Bell and Rogers Make a Deal

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) have agreed to sell 75 per cent ownership to Bell Canada and Rogers Communication for a reported $1.32 billion. The two companies will each own 37.5 per cent equity interest.

MLSE own the Toronto Marlies, Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and the Toronto FC. They are reported to be the largest entertainment and sports company in Canada. The company also has real estate holdings as well as entertainment assets. These include the Maple Leaf Square condominium and commercial complex, the Air Canada Centre, along with three sports TV channels. MLSE is also the only partner of the NBA in Canada.

The transaction results with Bell and Rogers Media having the TV, digital online, mobile, and broadcast rights to all of the Toronto professional sports teams.

Following the required regulatory and league approvals the financial transaction will most likely close in the middle of 2012.

Bell and Rogers Join Forces And Buy MLSE

Canadians have the choice of using the phone on three different carriers who will subsidize part of the cost of the phone as part of a service agreement or the phone can be purchased at full price as an unlocked phone. Purchasing it unlocked enables buyers to use the cell phone using any carrier that they choose. This freedom comes with a price as the unlocked version of the iPhone 4 will retail for $659 CAD for a 16 GB version and $779 CAD for a 42 GB version. The iPhone 4 when purchased with a plan from one of the three carriers will slash hundreds off the phones cost.

The iPhone 4 in addition to being a cell phone comes with a built in movie player and music player. Also standard on the iPhone 4 are two cameras, a traditional camera for taking pictures and a camera to be used to broadcast the video of the phone’s owner when making video calls.

The iPhone 4 was released nearly two months ago in the United States and has been subject to criticism over the phone’s antenna. Caller’s complained of frequently dropped calls due to design of the phone that causes the phone to lose its signal when held a certain way. Apple is in the process of sending out millions of free rubber covers that will correct the issue after originally releasing a statement telling users to hold the phone a different way.

iPhone 4 Makes Canadian Debut

Shaw Communications is unleashing a new gigabit internet technology for Canada’s high-speed internet access. It is now available to its customers and runs at 100mbps speed. It is called High-Speed Nitro and is being offered by Shaw in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

The service will be offered over Fiber-to-the-Home or FTTH and will be able to support new, emerging internet applications that need faster download speeds.

Peter Bissonnette, president of Shaw Communications, states that this is a game-changing technology on the leading edge of bringing lightning-fast speeds for new network capabilities that will give the company a springboard for other possibilities in the future. “It’s really exciting to think how our customers could benefit from this technology,” he said.

Company sources report that Shaw will be the first provider in Canada to try the Gigabit Internet and plans to launch trial runs in April.

The service will not be cheap, however. The price will be around $150 a month. In Japan, 160-megabit connections sell for $60 a month and 120-megabit speeds sell for $100 a month in parts of Europe. Shaw’s pricing is in-line with many of the prices being charged for internet in the United States, but both the U.S. and Canada have been recently criticized for a lack of competition in broadband, resulting in slower speeds and higher prices than those of their competitors in other parts of the world.

A recent study by Harvard University found Canada to be ranked 22nd out of 30 countries after availability, speeds, and pricing were taken into account. The U.S. placed 13th.

Included in the Harvard study, it was found that European and Asian countries have better broadband because governments have enacted open-access rules that allow internet providers to share infrastructure. Canada and the U.S. focused on promoting so-called “inter-modal” systems where cable and phone companies compete against each other, creating a duopoly in both Canada and the U.S.

The U.S. government is putting together a national broadband plan. Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski proposed the “100 squared” initiative last week, which will have 100 million homes connected to the internet with 100-megabit technology by 2020. The plan is being taken to Congress where the government could get involved in building some of the infrastructure.

Internet search engine giant Google is also building experimental networks that could bring one-gigabit speeds to several U.S. cities and towns which will show what can be done with super-fast speeds.

Shaw To Test Super Awesome 1-Gbps Fiber-Optic Broadband Service

Bell Canada, which in years past has been considered a weak player in Canada’s telecom industry, seems prepared to take a step forward.

While Bell has generally been slow in adapting to technological change, they now seem motivated to adapt to faster technologies.

The Canadian based telecom provider now has plans to bring fibre optics into their customer’s homes and expand their highly desired Internet TV.

Fibre optic cabling is a much faster data conduit than traditional telephone wiring, and should provide a much better service for their customers. The new fibre-to-home product rollout will initially happen in Quebec City, where most telephone wires are supported by telephone poles. This is ideal for Bell Canada because installing the new fibre wires on existing telephone poles is far more inexpensive than digging holes for the wires. Bell Canada also plans on introducing their new technologies to newer homes in the Ontario region.

Cusomters outside of Quebec City and Ontario won’t receive the fiber-to-home product, but instead will receive fiber-to-node connections. With these connections cables are brought near a home and then distributed with copper wiring. The fiber-to-node connection is also considered far superior over the existing network connection.

Two years ago, former Bell Canada CEO, Michael Sabia, announced that Bell Canada would not install the new fibre wiring, which drew heavy criticism from customers and shareholders.

The new CEO, George Cope, made upgrading the company’s networks his top priority and one of the first changes he has made was upgraded to the fibre networking.

Bell To Speed Things Up With More Fibre

In early 2009, the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission began to place mandates on all Canadian cellular providers to offer location-based 911 services by February of this year. Prior to these mandates, a landline phone was easily mapped to determine where a caller was located. You could only determine an approximation of where the person was based on the nearest cell phone tower.

Now, emergency responders will be able to be accurately routed to the nearest emergency response center, which has been achieved by using GPS and triangulation technology to determine the exact longitude and latitude of a person’s whereabouts. However, the accuracy of this new technology will depend on the model of the phone, in addition to the reception in the area where that call might be made. The range will be between 10 and 300 meters of the caller, which in a rural area could have went as far as 20 kilometers prior to the 911 upgrades.

Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC, is pleased that wireless service providers have upgraded their 911 services. Now, Canada is one of a few countries where 911 operators will be able to receive location information the moment a call is made from a cellular device. Canadians’ safety will be improved as a result of these changes.

121 call centers across Canada have used the new technology, but 9 call centers are still experiencing technical issues that will be fixed within the coming weeks, according to the CRTC.

This new technology will also offer emergency responders greater ability to connect to people in the case of an emergency.

Cellular Services In Canada Improve 911 Services

The Bell and Telus companies worked in conjunction to build a superior network for their wireless customers. Customers can expect excellent, uninterrupted service for their Smartphone’s. For people who have iPhones and want to be on a true 3G or 4G network, consider the new high-speed networks available to you. Both companies allow customers to choose from a 3G HSPA or 4G LTE network. Which in simple terms means you will have coverage in a larger area along with virtually instant file transfers, as well as any other online activity. If you are already Telus or Bell customers you are in luck! Both Bell and Telus are offering upgrades to their existing customers.

“This technology evolution is a win for Canadian consumers,” Darren Entwistle, Telus president and CEO, said. “Telus’s investment in next generation wireless services will give our clients more wireless functionality including international roaming, fast network speeds and a compelling selection of globally-compatible handsets and devices. As the next evolution in our multi-network strategy, this initiative will position Telus to actively participate in the future global LTE eco-system and leverage economies of scale, offer timely access to handsets, and enhance global roaming relationships and revenues.”

Bell and Telus are on the right track to a very promising future in the wireless market.

To contact either business please refer to the information below:

Bell Canada : http://www.bell.ca/support/PrsCSrvGnl_ContactUs.page#
Telus : http://www.telusmobility.com/en/

Rogers now has iphone sales competition

Now they have gone one step further. Bell Mobility has announced a brand new mobile device, the Samsung OMNIA II, will be the Official Smart Phone of the 2010 Olympics.

The OMNIA II has a 3.7 inch touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera, built-in WIFI, as well as a free software application that will display real-time events as they unfold during the Olympics. It also sports an impressive collection of Java utilities. Using Java, it allows you to edit photos and videos directly from the device. It also enables access of files in Word, Excell, and PDF formats.

“Our focus for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games is on linking consumers around the world to the Games using Samsung technology in a way that`s not bee done before,” said Paul Brannen, General Manager, Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics Canada. “Samsung will connect fans through its WOW technology, mobile phones and website to enable people to share and celebrate their favourite Olympic `WOW` moments with friends and family.”

Making the OMNIA II the Official Olympic Smart Phone is a logical step for Bell. Developing a video network that fully embraces Internet Video Streaming, as well as supporting a Smart Phone with live feeds from the Olympic events will only bolster Bell’s investments in future technologies.

Bell Mobility Makes The amsung OMNIA II Offical Olympic Phone

Originally, Bell wanted to launch its new wireless network in February, in time for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The work has been faster than expected, the launch took place Monday at noon at a conference of President and CEO of BCE, George Cope.

In two days, Canadians will be able to access the most advanced wireless
network in the world. The launch of our new network – months ahead of schedule – underlines that the Bell team continues to deliver on our strategic imperatives to accelerate wireless in Canada and to invest
in next-generation broadband networks. We move forward every day toward achieving our goal – for Bell to be recognized by customers as Canada’s leading communications company,” Said Cope in a a statement Monday.

The new network will have access speeds up to 21 megabits per second (Mbps). It will serve 93% of Canada’s population in an area of one million square kilometers covering 20 000 cities.

Specifically, the new network for Bell and Telus allows both companies to offer phones like the iPhone from Apple (AAPL) and HSPA key giving access to the Internet wirelessly with a computer, as Rogers (RCI.B ) already does. This also means that those who buy phones compatible with GSM protocols will be used to roaming internationally.

Moreover, the transition to the Long-Term Evolution (LTE), which represents the industry’s future will be facilitated.

Previously, Bell and Telus were using CDMA and EV-DO, not compatible with GSM standards. This limited access to phones like the iPhone, which could only meet the competitor Rogers.

Also on Monday Bell announced the distribution of three new TV channels in Canada: AMC, which offers the popular American series Mad Men, Family Channel and Playhouse Disney.

Bell TV is the first distributor to offer 100 channels of in HD.

Bell's HSPA Network To Go Live Wednesday

Smartphones are fast becoming more and more popular. Bell Mobility has recently announced they will be the carrier of the official handset of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Samsung Omnia II smartphone will be the official device of the Canada games.

The Omnio II features a range of features. Not only will it have Windows Mobile 6.5, but it also comes fully equipped with a 3.7.-inch touchscreen, WiFi captability, and 5 megapixel camera with autofocus capabilities and dual LED flesh features. Additionally, there is a GPS component to the smartphone and a 7.2Mbps UMTS/HSPA.

“As a Premier National Partner and the Exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Bell is excited to announce the exclusive launch of the Samsung OMNIA II touchscreen smartphone, the Official Mobile Device of the Games,” said Adel Bazerghi, Senior Vice President of Products at Bell Mobility.

The smartphone offers a lot of memory, too. Here, one can expect 16GB of internal memory which can be expanded to three times this amount with the help of a 32 GB microSDHC card.

“Breaking ground in multimedia features and performance, OMNIA II promises an unrivaled all-in-one mobile experience even the most demanding smartphone users will enjoy,” said Paul Brannen, General Manager, Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics Canada

With this decision, Bell becomes the first carrier in North America to provide an HSPA version of the touchscreen smartphone on the company’s HSPA network. Because of the group’s relationship to the Winter Olympic Games, Bell Omnia II owners will be able to download and use an app that allows them to keep track of the various events and their outcomes. Additionally, there is a decal for the Omnia II’s back.

Samsung Omnia II

The $6.95 charge has long been seen as a cash grab by consumers who will benefit from the removal of the fee. Although cellular plan charges are going to increase by $5.00 come November 5th, consumers will still see a savings on their bills.

This move will mean that Bell Canada will be the only cellular carrier to retain an access fee. Telus customers have long reviled the charge as a money grab by the cellular company to pad its profits by charging the fee. Telus is the first of the three Canadian cellular carriers to completely drop the fee. Rogers ended its access fee, but added a regulatory recovery fee which was meant to recoup the lost revenue.

Telus will be offering the new plans to its existing customers who will have a choice of switching to the new plan, called the Clear Choice plan, or continuing with their current coverage and continuing to pay the access fee.

Analysts are concerned that the move will end up in cutting into the telecom companies revenuess, but the potential for an increased consumer base from customers switching from their old plans to Telus’ new offerings is seen as a positive potential.

Telus Corp, in what is being called a long overdue move, is cutting the system access fee from its service plans