TAGGED AS GUY LAURENCE
Guy Laurence joins Veon board
telecom | 07/24/2017 11:54 am EDT
The former CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., Guy Laurence, has been elected to the supervisory board of Veon Ltd., formerly known as VimpelCom.
The Netherlands-based company made the announcement in a press release Monday.
Both Vimpelcom and Laurence were previously players in Canada’s wireless market — VimpelCom until it sold its Wind Mobile in 2014, which was then bought by Shaw Communications Inc. and renamed Freedom Mobile.
Laurence left Rogers last October after three years in the top job....
Rogers aims to improve churn, ‘reset’ enterprise division
Media | 07/20/2017 5:16 pm EDT
Joe Natale, president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., reiterated his focus on the customer experience after the release of the company’s second-quarter earnings Thursday, suggesting it will be part of a formula that can help drive its postpaid wireless churn rate...
Dirk Woessner leaving Rogers
telecom | 07/18/2017 5:34 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc.’s president of consumer business, Dirk Woessner, is leaving the company and...
Nitin Kawale leaves Rogers
telecom | 05/05/2017 3:15 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc.’s Nitin Kawale is leaving his position as president of the company’s enterprise business division. “Nitin Kawale has decided to move on from Rogers and focus on his philanthropic and community activities,” Sarah Schmidt, Rogers’ director of...
Frank Boulben to exit Rogers
Media | 04/04/2017 4:38 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc.’s chief strategy officer, Frank Boulben, is leaving the company. Rogers spokesman Andrew Garas said in an email Tuesday Boulben would depart at the end of April. Boulben joined Rogers...
Rogers killing of in-house IPTV good move in long term, analysts say
Media | 12/16/2016 8:33 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. has abandoned the development of its own IPTV platform and will instead launch an IPTV service using a platform from Comcast Corp., a plan analysts...
Some concern about delay in Natale start date: analysts
Media | 10/18/2016 9:38 pm EDT
It could be mid-2017 before former Telus Corp. head Joe Natale takes over as CEO at Rogers Communications Inc., according to financial analysts, some of whom said Tuesday that the delay could have negative effects on the company. In a research note, Cannacord Genuity’s Aravinda Galappatthige wondered “whether the sudden leadership change and the period of nearly 10 months before Joe Natale steps in (not to mention the time required for the new CEO to ramp up) could potentially compromise the momentum we had been seeing at Rogers.” He...
Analysts optimistic about Natale at Rogers after Laurence’s surprise exit
Media | 10/17/2016 9:37 pm EDT
In an unexpected move, Rogers Communications Inc. has announced Guy Laurence is no longer CEO of the company and will be replaced by former Telus Corp. CEO Joe Natale, a choice...
Rogers intros wireless data controls ahead of Wireless Code review
telecom | 10/06/2016 10:38 pm EDT
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence said Thursday the company will eliminate an “irritant” among its customers by giving them the ability to manage...
Quebecor in ‘no rush’ to get rid of 700MHz spectrum: Pruneau
telecom | 09/22/2016 10:26 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc.’s chief financial officer Jean-François Pruneau said Thursday the company is content to wait to sell the 700 MHz spectrum it picked up in 2014 and...
CBC ‘can’t stand still,’ Lacroix says on shift to digital
Media | 09/15/2016 9:39 pm EDT
MONTREAL — As technological change accelerates, CBC/Radio-Canada has to keep pace, according to CEO Hubert Lacroix, who said Thursday “we can’t think of the...
Rogers’ Laurence says CanCon should be international brand
Media | 09/14/2016 7:11 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence said the government’s ongoing review of Canadian content in a digital age should lead to more focus on promoting and selling content...
Rogers’ Laurence emphasizes Internet ‘need for speed’
Media | 07/21/2016 8:57 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. made it clear that Internet speeds are a key focus for the company on a conference call Thursday, stating Rogers' strategy is to get consumers to a baseline 100 Mbps service in order to encourage future scaling to its gigabit service. “We need to focus on the need for...
Rogers to launch IPTV by end of the year
telecom | 04/20/2016 8:19 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. will be launching an IPTV service by the end of the year, Guy Laurence, the company’s CEO, confirmed Tuesday during Rogers’ annual general meeting of shareholders held in Toronto....
Rogers dives into 4K video, gigabit Internet
Media | 10/02/2015 8:28 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday announced it is moving forward with two different kinds of technology — 4K video and gigabit-speed Internet — though one commentator says the success of either of these initiatives...
‘No demand’ for gigabit Internet: Audet
telecom | 09/17/2015 8:04 pm EDT
Cogeco Cable Inc. CEO Louis Audet says there is currently "no demand" for Internet services with speeds as quick as one gigabit per second, despite recent forays by BCE Inc. and Quebecor Inc. into this area. "As I'm sure everyone realizes, there is essentially no demand for that," Audet told a Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce investors' conference in Montreal Thursday. He said waiting for demand to materialize before making investments into gigabit Internet amounts to "a much more rational use of capital and, of course in the fullness of time, higher returns." Audet added that current residential technology does not even allow users to take full advantage of gigabit-speed Internet service, though some technology used for business operations does....
New CRTC wholesale rules won’t change telco FTTH strategies: analysts
telecom | 07/23/2015 8:59 pm EDT
A day after the CRTC said it would mandate wholesale access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks by small ISPs, financial analysts said the move likely won’t have a significant impact on...
Shomi stand-alone proposal could be financially feasible: analyst
Media | 05/27/2015 9:38 pm EDT
At some point this summer, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc.’s Shomi streaming service will be made available to customers of other TV and Internet service providers...
Nadir Mohamed to lead venture-capital fund
Media | 04/27/2015 7:24 pm EDT
Former Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Nadir Mohamed will lead a new venture-capital fund created by the Ontario government, the office of Premier Kathleen Wynne said on Monday. Mohamed will lead a council of about 30 business...
Keith Pelley leaving Rogers this summer
Media | 04/17/2015 3:36 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. said Friday that Keith Pelley will leave as president of the company's media division this summer to take over as CEO of the PGA European Tour. Pelley was appointed president of Rogers Media in...
Rogers extends Roam Like Home to Europe
telecom | 04/10/2015 5:19 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. on Friday said it will launch a Roam Like Home service for customers travelling to Europe that is similar to what's been available for travellers to the United States since November. Rogers said in a press release that, starting April 15, travellers to more than 35 European countries with Share Everything plans will be able access the unlimited talk and text they have in Canada as well as their data plans for an extra $10 a day. The company said visitors' calls within an eligible country or to Canada will not result in long-distance charges. Rogers...
Rogers appoints Dirk Woessner to head consumer division
Media | 01/19/2015 6:05 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Monday that Dirk Woessner, formerly of Deutsche Telekom AG, has been appointed to head the consumer side of its business. Rogers CEO Guy Laurence reorganized the...
CRTC, spectrum auctions among major wireless issues for 2015: analysts
telecom | 12/18/2014 6:01 pm EST
As the new year approaches, Canadian wireless carriers of all sizes await a CRTC decision on domestic roaming that could, in the words of one analyst, “disrupt” the industry with...
‘Weak’ advertising market here to stay: experts
Media | 11/18/2014 10:18 pm EST
Canada’s largest media companies take it as a given that the current market for advertising on traditional broadcast media is weak, but experts say broadcasting is shifting to a new normal as online advertising becomes the...
Rogers’ Laurence deals with top customer problem — roaming
telecom | 11/07/2014 10:09 pm EST
With Rogers Communications Inc. focusing on improving its relationship with and reputation among customers, Friday's announcement of a $5-a-day roaming plan in the United States gets to the heart of what CEO Guy Laurence said was the biggest issue among Rogers' wireless subscribers when he joined the company....
Rogers takes aim at youth with Vice partnership
Media | 10/30/2014 9:27 pm EDT
When Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence wore a leather jacket to the announcement of his company's latest project —a $100 million joint venture with Vice Media Inc. —the unconventional outfit emphasized...
Bell complaint could thwart Rogers’ hockey strategy: analyst
Media | 10/27/2014 5:54 pm EDT
Notwithstanding Guy Lawrence's recent remarks about rival BCE Inc. being a "crybaby," a market analyst says Rogers Communications Inc.’s strategy for NHL streaming could be affected by Bell's recent CRTC complaint. The analysis follows last week’s complaint by Bell that Rogers is contravening...
Cable giants’ results show cord-cutting continues
Media | 10/23/2014 9:12 pm EDT
Canada's two biggest cable companies on Thursday reported losses of more than 100,000 television subscribers each over the last year. Roger Communications Inc.'s earnings release showed that it had 2.04 million TV subscribers at the end of the third quarter on Sept. 30, down 111,000 from a year earlier. Shaw...
Rogers poaches Nitin Kawale from Cisco
Media | 10/17/2014 2:47 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. announced Friday that Nitin Kawale will head its enterprise unit starting Dec. 1. Kawale, who joins the company after six years as president of the Canadian division of Cisco Systems Inc., will have...
Rogers takes aim at Telus, Bell network sharing
telecom | 10/01/2014 9:19 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — It's not always a case of the wireless incumbents battling newer entrants; Wednesday's session of the CRTC hearing into the wholesale wireless market featured one of the big three throwing its two closest competitors under the bus. Representatives from Rogers Communications Inc. made the case on the third day of the week-long hearing that rivals Telus Corp. and BCE Inc., which have a comprehensive network-sharing agreement, should be forced to negotiate with smaller carriers as two separate companies. Rogers vice-president of regulatory affairs Ken Engelhart...
Shomi not meant to ‘kill Netflix’: Rogers CEO
Media | 09/17/2014 8:17 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence told a CIBC investor conference in Montreal on Wednesday that his company's upcoming over-the-top (OTT) programming service, Shomi, isn't meant to be the ultimate solution for streaming users. "We're not trying to kill Netflix here," he said. "This is a...
Rogers posts double-digit drop in earnings
Media | 07/24/2014 2:57 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. on Thursday posted a double-digit decline its second-quarter earnings compared to the same period last year in its first quarterly report since announcing its corporate overhaul in May. The company...
Rogers CEO wants telecoms to stop wasting users’ time
Media | 06/16/2014 5:48 pm EDT
TORONTO — Rogers Communications Inc. CEO Guy Laurence says the telecom industry has wasted Canadians’ time. He said in a speech to the Canadian Telecom Summit Monday that complexity in...
Rogers announces new direction to combat customer flight
Media | 05/23/2014 9:03 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. on Friday released a “comprehensive” plan to overhaul its customer service and restructure its corporate hierarchy. CEO Guy Laurence, who took over the job in...
Rogers’ Boynton, Stoneham depart as corporate revamp set
Media | 05/22/2014 6:30 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. said two senior officials in its marketing operations have left the company in advance of CEO Guy Laurence announcing a new corporate strategy to employees on Friday. In an email to The Wire Report, Rogers spokeswoman Patricia Trott said John Boynton, chief marketing officer, and Shelagh Stoneham, senior vice-president of brands and marketing communications, “have left the company. We’re doing some restructuring of the marketing organization. The company thanks them for their years of service.” Stoneham’s LinkedIn profile shows she had been...
Rogers’ quarterly financials show decline
Media | 04/22/2014 2:58 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. took a hit in this year’s first quarter in both revenue and profit numbers, according to results released Monday. The company said it had $3.02 billion in operating revenue for the three months...
Rogers paid almost $40 million to CEOs last year
Media | 04/17/2014 4:47 pm EDT
The incoming and outgoing CEOs of Rogers Communications Inc. racked up almost $40 million in total compensation last year, according to an information circular filed ahead of its annual general meeting next week. That included a...
Rogers lobbied PM Harper in busy February
Media | 03/18/2014 6:09 pm EDT
Rogers Communications Inc. had the ear of some of the highest officials in the federal government in early February, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper communicated with Rogers on Feb. 5, according to information in...