIRA, CIPPIC, BCCLA intervene in site-blocking case
telecom | 08/04/2020 5:07 pm EDT
In a much-watched appeal of Canada's first-ever site-blocking court order, three separate opponents of the order have filed two interventions asking the Federal Court of Appeal to strike down the order. In the first of the...
Cogeco radio feels COVID hit, but overall revenues increase
telecom | 07/16/2020 4:42 pm EDT
In its first quarterly report to include the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cogeco Inc.’s radio revenues fell by one-third, though its overall revenue beat analyst expectations. In the results...
CRTC considering changes to disaggregated wholesale regime
telecom | 06/11/2020 5:47 pm EDT
Five years after it announced a move to a new system for wholesale internet...
Bell selling 25 data centres for $1.04 billion
telecom | 06/01/2020 5:28 pm EDT
BCE Inc. is selling 25 data centres located at 13 sites to California-based Equinix Inc for $1.04 billion, the company announced Monday. "Our strategic redeployment of capital further underscores Bell's commitment to champion customer experience by leading investment in communications networks and services, especially as Canada manages and recovers from the COVID-19 crisis," Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said in the release. The transaction is all cash, according to the release. As part of the deal, Bell Business Markets will become Equinix's Canadian partner, and Bell's business...
SaskTel to resume charging overage fees on June 9
telecom | 05/29/2020 2:13 pm EDT
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. will become the second Canadian telecom to resume charging overage fees to home internet customers who go over their data caps, with the company announcing it will end the COVID-19...
Wholesale rate appeal to go ahead in June via video conference
telecom | 05/25/2020 6:05 pm EDT
A Federal Court of Appeal judge has rejected the argument made by the incumbent telecom companies last week that their appeal of the CRTC's wholesale broadband rates decision is too complicated to be...
Spectrum funds could achieve broadband targets before 2030: telecoms
telecom | 05/14/2020 9:35 pm EDT
An NDP plan for the federal government to add money raised from past and...
Provinces also looking at speeding up rural broadband rollouts
telecom | 05/01/2020 1:10 pm EDT
As the federal government and individual companies work on accelerating...
Cogeco pre-COVID Q2 revs steady, adjusts share buyback
telecom | 04/08/2020 6:57 pm EDT
Amid the financial uncertainty and upheaval of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Cogeco Inc. will adjust its share repurchasing program, the company's executives told analysts on a Wednesday morning second quarter earnings call.
While the company is making the adjustment to...
Quebecor, Cogeco lay off staff due to COVID-19
telecom | 03/27/2020 4:26 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc. and Cogeco Inc. have both announced staff layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Quebecor announced on Friday morning it would lay off 10 per cent of its workforce, which the company said amounted to about 1000...
Financial analysts say telecoms ‘resilient’ to impact of COVID-19
telecom | 03/18/2020 5:24 pm EDT
Canada’s telecommunications sector is a “constructive place to hide” for financial investors as markets continue to feel the impact of COVID-19, RBC Capital Markets analyst Drew McReynolds...
COVID-19 won’t have ‘very large impact’ on Cogeco: CFO
telecom | 03/17/2020 3:54 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. chief financial officer Patrice Ouimet has told an investor...
CIPPIC unveils most ambitious low cost wireless plan
telecom | 02/28/2020 6:01 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic and Open Media have unveiled...
MVNO decision arrives at a ‘tipping point’: Bell CEO
telecom | 02/19/2020 6:48 pm EST
GATINEAU, Que. — How threatening the prospect of mandated MVNO access is...
CIPPIC, CIRA to challenge court authority in site-blocking case
telecom | 02/07/2020 3:54 pm EST
Both the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and the Canadian...
Cogeco’s IPTV service in beta testing, but no start date
telecom | 01/15/2020 4:27 pm EST
There’s no firm timeframe for when Cogeco Inc. will roll out its new IPTV service, despite the cableco previously telling investors it would become available in 2019. Cogeco’s CEO Phillipe...
Incumbents, small telecoms pan Competition Bureau MVNO proposal
telecom | 01/14/2020 5:54 pm EST
Telecom providers both big and small have unanimously rejected a...
Cogeco Connexion president leaving
telecom | 12/17/2019 12:31 pm EST
Ken Smithard, the president of Cogeco Inc.’s Canadian telecom division, is leaving the company after 20 years.
Cogeco said in a press release Monday that Smithard is departing “at the end of January 2020 to pursue personal interests.”
The company said it would...
Telecoms find silver lining in unprecedented number of CCTS complaints
telecom | 11/28/2019 6:00 am EST
Despite improvements in customer service that have lowered customer...
Consumer groups push mandated low-cost data plans in wireless review
telecom | 11/26/2019 6:03 pm EST
Consumer advocacy groups are urging the CRTC to require incumbent wireless providers to make low-cost data plans a condition of operation in the latest round of submissions to the regulator’s review...
Competition Bureau endorses limited MVNO model
telecom | 11/25/2019 10:12 am EST
The Competition Bureau is officially endorsing a policy that would temporarily mandate access to the incumbents’ network infrastructure by mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), the watchdog said Monday. The recommendation...
BDUs appeal new distant signal tariffs
Media | 11/12/2019 12:00 pm EST
The country’s largest TV service providers are appealing an increase in the over-the-air distant signal...
Large telecoms say small ISPs should be subject to Internet Code too
telecom | 11/08/2019 5:20 pm EST
A few months ahead of the introduction of the CRTC’s Internet Code, scheduled for Jan. 31,, a grouping of the largest telecom companies in the country are asking the regulator to make the code apply to smaller internet service providers as well. In the filing to the CRTC dated Oct. 29, a battery of facilities-based internet providers -- BCE Inc, Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink, Cogeco Inc., Quebecor Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc., Saskatchewan...
Cogeco ‘very optimistic on wireless’: CEO
telecom | 10/31/2019 5:54 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is looking forward to the upcoming spectrum auctions in 2020, especially since Innovation, Science, and Economic Development put in place new tier 5 spectrum licensing rules this past summer. The new licenses,...
Quebec news funding will help with Google, Facebook dominance: Le Devoir
Media | 10/15/2019 5:56 pm EDT
As the Canada Revenue Agency considers how to administer $595-million worth...
CRTC has no jurisdiction over site-blocking request, big telecoms argue
Media | 09/26/2019 5:31 pm EDT
BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. are arguing in...
Investors too focused on Rogers wireless division: analyst
telecom | 09/20/2019 4:59 pm EDT
Investors are overly preoccupied with the wireless divisions of telecom companies, and as such have been overly punitive toward Rogers Communications Inc. this summer, according to a look in on the...
Telecoms say CRTC wholesale decision violates Harper-era directive
telecom | 09/17/2019 5:13 pm EDT
In their Friday appeal of the CRTC decision on wholesale internet rates, the affected cable companies are asking the Federal Court of Appeal to defer to a 2006 Harper-era directive that advised the...
Big telecoms go to court over wholesale rates
telecom | 09/13/2019 5:26 pm EDT
In a widely anticipated move, several of the country’s biggest telecom companies have filed for leave to appeal a CRTC decision establishing a new rate regime for wholesale internet broadband. The decision, issued August 15...
Local Quebec radio groups want more gov’t ads
Media | 09/12/2019 5:25 pm EDT
Two local Quebec radio groups representing around 60 stations in the province are asking the provincial...
CRTC resolves issues in Gatineau access dispute
telecom | 09/06/2019 5:11 pm EDT
The CRTC has set guidelines for how the country’s largest telecoms and the city of Gatineau should...
New wholesale rates to cost Rogers $140M, Cogeco $25M, companies say
telecom | 08/19/2019 7:29 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. said Monday that the new wholesale broadband rates set by the CRTC will cost the company $25 million in retroactive payments, while Rogers Communications Inc. said it "expects to record a charge of approximately $140 million in the current quarter to account for the retroactive impact of the lower rates." Rogers said the "final rates do not recognize the true cost of building and expanding Canada’s world-class broadband networks and will certainly impact Rogers future network...