The CRTC has given Rogers Communications Inc. the green light to set a maximum prepaid account balance of $150, rejecting an argument from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and National Pensioners Federation that doing so would violate the Wireless Code. Rogers announced in late 2017 that it would prevent its prepaid customers from having their balance exceed $150, and would reduce the balance of any customers’ who had a balance exceeding that mark, as of Dec. 31 2018. In responding to the application from PIAC and the NPF, Rogers said its customers service agents had worked with...
Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. officials say they’re confident the launch of their Shomi over-the-top video service will not eat into their cable business, though industry experts are less convinced. The companies on Tuesday announced they would launch a streaming service containing TV shows and movies for $8.99 a month, starting in November. The service will initially be available to Shaw and Rogers Internet and TV customers, though Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said during a press conference he is “comfortable” other broadcaster distributors will jump on board by the launch date. “Our goal is to launch with as many BDUs as we...
The CRTC said Thursday that it dismissed a complaint related to staff and ethnic programming reductions at Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI television stations, though it requested the company submit licence-renewal...
Technological developments that impact the way consumers watch broadcast content will help determine whether CBC/Radio-Canada will continue to air NHL hockey games five years from now, said Scott...
The wireless networks of BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. showed “strong and similar performances” in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, U.S.-based mobile analytics firm RootMetrics said. The company said in a release Tuesday it tested “47,495 data, call and text tests designed to...
The CRTC denied aspects of a Rogers Communications Inc.’s corporate reorganization as part of a $400-million deal to purchase Shaw Communications Inc.’s cable subsidiary Mountain...
As condo developers erect new high-rise buildings to house the expanding populations of Canada’s largest cities, telecom providers are competing to be the ones to line those buildings with fibre-optic cables, sometimes with exclusive deals. “Every provider nowadays is looking for how best to capture customers as early and as completely as possible,” Stephen Meyer, director of technology at Nordicity, said in an interview Monday. “By offering one infrastructure to those in condos, they’re hoping to form a long relationship.” Some of...
Rogers Communications Inc. reported slightly lower profits in the third quarter of 2013 as its wireless revenues and postpaid subscriber additions slowed, the company said. In a quarterly financial report released Thursday,...
The CRTC officially launched its public consultation on television services, asking the public for input into questions related to the Conservative government’s promise to unbundle television...
Rogers Communications Inc. will provide financial compensation to its wireless customers after an “unprecedented surge” in signalling traffic caused widespread outages Wednesday evening, the company said. In a series...
Some of the incumbents' new and cheaper roaming plans offer small data packages that smartphone users will quickly exceed, incurring extra charges, said John Lawford, executive director of the...
It shouldn't be surprising that Canada's incumbent wireless carriers are targeting Alberta. It has the fastest-growing population in the country, and more than 80 per cent of its residents...
Rogers Communications Inc. said it will invest $700 million in branding, mobile services, and retail stores in Alberta over the next four years as it steps up competition with Telus Corp. Rogers said in a release Tuesday that, as part of the spending, it reached a multi-year sponsorship partnership with the Edmonton Oilers and its arena,...
Rogers Communications Inc. reached a deal with U.S. wireless provider Sprint to bring Internet-connected cars to Canada, the company said. In a release Thursday, Rogers said the deal will allow car manufacturers to deploy the Sprint Velocity in-car Internet service in Canada using Rogers’ wireless network. It said the service would allow users to...
Telus Corp., BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. have several hurdles to clear before they can benefit from shutting down their older IDEN, CDMA and GSM wireless networks, a move that's likely...
Guy Laurence, the head of Vodafone Group plc's U.K. division, will be in familiar territory in December when he becomes the new CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., a role that will involve dealing with a Canadian federal government unwavering in its pursuit of more wireless competition. Laurence, 51, will become chief executive of Rogers on Dec. 2, replacing outgoing CEO Nadir Mohamed and bringing in 30 years of international experience in telecom, media, and pay TV, Rogers said in a release...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s advertising campaign that claimed its Chatr wireless brand had “fewer dropped calls” than its new entrant competitors was not misleading, said the...
Rogers Communications Inc. said Monday it will continue to call on the federal government to change its rules for an upcoming auction of wireless airwaves, three days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the rules will not be...
Rogers Communications Inc. reached a deal with Swiss telecom Swisscom AG that allows their wireless customers to roam on each other’s next-generation LTE networks, Rogers said. Rogers customers with LTE devices operating on...
Industry Canada would most likely block a deal to acquire Wind Mobile it it involved significant funding from Rogers Communications Inc. or another wireless incumbent, industry analysts said. In a...
Rogers Communications Inc. customers will be the first to have access to Google Inc.'s new Motorola smartphone, the Moto X, for $190 on a two-year plan, Motorola said. A release Thursday said Rogers customers can reserve the new phone, released this week. The phone “has a unique curved back” and technology that “learns your voice” for improved voice commands, the release said. “Without touching it at all, you can get directions, set an alarm or do just about anything—just by talking. Say 'OK Google Now' to get started. Ask it if you need an umbrella and it gives you up-to-the-minute weather for your location. Tell it you're going home, and your Moto X will get you there. Because it knows your voice, Moto X can do things other phones can't,” Motorola said in the release. The phone...
BCE Inc. chief executive George Cope is calling on all 60,000 company employees to write letters to the prime minister as the incumbents' lobbying campaign to change the government's wireless...
Incumbents BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. released new ads this week as part of their campaign against the Conservative government's wireless policy. A new message, bearing...
Industry Minister James Moore's office said the government is moving ahead with its planned spectrum auction in January as the minister held meetings with telecommunications companies on Monday....
Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. have each filed applications asking the CRTC to clarify whether “tab” billing will be permitted under the commission’s new rules for the wireless industry. In a “tab” model, a fixed percentage of a customer’s monthly bill is applied toward...
The Conservative government courted Verizon Communications Inc. as a possible new entrant into Canada's mobile wireless market, Rogers Communications Inc. executives told The Toronto Star. “Everything that they could...
Mobile providers Telus Corp. and Bragg Communications Inc. could pay higher prices to access TV content on wireless devices following a mobile TV rights deal announced last week between BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., said Janet Lo, legal counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre...
Telus Corp.’s summer lobbying efforts will focus on the “potential economic impacts” of allowing a large foreign provider like Verizon Communications Inc. to enter Canada’s wireless market, said John Gossling, the company’s chief financial officer. “We’re...
Rogers Communications Inc. launched wireless home phone and business phone services in areas of the country where its landline services aren’t available, the company said. In a release Tuesday, Rogers said the new service...
Canadian consumers need incentives to make the switch to environmentally friendly electronic bills, SaskTel said in response to CRTC questions about telcos' charges for paper billing. SaskTel, a provincial Crown corporation that offers wireless, landline and IPTV services, said in regulatory documents filed with the commission last week that it has not adopted the industry trend of charging consumers to receive paper copies of their monthly bills. The result, the company said, is that many customers aren’t getting rid of paper invoices, despite the ease and availability of...
BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. have reached a deal to license rights to each other’s sports and over-the-air television content for distribution on their mobile platforms, the companies said. In a release Friday,...
BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. are lobbying for changes to the 700 MHz auction cap rule that permit foreign player Verizon Communications Inc. to purchase more spectrum than each...
The CRTC should hold a public hearing related to staff and ethnic programming reductions at Rogers Communications Inc.’s OMNI television stations, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) said. In an application filed with the CRTC on June 26, the union said Rogers’ broadcasting subsidiary, Rogers Broadcasting Ltd.,...
Rogers Communications Inc. has settled a two-year dispute with the Regional Municipality of York over how to divide the costs of burying overhead cables, and established a new agreement with the...
The federal Competition Bureau received a Federal Court order compelling Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Globalive Wireless Management Corp. to turn over information as part of an inquiry into Rogers' option deal to purchase Shaw's spectrum licences, court records show. According to motions and affidavits filed with the Federal Court on June 6 and obtained by The Wire Report this week, the Competition Bureau received an order that the companies turn over documents related to the deal, which the bureau said may “prevent or lessen competition...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s proposed deal for Videotron Ltd.’s unused Toronto-area spectrum is expected to give incumbent mobile providers the first indication of whether they can obtain...
The CRTC approved Shaw Communications Inc.’s acquisition of the remaining shares of TVtropolis, the commission said Tuesday. In a decision, the CRTC said it allowed Shaw to acquire Rogers Communications Inc.’s 33 per cent share of TVtropolis, giving Shaw complete ownership of the Category A specialty service. The change in ownership,...
Canada’s publicly traded broadcast distribution companies reported “concrete signs” of cord cutting over the past two quarters as their combined subscriber base fell for the first time since cable TV first become a feature in most homes, said Mario Mota, partner at Boon Dog Professional Services Inc. In a release Thursday, Boon Dog...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s specialty sports channel The Score will be rebranded as “Sportsnet 360,” the company said Tuesday. In a release, Rogers said“Sportsnet 360” will launch on July 1 and will have a different logo than The Score, which Rogers purchased earlier this year. The company said that further detail on the...
TORONTO—Wind Mobile said it is paying “extreme rents” for wireless tower sharing and called for mandated tower access at regulated rates as the Conservative government is said to be considering stronger roaming and tower sharing rules favouring the new entrants. On a panel Tuesday...
OTTAWA, TORONTO—Industry Canada will block Telus Corp.'s proposed deal for Dave Wireless Inc.’s mobile spectrum, as well as any other proposal from an incumbent to acquire wireless...
The federal government should let the CRTC’s wireless code of conduct regulate the mobile wireless sector and back away from its policy objective of ensuring four competing carriers in each region of the country, Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan said. In a research note Monday, Fan said the CRTC’s...
Canadian wireless consumers can cancel long-term wireless contracts with mobile phone providers after two years without any cancellation fees, the CRTC said in new wireless code of conduct...
Rogers Communications Inc. will lead a new pilot project this year to provide affordable broadband, computers and software for people living in Toronto community housing, the company said Monday. The program, called Connected for Success, will help more Toronto youth get online, Rogers said in a release. "We must invest and develop our youth to ensure they have the digital savvy they need to be part of and prosper in Canada's digital future. And it starts with a broadband connection," Rob Bruce, president of communications at Rogers, said in a statement. "It's...
Rogers Communications Inc. will offer its discount wireless brand Fido in Halifax and Fredericton this spring, as well as in Moncton and Saint John, N.B., the company said. In a release Friday, Rogers said it will launch the Fido brand in five kiosk locations in the four cities, and through “over 50 third-party retailers,” including some in...
A network sharing agreement between Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc.'s telecom subsidiary is a “material win” for Videotron and positive for Rogers, RBC telecom analyst Drew McReynolds said. In a...
Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division cancelled its CityNews Channel as well as the English-language South-Asian newscast on its Omni Television service, the company said. Scott Moore, president of broadcasting at...
Rogers Communications Inc. will be better positioned to compete against rival incumbent wireless carriers BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. in the Quebec market under a new network-sharing agreement with...
Accelero Capital Holding's deal to purchase Allstream from Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. will give the company a cross-country fibre network that would provide backhaul support for mobile wireless services and bundled Internet, voice and mobile wireless contracts in the business market. That is, of course, if Accelero, based in Paris and co-founded by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, succeeds in its offer to purchase Wind Mobile from VimpelCom Ltd. “In Canada you can give an advantage to yourself, radically, if you own your own infrastructure,” Brownlee Thomas, a telecom analyst with Forrester, said in a phone interview. “Anywhere you need fibre, it's going...
Shaw Communications Inc. and the City of Edmonton reached an agreement to expand the company’s Shaw Go WiFi network to public areas in Edmonton. In a release Thursday, the parties said the expansion would take place over...
Delays in Industry Canada's spectrum auction process are looking more likely by the day, analysts said. They said new wireless entrants will need more time to look at consolidation options after...
Cogeco Cable Inc. expanded its video on demand library available in Ontario, the company said Wednesday. In a release, Cogeco said most of its digital television subscribers in Ontario now have access to nearly 7,000 titles, up from 3,000 in April. Rogers Communications Inc. is also expanding its video-on-demand service with new titles. David...
BCE Inc. division Bell Media said broadcast distributors' wholesale fees for access to the company's non-sports programming fell or rose less than the rate of inflation when multi-year...
Rogers Communications Inc. does not expect Industry Canada to rule on its option agreement to acquire “new entrant” spectrum from Shaw Communications Inc. until the summer of 2014, Ken Engelhart, Rogers’ senior vice-president of regulatory affairs, said on a call with analysts. Rogers, Canada’s...
Internet service was restored Wednesday night to Rogers Communications Inc. southern Ontario customers who experienced disruptions to their high-speed Internet services, Jennifer Kett, a spokeswoman for the company, said Thursday. In an emailed statement, Kett said the service disruption lasted about four hours with Internet service restored by 11 p.m....
The Supreme Court of Canada will issue a decision Thursday on whether the CRTC has the jurisdiction to implement a proposed value for signal regime to compensate local TV stations for the carriage of their signals. The court said in a notice Monday that the decision will be issued at 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 13. The commission’s proposed...
Former Sears Canada Inc. executive Steven Goldsmith will head The Shopping Channel, Rogers Communications Inc. said Thursday. In a release, Rogers said Goldsmith will be responsible for The Shopping Channel’s...
Growth of the global mobile phone market will slow to 1.4 per cent for 2012, the lowest annual growth rate in three years, research firm IDC said Tuesday. IDC said in a release it projects a record number of smartphone shipments, as a segment of mobile phones, during the 2012 holiday season. Vendors will ship more than 1.7 billion mobile phones in 2012 compared to 2.2 billion in 2016, IDC forecast. The firm said smartphone market growth is being driven partly by carriers' “steep device subsidies,” particularly in economic markets where mobile providers resell smartphones, as well as a larger selections of smartphones in emerging markets selling for less than $250 US each. "Sluggish economic conditions worldwide have cast a pall over the mobile phone market this...
TORONTO—Rogers Communications Inc. conducted industry standard tests to support its “fewer dropped calls” advertisements in 2010 that proved the ads to be true and now provide a...