TAGGED AS COGECO INC.
BPF registers to lobby amidst consumer group funding concerns
Media | 12/14/2017 2:25 pm EST
A few months after the emergence of a proposal asking the CRTC to shift funding away from the Broadcast Participation Fund (BPF), the organization that helps bring consumer interests in front of the commission has filed its first registrations to lobby the regulator and the...
Rogers potential sale of Blue Jays, other assets could net $4B: Canaccord
Media | 12/06/2017 2:09 pm EST
The sale of non-core assets Rogers Communications Inc. said it is considering could be worth $4 billion to the company after taxes, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst...
CRTC denies Rogers request for OMNI local programming relief
Media | 11/28/2017 12:54 pm EST
The CRTC has denied Rogers Communications Inc.’s request to amend a May...
Millimetre wave spectrum set-asides harmful to 5G potential: telcos
telecom | 11/27/2017 5:51 pm EST
The issue of set-asides has resurfaced in replies to a consultation on...
Over 300 Mbps speed adoption ‘accelerating’ in Toronto: Barclays
telecom | 11/21/2017 6:08 pm EST
More customers in Toronto are adopting internet speeds over 300 Mbps, and the trend looks to be picking up pace as competition heats up in that market, according to Barclays Capital. With...
Cogeco revenue up, profits dip in Q4
telecom | 11/03/2017 4:27 pm EDT
In its quarterly results released on Friday, Cogeco Inc. reported overall revenues for the three-month...
Videotron takes Wholesale Code dispute with Rogers to CRTC
Media | 10/05/2017 6:27 pm EDT
Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC over a disagreement with Rogers Communications Inc. concerning carriage of some sports-focused TV channels.
It’s accusing Rogers of violating the CRTC’s Wholesale Code by insisting the carriage...
Bell ‘heartened’ by CRTC chair statements, CEO says
telecom | 09/27/2017 5:09 pm EDT
BCE Inc.’s top man George Cope said the company likes new CRTC head Ian Scott’s approach to balancing consumer and business interests....
Regional players shouldn’t qualify for spectrum set asides: Bell, Rogers
telecom | 09/12/2017 5:54 pm EDT
Two of Canada’s largest telecom companies aren’t overly enthusiastic...
High interim tariffs, logistics still mire disaggregated system
telecom | 08/31/2017 5:13 pm EDT
The CRTC's goal of fuelling wireline competition by jumpstarting the...
Small ISPs welcome rollout of disaggregated wholesale regime
telecom | 08/29/2017 6:17 pm EDT
The CRTC kickstarted the industry’s move to a disaggregated wholesale...
Cord-cutting trend slows in first half of year: Boon Dog
telecom | 08/14/2017 2:23 pm EDT
Fewer people cut their TV subscriptions in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, according to new research by research and consulting firm Boon Dog Professional Services...
Court rules in favour of telecoms in Gatineau access agreement dispute
telecom | 08/09/2017 12:19 pm EDT
The Quebec Superior Court has ruled that aspects of municipal access agreements between telecom providers and Gatineau, Que., are invalid because they impose on Parliament’s jurisdiction over...
Cogeco’s U.S. cable prospects more promising: Barclays
telecom | 07/17/2017 2:40 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. can look to cable in the United States to see sustained growth compared to a harsher cable market in Canada, according to Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang. “Relative to...
Cogeco reports higher revenues and profit in Q3
Media | 07/14/2017 3:11 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. reported stronger revenues and profits for its fiscal third quarter, the first earnings...
Cogeco expands U.S. biz with MetroCast buy
Media | 07/10/2017 1:08 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is again expanding its U.S. footprint, with the announcement Monday that it would purchase the remaining cable assets from Harron Communications LP’s MetroCast.
The $1.4-billion US acquisition is being handled under Cogeco’s subsidiary Atlantic...
STB data measurement complex task, group says
Media | 06/30/2017 2:23 pm EDT
Activity by a working group tasked with studying the implementation of an audience measurement system via...
TMN Go to offer downloads
Media | 06/29/2017 3:58 pm EDT
TMN Go, the TV-everywhere service from BCE Inc.’s media division, will begin allowing viewers to download content for offline viewing.
The service will be available to...
Cogeco expands 1GB service
telecom | 06/13/2017 5:46 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has launched its 1GB Internet service in Quebec for the first time, making gigabit speeds available in Trois-Rivières.
It said in a press release Tuesday that...
‘Alternative video’ services more satisfying than pay TV: study
Media | 06/08/2017 3:10 pm EDT
Non-traditional TV subscribers, such as those who use over-the-top (OTT) services, are more satisfied than those with traditional pay-TV subscriptions, a new J.D. Power survey suggested. Customers...
Bains tells CRTC to reconsider MVNO rules
telecom | 06/05/2017 1:51 pm EDT
TORONTO — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains is directing the CRTC to reconsider a March decision in which it set rules for regulated wholesale roaming by wireless providers in a move that could change the landscape around mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in...
5G to be ‘crowded playground,’ conference hears
telecom | 05/31/2017 5:35 pm EDT
GATINEAU, Que. — New entrants and existing service providers that...
CRTC to review pick-and-pay rollout in Oct.
Media | 05/18/2017 5:07 pm EDT
The CRTC will hold a hearing on a number of broadcast distribution undertakings’ [BDUs] licence renewal...
Terrebonne asks CRTC for help with access agreement
Media | 05/18/2017 2:38 pm EDT
Another Canadian municipality is turning to the CRTC after failing to agree on a municipal access...
Quality of service regime needed for wholesale Internet: CNOC
telecom | 04/27/2017 6:51 pm EDT
Small Internet service providers (ISPs) and advocacy groups are asking the CRTC to put in place protections regarding the quality of service they and their customers receive when buying wholesale...
Gatineau says it can’t reach access agreement with telecoms
telecom | 04/20/2017 6:21 pm EDT
The city of Gatineau, Que., is turning to the CRTC to approve its municipal access agreement after BCE Inc., Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, Rogers Communications Inc., Telus...
5G wireless substitution ‘not in the cards,’ says Cogeco’s Audet
Media | 04/07/2017 8:14 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Friday that he’s not concerned about customers substituting wireline Internet service with wireless with the advent of 5G, and that the company...
Cogeco fined $84K for breach of contract clause
telecom | 03/31/2017 8:44 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has been fined for being offside of Quebec consumer protection rules by changing a contract without notifying the customer, the province’s consumer watchdog said Friday. The Consumer Protection Bureau...
Quebec union ‘disappointed’ budgets didn’t address taxation imbalance
Media | 03/29/2017 8:58 pm EDT
A Quebec union representing communications sector employees said it is disappointed with both the federal and provincial budgets, saying that in “both cases, no action has been taken to counter...
No clear winner in cableco, telco fibre ‘investment race’: Moody’s
telecom | 03/22/2017 7:24 pm EDT
Canada’s telecommunications companies will continue to invest heavily to improve their networks’ fibre-optic infrastructure, driving competition between the telcos and the cablecos that will reach “unprecedented levels,” a Moody’s Investors Service report predicted. But what Moody’s called the “investment race” in the report, released Tuesday, will be too close to call a winner, it said. “Canada’s particular market structure and competitive landscape dictate these capital investment decisions, with cross-platform competition between the [telcos] and cable companies creating a particular set of risks and...
Cogeco launches 4K PVR
Media | 03/21/2017 5:06 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has launched a new 4K personal video recorder (PVR) to allow its subscribers to record and watch content at four times the resolution of high-definition TV. “This evolution in our offering is consistent with our ongoing commitment to better meet the changing needs of our...
TV subscriber losses steady, wireless adds at record high in 2016
telecom | 03/16/2017 9:10 pm EDT
Following a year in which cord-cutting increased sharply, the trend seems to have levelled out somewhat in 2016, with Canada’s publicly traded telecoms losing 220,990 TV subscribers, compared to...
Telecoms bond over stirring proposals to shake up call spoofing
telecom | 03/03/2017 7:18 pm EST
Technologies identified by the CRTC as potential tools to combat spoofed and nuisance calls have promise, but barriers to their deployment mean they’re not likely to be put in place any time...
Mandating co-location would be a barrier to competition: CNOC
telecom | 01/24/2017 9:57 pm EST
An application by BCE Inc. asking the CRTC not to require the implementation of meet-me points through which smaller companies could connect to the telco’s network, if granted, would...
Cogeco shifting data centre strategy due to Amazon, Microsoft: Audet
Media | 01/12/2017 9:56 pm EST
MONTREAL — Moves by Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. into the Canadian data centre business won’t compete directly with Cogeco Inc., which is changing its data centre strategy by focusing on a different type of client, CEO Louis Audet told reporters Thursday. In response to a question about how Cogeco would compete given the opening of a data centre by Amazon in Montreal in December and Microsoft’s opening of centres in Toronto...
As online video, data transmissions grow, need for CDNs expanding
Media | 01/09/2017 9:18 pm EST
Last month, Amazon.com Inc. announced that its data centre business was expanding into Canada, a move that illustrates what some say is the need for more data points as an increasing amount...
Avoid ISP tax, tweak CanCon rules, companies say in Heritage review
Media | 12/19/2016 6:10 pm EST
There isn’t much disagreement between some of the country’s biggest media and telecom service providers over whether foreign entities, such as over-the-top providers like Netflix...
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...
Companies launching pick-and-pay ahead of new rules
Media | 11/30/2016 9:21 pm EST
Rogers Communications Inc. and Cogeco Inc. have introduced their line-up of stand-alone TV channels a day ahead of the CRTC’s deadline requiring them to do so. The cost for individual channels with Rogers...
Cogeco launches gigabit service in Ontario markets
telecom | 11/23/2016 9:27 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. is now offering gigabit Internet, starting with Oakville and Burlington, Ont., with the launch of its UltraFibre 1Gig service, it announced in a Wednesday press release. It is the company’s first...
U.S. operations boost Q4 for Cogeco
Media | 11/03/2016 7:43 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. saw a 3.2-per-cent increase in revenue to hit $572 million for the final quarter of fiscal 2016, the company reported Wednesday. In a press release, Cogeco said the growth was driven by its communications...
Wholesale rate decision could lead to focus on flanker brands, analysts say
telecom | 10/07/2016 8:17 pm EDT
In the days after the CRTC issued a decision that lowered wholesale wireline Internet rates proposed by large Internet Service Providers (ISPs), financial analysts said the large telecoms could...
iHeartRadio launches in Canada
Media | 10/07/2016 4:56 pm EDT
iHeartMedia Inc.'s free digital radio and music streaming service is now available in Canada, according to a press release from BCE Inc.’s media division. The free app, iHeartRadio, is available on a preview basis...
CRTC’s lowering of HSA rates means small ISPs ‘free to innovate’: CNOC
telecom | 10/06/2016 8:00 pm EDT
The CRTC has set revised interim wholesale rates for high-speed access (HSA) services, criticizing large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for proposing “unreasonable” rates that were too high, in a move small ISPs say leaves them “free to innovate.” The commission said in a press release after analyzing the tariffs the large companies proposed to charge smaller providers for wholesale wireline Internet access, it “is of the view that the rates proposed by...
Court says Cogeco can’t claim ‘best Internet’
telecom | 10/04/2016 8:45 pm EDT
An Ontario Superior Court judge has granted an injunction requested by BCE Inc. forbidding Cogeco Inc. from claiming that it has the “best Internet experience in your neighbourhood.” In a Sept. 26...
Reddit reaction to differential pricing overwhelmingly critical
Media | 09/30/2016 8:07 pm EDT
Users of Reddit Inc.’s website have largely railed against differential pricing in a discussion initated by the CRTC, with an overwhelming number of comments on the social platform expressing...
500 Canadian radio stations to be available through app
Media | 09/28/2016 5:28 pm EDT
Radio stations from some of Canada’s biggest broadcasters—including Rogers Communications Inc., Cogeco Inc., Newcap Inc., and Corus Entertainment Inc., among...
Differing opinions on how to guide differential pricing, interventions show
telecom | 09/23/2016 8:09 pm EDT
Even among those who support differential pricing practices such as zero rating and sponsoring data, there isn’t a consensus as to how they should be regulated by CRTC, according to additional...
Data consumption, competitive pressures headline investor conference
Media | 09/21/2016 9:17 pm EDT
Canada’s biggest telcos told investors Wednesday that they are seeing growth in wireless data usage on the first of a two-day conference hosted by CIBC World Markets. BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., alongside Cogeco Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc., participated in a discussion with CIBC analyst Robert Bek at the annual Eastern Institutional Investor Conference in Montreal about wireline and wireless trends and how the companies have been able to meet the...
FTTH access plan ‘consistent’ but ‘disappointing’: indie ISPs
telecom | 09/20/2016 9:52 pm EDT
The CRTC has missed an opportunity to foster innovation among telecom competitors as it moves forward in the implementation of mandated wholesale access by smaller Internet service providers (ISPs) to...
Advocacy groups, telecoms agree with CRTC on website blocking
telecom | 09/19/2016 6:54 pm EDT
Reponses filed with the CRTC last week by consumer, advocacy and industry groups indicate that all parties support the CRTC’s preliminary view on Quebec’s Bill 74, which would block access...
Luc Noiseux named Cogeco chief technology officer
Media | 08/23/2016 2:37 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. said Monday it appointed Luc Noiseux as the company’s new senior vice president and chief technology and strategy officer. Noiseux, whose appointment was effective Monday, joined the company...
Louise St-Pierre leaving Cogeco Connexion
Media | 08/12/2016 7:20 pm EDT
The head of Cogeco Inc.’s Canadian division is retiring after more than 17 years with the company, the company announced Friday. Louise St-Pierre, Cogeco Connexion president and CEO, will step down as...
Bell buys Q9 amidst increasing data centre competition: analysts
telecom | 08/08/2016 9:16 pm EDT
BCE Inc. announced Monday it is buying out its fellow investors in Q9 Networks Inc., a data centre operator in which it currently holds a 35.4-per-cent stake, in a move that analysts...
Community TV complaints deferred: CACTUS
Media | 08/03/2016 7:05 pm EDT
The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) said Wednesday it’s unhappy with the CRTC’s decision to put off complaints about alleged broadcast distribution undertakings’...
CRTC says not issuing decision yet in wholesale rate dispute
telecom | 07/18/2016 10:20 pm EDT
Two large wholesale Internet service providers (ISPs) are asking the CRTC to dismiss the Canadian Network Operators Consortium’s (CNOC) request to decline interim approval of wholesale rate...
Cogeco reports higher revenues, takes a hit from Peer 1
telecom | 07/07/2016 9:20 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. reported higher overall revenues for the third quarter, but a write-down on its Peer 1 business pulled on the reins. The Montreal-based company reported its earnings for Q3, which...
Quebec City lawsuit against Cogeco dismissed
Media | 06/22/2016 8:49 pm EDT
The Quebec Superior Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Cogeco Inc., determining the suit was abusive under section 51 of Quebec’s code of civil procedure. The City of Quebec had sued Cogeco, its CEO, Louis Audet, as well as Richard Renaud, director of Quebec’s CJMF FM-93 radio station, for comments made on one of its morning broadcasts regarding a report published by the province’s Charbonneau commission on corruption in the construction sector....
CRTC ‘rebalances’ TV system funds; up to $90M available for local news
Media | 06/15/2016 10:44 pm EDT
The CRTC has established new funding for local television news in a decision on its local and community TV hearing, though advocates expressed concern that the changes won’t happen quickly...
Cogeco Connexion brings FTTH to Laurentides
telecom | 06/08/2016 12:13 am EDT
Cogeco Inc. announced it is making a $1.4-million investment in the Laurentides region of Quebec to expand its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network. In a Monday press release, Cogeco Connexion said the expansion would...
Pick-and-pay drives customer satisfaction: J.D. Power
Media | 06/03/2016 3:26 pm EDT
A new J.D. Power survey has found customers who have a skinny-basic TV package with a pick-and-pay option are more satisfied than TV customers with other types of subscriptions. Satisfaction among skinny-basic customers was 761...
Quebec online gambling law would have ‘huge’ costs for ISPs: CWTA
telecom | 05/26/2016 9:57 pm EDT
New Quebec legislation forcing Internet service providers (ISPs) to block certain online gambling websites from being accessed in the province could put smaller ISPs out of business, industry reps...
Cogeco launches public WiFi in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls
telecom | 05/18/2016 6:21 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. has launched a free public WiFi network with more than 360 hotspots in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, Ont., the company said Wednesday. Access to the network is free for Cogeco Connexion high-speed Internet customers and non-customers can log in as guests for a free trial, the company said in a press release. The hotspots are available in retail shops, restaurants and professional services “along high-traffic streets” in the core of the city, Cogeco said, adding that the network was “largely built by leveraging” the company’s business...
Cogeco sued by former Quebec politician
Media | 05/10/2016 6:56 pm EDT
Former Quebec deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau is suing Cogeco Inc.’s media division for wrongful dismissal, according to media reports. Radio-Canada reported Monday that Normandeau has filed a lawsuit...
Cogeco Connexion expanding FTTH network in Quebec
telecom | 05/10/2016 3:54 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. said Friday it is investing about $250,000 to expand its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network to residents in Quebec’s Orford Township. The expansion will serve “several homes in the...
Customers say skinny basic not worthwhile: study
Media | 04/15/2016 4:57 pm EDT
More than 66,000 Canadians have signed up for a skinny-basic TV package since its rollout on March 1, according to the CRTC. In a Friday press release, the regulator said a third of those who signed up also took...
Cogeco launches business-specific TV bundles
telecom | 03/30/2016 5:47 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. is now offering TV packages aimed at business customers. In a Tuesday press release, the company said the new channel bundles were "specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses and...
Cogeco launches WiFi hotspots in Kingston, Ont.
telecom | 03/15/2016 5:45 pm EDT
Cocego Inc. announced Thursday it has launched about 100 WiFi hotspots in Kingston, Ont. It said in the press release that Cogeco has been building its public WiFi network in the past year and that the service will be available at “retail shops, restaurants and professional services offices alongside high-traffic streets.” The service is...
Telecoms’ TV customer losses up five-fold in 2015
telecom | 03/10/2016 10:22 pm EST
The number of subscribers leaving the Canadian TV system appears to be accelerating, as Canada’s publicly traded telecom companies lost five times more TV subscribers in 2015 than a year earlier. They reported having...
CRTC schedules basic service hearing for April 11-28
telecom | 03/09/2016 5:29 pm EST
The CRTC’s basic telecom services hearing will take place between April 11 and April 28, lasting almost three weeks. The regulator said in an undated agenda posted to its website, which it linked to in a post on Twitter...
Stingray buys in-store audio company for $2M
Media | 02/25/2016 5:14 pm EST
Stingray Digital Group Inc. has bought Numedia, a company that provides technology used by retail stores to play in-store audio. The company said in a press release Wednesday that the deal is worth $2 million. According to...
City of Quebec sues Cogeco for defamation
Media | 02/03/2016 9:27 pm EST
The City of Quebec is suing Cogeco Inc., its CEO, Louis Audet, as well as Richard Renaud, director of Quebec’s CJMF FM-93 radio station, for defamation. The municipality said in a French press release Wednesday that it’s seeking $1 million in compensation for defamatory comments that were allegedly made against the city during a radio show. The comments, made during a morning broadcast on CJMF by Sylvain Bouchard on Nov. 25, were regarding a report published by the province’s Charbonneau commission on corruption in the construction sector, the press release said. The...
Cogeco expands FTTH network in Quebec
telecom | 02/01/2016 9:37 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. announced Monday it is investing $250,000 to roll out its fibre-to-the-home service to residential and business clients in Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane, Que., which is about 400 kilometres north...
Cogeco looking to expand in the U.S. cable market: Audet
Media | 01/13/2016 9:48 pm EST
MONTREAL — Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Wednesday that the company will prioritize its U.S. cable and Internet business over a potential wireless initiative in Canada. Speaking to reporters...
Cogeco sells out-of-home division to Bell
Media | 01/05/2016 9:37 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. has sold its Cogeco Métromédia, which focuses on out-of-home advertising in the public transit sector, to BCE Inc.'s media division, Cogeco said in a press release. The release, issued Tuesday, did...
Rob Farina leaves Rogers after reported record label spat
Media | 11/20/2015 4:28 pm EST
Rob Farina has resigned as vice-president of content with Rogers Communications Inc.'s media division, the company has confirmed, following a report he called for a boycott of a record company he...
Copyright Board increases distant TV tariff
Media | 12/02/2013 8:47 pm EST
The Copyright Board of Canada has established a new tariff rate for the retransmission of distant television signals between 2009 and 2013, raising the total amount owed for such signals this year by about $15 million, the board said. In a decision released Friday, the Copyright Board said it will require television service providers to pay an additional six to 13 cents per subscriber each month in tariffs for distant television signals, which are signals not considered local. The decision applies to all organizations that retransmit TV signals, except those considered small retransmission systems, unscrambled low-power television stations and multichannel multipoint distribution systems, for which distant TV signal tariffs remain the same, the decision said. The board said the changes...
Cogeco partners with non-profit network in Quebec
telecom | 11/29/2013 9:12 pm EST
Cogeco Inc. subsidiary Cogeco Cable Canada said Friday it has reached an agreement with a non-profit operator of a fibre-optic network in Quebec’s Mauricie region to provide high-speed Internet, phone and digital-TV services...
Cogeco to launch pick-and-pay TV outside Quebec next year: Audet
Media | 11/28/2013 10:02 pm EST
MONTREAL—When Cogeco Inc. introduced its pick-and-pay cable-TV offering in Quebec a decade ago, it had to find a balance between profitability and satisfying customers, and the challenge will be...
CRTC consulting on Rogers, Cogeco corporate reorganization
Media | 11/12/2013 8:19 pm EST
The CRTC is consulting on an application by Rogers Communications Inc. and an application by Cogeco Inc. subsidiary Cogeco Diffusion, the commission said in a notice Tuesday. It said Rogers had...
IPTV drives up TV subscriptions: report
telecom | 11/12/2013 4:53 pm EST
After three straight quarters of declining television subscriptions in Canada, publicly traded companies gained a record number of Internet-protocol television (IPTV) buyers, according to a report by Boon Dog Professional Services...
Cogeco profits, subscribers fall
telecom | 07/11/2013 9:07 pm EDT
Cogeco Inc. posted a profit of $55.1 million in the third quarter, falling from the $55.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier, the company said in an earnings statement Thursday. Profits fell despite an increase in...