CRTC expedites anti-competitive complaint against Shaw Go service

The CRTC will consider and expedite a Telus Corp. complaint against Corus Entertainment Inc.’s exclusive handling of Movie Central and HBO content offered on Shaw Communications Inc.'s Shaw Go mobile TV service, the commission said.

CRTC deregulates 35 markets for business lines

The CRTC agreed to a Telus Corp. request to deregulate local telephone competition for business lines in 35 areas in Alberta, B.C. and Quebec and rejected the company’s proposal to deregulate another 54 markets, the commission said Monday.

New provincial laws curbing copper thefts from telcos, companies say

The number of copper thefts from telecom providers has tumbled in British Columbia due to a new provincial law regulating the metal recycling industry, Telus Corp. said.

Telus expands LTE footprint

Telus Corp. turned on its fourth-generation LTE network in more than a dozen areas of British Columbia and Quebec, the company said last week.

In a series of releases, Telus said it had activated its LTE networks in the B.C. communities of Strathmore, Drayton Valley, Surrey, Richmond, North Delta, White Rock, Langley, Maple Ridge, and Pitt Meadows, as well as across the Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Greater Victoria areas.

Competition Bureau suing Big Three over premium text messaging advertisements

The federal Competition Bureau is suing Canada’s three largest wireless carriers for more than $30 million over what it calls “misleading advertising” relating to “premium” text messaging costs.

Court blocks Mason’s attempt to meet with Telus shareholders

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has rejected Mason Capital Management LLC’s latest effort to block Telus Corp.’s plan to consolidate its voting and non-voting shares.

Telus launching legal proceeding to block Mason meeting

Telus Corp. will launch legal proceedings to seek a court order determining that New York-based hedge fund Mason Capital Management LLC’s attempt to hold its own shareholder meeting is “invalid,” the company said Friday.

Telus to retry share conversion in October

Telus Corp. rejected a Mason Capital Management LLC request that the company offer a “mandatory minimum premium” to voting shareholders and will again attempt to consolidate its voting and non-voting shares at a shareholders meeting in October.

In a release Tuesday, Telus said it would convert its non-voting shares into common shares if its latest proposal gains the support of at least two-thirds of its non-voting shareholders and more than half of its voting shareholders at an Oct. 17 meeting.

Social TV functions don’t change broadcast signal: Mainville-Neeson

The CRTC should back off its demand that broadcast distributors apply for the commission’s approval to run social media functions on top of traditional TV programming, Ann Mainville-Neeson, Telus Corp.’s director of broadcast regulations, said in an interview.

CRTC orders Telus to answer foreign ownership questions

The CRTC is giving Telus Corp. until Aug. 24 to answer questions about its foreign ownership levels and the mechanisms it uses to ensure it does not pass federal foreign ownership limits for large telecom providers.

Telus reports lower churn, higher ARPU in Q2

Telus Corp. reported 112,000 net additions to its postpaid wireless subscribers in the three-month period ending June 30 due to its “best churn rate in over five years,” the company said in a quarterly financial statement Friday.

The additions to Telus’ postpaid wireless service represented a 22 per cent rise since the same three-month period a year earlier and helped to compensate for a loss of 26,000 lower-value prepaid subscribers, the company said.

Manley joins Telus board

Telus Corp. has appointed Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) president and CEO John Manley to its board of directors, the company said Friday.

A former MP in the House of Commons from 1988 to 2004, Manley served as a cabinet minister in prime minister Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Manley at different times headed the industry, foreign affairs, and finance portfolios.

Telus still faces foreign ownership questions, Wind says

Wind Mobile has reiterated its call for a CRTC-led public review of Telus Corp.’s foreign investment levels and the mechanisms Telus uses to ensure it does not pass federal foreign ownership restrictions.

Competition Bureau investigating Bell Media carriage agreements: court documents

The federal Competition Bureau is investigating whether BCE Inc. is using its stable of “high-demand television” channels to place “anti-competitive” restrictions on competing broadcast distributors, documents filed with the Federal Court show.

Telus to invest $8.4 million in Atlantic Canada

Telus Corp. will invest $8.4 million over three years to support “advanced technology” in Atlantic Canada, including fourth-generation LTE wireless services in Halifax, the company said Wednesday.

In a release, Telus said it will invest $5 million in Nova Scotia directly, including $3.8 million in the Halifax region to support LTE services. The company said the investment means it will hire 65 people in Atlantic Canada.

Bell, distributors, resolve carriage dispute; CRTC decision introduces more channel package flexibility

The CRTC issued a “precedent-setting” decision that will afford Telus Corp. and other broadcast distributors more channel packaging flexibility and give consumers more choice over the channels they pay for, said Kevin Crull, president of Bell Media.

Telus could shed foreign shares if necessary: Canaccord

Efforts by Mason Capital Management LLC to “turn the heat up” in its dispute with Telus Corp. could come back to hurt it if Telus is forced to take action to relieve a glut of foreign-owned voting shares, Dvai Ghose, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, said in a research note this week.

Telus-Bell spectrum sharing unfair, leads to larger, superior 700 MHz blocks: Rogers

Telus Corp. and BCE Inc.'s spectrum sharing agreement will allow the companies to combine their 700 MHz spectrum licensed in next year's auction and build superior 20 MHz blocks supporting fourth-generation wireless technologies, leaving Rogers Communications Inc. and other carriers at a competitive disadvantage, Rogers said in comments filed with the department.

Foreign ownership proceeding on Telus for better industry guidance, Wind says

Wind Mobile wants the CRTC to hold a hearing on Telus Corp.'s compliance with the foreign ownership rules for better “guidance” on how to comply with the law, Simon Lockie, Wind’s chief regulatory officer, said in an interview.

MLSE deal gives Bell, Rogers, unfair leverage to hike carriage rates, independents say

A joint bid by BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. to purchase a controlling stake in Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) will give the two companies unfair leverage to hike their sports channels' carriage fees, independent broadcast distributors said in documents filed with the CRTC this week.

TV app development a new opportunity for media companies: Report

Canadian digital media companies tend to be small and face problems finding private-sector financing, but new opportunities like TV app development continue to arise, new consultants’ reports released by the Canada Media Fund said.

Wind targets business market with aim to become new national carrier

Wind Mobile is preparing to court Canadian businesses as it moves into the next phase of its push to become a fourth national wireless carrier, Anthony Lacavera, Wind’s chairman and CEO, told The Wire Report this week.

U.S. broadcasters lobbying CRTC on signal regime

Four U.S. broadcasters have hired an Ottawa firm to lobby the CRTC on its distant signals regime as Canada's Supreme Court considers a decision that could impact the system.

Tower siting regulations must change to alleviate local political pressure, builder says

Canada’s cellphone tower siting regulations make communities believe they have the power to decide where a tower can be built even if those powers reside exclusively with the federal government, said Edward Hachey, vice president of tower operator SBA Canada.

Companies, groups, to watch Blais in early days for indications of regulatory approach

Broadcasters and telecom providers will watch upcoming CRTC decisions for any indications of what direction its new chair will take towards industry regulation, industry insiders told The Wire Report on Monday.

Telus to expand Optik footprint in eastern Quebec

Telus Corp. will spend about $30 million a year for at least the next three years to bolster its fibre-based Internet protocol television (IPTV) service in parts of eastern Quebec where it operates as the incumbent telco, Clement Audet, the company’s vice-president of the consumer market in Quebec, said in an interview.

Revenues up, profits down at large broadcasters’ specialty channels

Canada’s six largest private broadcasters' specialty channel revenues collectively rose by $193.8 million in 2011, or 8.53 per cent, as pre-tax profits fell by $40 million, an analysis of aggregated CRTC data shows.

Telus, MTS so far met 30-60% of rural broadband obligations, Bell lagging, Katz says

TORONTO—MTS Allstream Inc. and Telus Corp. are leading in the rollout of broadband for remote communities under a 2010 CRTC directive while BCE Inc. subsidiaries Bell Canada and Bell Aliant are falling behind, Len Katz, acting chair of the CRTC, told The Wire Report Tuesday at the 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit.

Telus tops TV subscriber growth in 2011; Shaw, Rogers, lose subs

Telus Communications Co. added 194,802 TV subscribers during 2011, the most of all the major Canadian TV distributors, according to a year-end analysis of TV subscriber numbers by The Wire Report. 

Quebec, Saskatchewan lead on provincial funding for broadband development

Quebec and Saskatchewan are leading all provinces in public funding for broadband, with other provinces hundreds of millions of dollars behind, according to an analysis of provincial broadband spending by The Wire Report.

Analysts pick top telcos to watch in 2012

Telus Communications Co., Cogeco Inc. and Quebecor Media Inc. are  some of the telcos best-positioned for growth and strong profits in 2012, analysts say.