DOCSLIB.ORG

Cantel 1983–1993

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cantel 1983–1993 Wireless in Wonderland Canadians Cut The Cord CANTEL 1983–1993 GEORGE A. FIERHELLER One Approach to a Mobile Phone © 2010 George Fierheller. All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce in any form must first be secured from George Fierheller through the publisher. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Fierheller, George A., 1933- Wireless in wonderland : Canadians cut the cord : CANTEL 1983-1993 / George A. Fierheller. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-897486-11-5 1. Cellular telephone services industry--Canada. 2. Wireless communication systems--Canada. 3. Cantel (Firm). 4. Fierheller, George A., 1933-. I. Title. HE9715.C2F53 2010 384.5'350971 C2010-900332-2 Cover design by Lina Di Nardo Moss [email protected] Produced and printed by Stewart Publishing & Printing Markham, Ontario, Canada L3P 2X3 Tel: 905-294-4389 [email protected] www.stewartbooks.com WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND 3 “History will treat me kindly for I intend to write it” - Winston Churchill “Me too” - George Fierheller 4 WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND It is easy if you look at it this way... WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND 5 What’s Inside Dedication..........................................................................................................8 To my friend and associate, the late Ted Rogers who talked me into spending ten years in a field I knew nothing about. Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................9 The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of people who know anything about the field Other Stuff ......................................................................................................10 My opinions on everything else. CANTEL in Context ......................................................................................12 An obnoxious upstart starts up. PART ONE In The Beginning Starting at the Start ........................................................................................15 For most of human history, communication has been wireless. A Wired World................................................................................................21 Blame Morse and Bell for the streets always being torn up. Cutting the Cord ............................................................................................27 The Canadian connection to wireless. Wireless on the Waves....................................................................................31 Well, waves over the waves to be more precise. Phony Phones..................................................................................................32 If car phones looked promising, the fraud artists promised to look. The Spectre of Spectrum ..............................................................................35 A scarce, and therefore valuable, commodity. They aren’t making any more of it! Mobile on the Move ......................................................................................37 As might be expected, the move to mobile communications was led by the police and military. Why Cellular Sells ..........................................................................................39 Capacity creates demand. Cellular Size ....................................................................................................41 Size matters. Background to the Bidding............................................................................43 The process of opening up North America to cellular begins. 6 WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND PART TWO Let The Games Begin The Coming of CANTEL..............................................................................47 The founding partners are in place and I get placed as President and CEO. The Game Begins............................................................................................51 The bids are in, who knows who will win. The Cellular Series ........................................................................................63 All we had really won was the task of proving we deserved to win. A Man of Steel ................................................................................................67 CANTEL builds its team under its new President, Walter Steel, and Nick Kauser builds our network. Prioritizing the Priorities ................................................................................71 The headache of headstart and other challenges such as paying for the whole process. Switching Switches ..........................................................................................77 NovAtel was going nowhere. We switch switch suppliers. The Massé Mess..............................................................................................79 In the middle of all this, the federal government changes. Selling Cellular ................................................................................................81 We decide to sell through agents – The CANTEL Service Centres. Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory..................................................85 When everything was going well, the partners decide to fire Walter Steel PART THREE Back In The Cellular Saddle The Next Cellular Cycle ................................................................................89 I was back as President and CEO, concentrating on the network build, marketing and morale Calling CANTEL............................................................................................95 Building equity in the name despite some network challenges. Momentum Through Motivation ..................................................................97 The company can only move as fast as its staff. How could I ‘keep them flying’? WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND 7 The Next Network ........................................................................................103 New phones lead to new network needs. Safety First ....................................................................................................105 Cellular safety becomes a big issue and a big headache for me. Every Speck of Spectrum ............................................................................107 CANTEL moves beyond voice to data and digital. Controlling CANTEL ..................................................................................109 Ted takes over. PART FOUR Room At The Top The Florida Fling ..........................................................................................113 The place to be in ’93. New Names for the 90s ................................................................................114 Jim Sward takes on the job of President and COO and I move back to being Chair and CEO. This is just the start of a series of changes at the top. Rogers Wireless Today..................................................................................117 By 2008 or 25 years after we had won the licences, Rogers Wireless dominates the field. PART FIVE Back To The Beginning The Ted Factor ..............................................................................................119 To answer the question I started with, how did all this happen? APPENDICES A. Off-base Off-shore ..................................................................................124 B. Prospects in the Pacific Rim....................................................................135 C. The Casino Gamble ................................................................................155 D. The Author’s Activities ..........................................................................160 E. Bibliography ............................................................................................163 8 WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND DEDICATION Edward S. (Ted) Rogers As has often been said, success has many claimants, but no one is more directly responsible for the ultimate success of what was then called CANTEL, now Rogers Wireless, than the late Ted Rogers. Where others’ faith faltered from time to time, Ted remained dedicated to the new wireless technology and the company that he and the other founders started. It is now the largest wireless communications organization in Canada, with more than eight million subscribers. Ted was the one most responsible for getting me involved in this incredible adventure. He and I had known each other since our college days at Trinity, Sigma Chi and elsewhere. He is remembered by everyone as one of Canada’s leading entrepreneurs – and by me as a wonderful friend. WIRELESS IN WONDERLAND 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As with any of my books, I take full responsibility for the ultimate text. There is no editor to blame and all of the opinionated opinions are mine. However, a number of people were very helpful in providing material from their own files. In particular, I would mention Roger Keay, recently retired Vice President, Technology at Rogers. Roger was one of the first employees of CANTEL.Also Bob Berner, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Rogers Wireless, was one of CANTEL’s pioneers, and has been a good sounding board. Jeannie Hastie, the long- time Assistant to Ted Rogers, also was most helpful. In 1994, Alistair Dow was asked by Rogers Commu - nications to pull together some notes on the early history of CANTEL. He did this although the company never published any of it. He was kind Jeannie Hastie with Ted enough to send me copies and I have used parts of them from time to time. Finally, I would like to thank Connie Nesbitt who patiently typed my dictated text, and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Practice of Advertising to Jan, Always the Practice of Advertising
    The Practice of Advertising To Jan, always The Practice of Advertising Edited by Adrian R. Mackay Fifth edition AMSTERDAM ● BOSTON ● HEIDELBERG ● LONDON ● NEW YORK ● OXFORD PARIS ● SAN DIEGO ● SAN FRANCISCO ● SINGAPORE ● SYDNEY ● TOKYO Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 30 Corporate Drive, Burlington, MA 01803 First published 1978 Reprinted 1981 Second edition 1983 Reprinted 1984, 1985, 1986 Third edition 1990 Reprinted 1990, 1993 Fourth edition 1995 Reprinted 1996, 2001 Fifth edition 2005 Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (ϩ144) 1865 843830, fax: (ϩ144) 1865 853333, e-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’
    [Show full text]
  • Public Benefits Or Private? the Case of the Canadian Media Research
    Public benefits or private? The case of the Canadian Media Research Consortium Marc Edge, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Mass Communication Sam Houston State University Huntsville, Texas, U.S.A. [email protected] Submission #55 A PAPER FOR PRESENTATION TO JOURNALISM RESEARCH IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST, NOVEMBER 19-21, ZURICH ABSTRACT Canada exhibits one of the world’s highest levels of media ownership concentration, due in part to a failure of regulation. In an attempt to ensure that a portion of the benefits from broadcasting takeovers and acquisitions accrued to the public, the broadcasting regulator Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission established the Public Benefits program in the late 1980s. Under the program, a minimum of 10 percent of the value of acquired broadcasting licences was required to be devoted to worthwhile initiatives. In the Cdn $2.3-billion takeover of television network CTV by Bell Canada Enterprises in 2000, however, a portion of the Cdn$230 million Public Benefits package was devoted to funding a Canadian Media Research Consortium established between several universities. Mandated to “focus on the development of Canadian data for use in media planning,” the CMRC issued its first report in 2003. A Report Card on the Canadian News Media was criticized for flawed methodology and was cited as an example of “administrative” marketing research performed to the benefit of media owners rather than to the benefit of the public. The CMRC issued a five-year retrospective study titled The Credibility Gap: Canadians and their News Media in 2008 that addressed some of the earlier methodological flaws and perhaps as a result reached different conclusions.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2018
    Rentokil Initial plc plc Initial Rentokil Protecting People Enhancing Lives... Annual Report 2018 Everywhere Annual Report 2018 About us Strong financial performance Rentokil Initial is a global leader in the provision of route-based services which Ongoing Revenue (at CER) protect people and enhance lives, everywhere. We operate in 90 of the world’s 100 leading cities – from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, and Singapore to Auckland. m Our core services are Pest Control and Hygiene and we offer a range of smaller £2,493.0 specialist services including Plants, Property Care and Workwear. We are a +13.2% multi-local business operating in 75 countries around the world, employing around 39,500 people in 2018. Organic Revenue growth What we do +3.7% Revenue (at AER) £2,472.3m +2.5% Ongoing Operating Profit (at CER) Pest Control Hygiene Protect & Enhance Pest Control as % Hygiene as % Protect & Enhance as % £333.6m of Group Revenue of Group Revenue of Group Revenue +13.3% Loss before income tax (at AER) 63% 22% 15% £114.1m -116.0% Free Cash Flow (at AER) £192.0m Where we are +94.2% cash conversion 2018 full year dividend 4.471p +15.2% Our RIGHT WAY plan Our RIGHT WAY plan divides our business into five geographic regions and three core categories, all operating on a low cost, single country operating structure. Since 2014 we have consistently implemented an effective strategy at pace and this has delivered consistent progress against our financial targets. North America UK & Rest of World Pacific We are now a stronger and more focused business, operating in higher growth Europe* Asia markets, with improving levels of organic *Includes our Latin America operations, managed and reported within our Europe region growth, reduced capital intensity and high levels of cash generation.
    [Show full text]
  • Faculty Publications and Presentations 2010-11
    UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS JULY 1, 2010 – JUNE 30, 2011 Table of Contents Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences………………………………….. Page 3 School of Architecture…………………………………... Page 125 Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences…………………. Page 133 Walton College of Business……………………………... Page 253 College of Education and Health Professions…………… Page 270 College of Engineering…………………………………... Page 301 School of Law……………………………………………. Page 365 University Libraries……………………………………… Page 375 BUMPERS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND LIFE SCIENCES Agricultural Economic and Agribusiness Alviola IV, P. A., and O. Capps, Jr. 2010 “Household Demand Analysis of Organic and Conventional Fluid Milk in the United States Based on the 2004 Nielsen Homescan Panel.” Agribusiness: an International Journal 26(3):369-388. Chang, Hung-Hao and Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr. 2010. “Childhood Obesity and Unhappiness: The Influence of Soft Drinks and Fast Food Consumption.” J Happiness Stud 11:261–275. DOI 10.1007/s10902-009-9139-4 Das, Biswa R., and Daniel V. Rainey. 2010. "Agritourism in the Arkansas Delta Byways: Assessing the Economic Impacts." International Journal of Tourism Research 12(3): 265-280. Dixon, Bruce L., Bruce L. Ahrendsen, Aiko O. Landerito, Sandra J. Hamm, and Diana M. Danforth. 2010. “Determinants of FSA Direct Loan Borrowers’ Financial Improvement and Loan Servicing Actions.” Journal of Agribusiness 28,2 (Fall):131-149. Drichoutis, Andreas C., Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., Panagiotis Lazaridis. 2010. “Do Reference Values Matter? Some Notes and Extensions on ‘‘Income and Happiness Across Europe.” Journal of Economic Psychology 31:479–486. Flanders, Archie and Eric J. Wailes. 2010. “ECONOMICS AND MARKETING: Comparison of ACRE and DCP Programs with Simulation Analysis of Arkansas Delta Cotton and Rotation Crops.” The Journal of Cotton Science 14:26–33.
    [Show full text]
  • A Year of Successful Business Transformation and Improved
    Completely CarbonNeutral®. The unavoidable CO2 generated by the printing and distribution of this Report has been reduced to net zero through verified carbon offset projects. The paper used is Revive Pure White Silk, a 100% recycled paper. All pulps used are Totally Chlorine Free (TCF). The printer and the manufacturing mill are both accredited with the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management, and both are FSC certified. A year of successful business KCOM Group Annual PLC Report and Accounts 2009/10 transformation and improved financial performance Designed by Addison www.addison.co.uk Printed by Royle Corporate Print For more information please visit KCOM Group PLC www.kcomplc.com Annual Report and Accounts 2009/10 K = PMS187EC 210mm KIN001_marque PB2_187+440.eps COM= PMS440EC 75mm, 50mm 25mm PMS Coated Euro Solid to Process. Values from Pantone® color bridge™ Shareholder information 73 The KCOM Group is a leading provider of communications services to both consumer and business markets across the UK. Our aim is to help our customers exploit communications and associated technologies to improve the performance of their businesses Company information Registered office and organisations and to enhance their KCOM Group PLC 37 Carr Lane personal communications experience. Hull HU1 3RE Our success is built on solid foundations, Registered in England and Wales borne of our heritage in East Yorkshire where Company number we have more than 100 years experience 2150618 of providing telecommunications services. Investor Relations KCOM
    [Show full text]
  • Asper Nation Other Books by Marc Edge
    Asper Nation other books by marc edge Pacific Press: The Unauthorized Story of Vancouver’s Newspaper Monopoly Red Line, Blue Line, Bottom Line: How Push Came to Shove Between the National Hockey League and Its Players ASPER NATION Canada’s Most Dangerous Media Company Marc Edge NEW STAR BOOKS VANCOUVER 2007 new star books ltd. 107 — 3477 Commercial Street | Vancouver, bc v5n 4e8 | canada 1574 Gulf Rd., #1517 | Point Roberts, wa 98281 | usa www.NewStarBooks.com | [email protected] Copyright Marc Edge 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (access Copyright). Publication of this work is made possible by the support of the Canada Council, the Government of Canada through the Department of Cana- dian Heritage Book Publishing Industry Development Program, the British Columbia Arts Council, and the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit. Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Printing, Cap-St-Ignace, QC First printing, October 2007 library and archives canada cataloguing in publication Edge, Marc, 1954– Asper nation : Canada’s most dangerous media company / Marc Edge. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-55420-032-0 1. CanWest Global Communications Corp. — History. 2. Asper, I.H., 1932–2003. I. Title. hd2810.12.c378d34 2007 384.5506'571 c2007–903983–9 For the Clarks – Lynda, Al, Laura, Spencer, and Chloe – and especially their hot tub, without which this book could never have been written.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Music Market Access Report Canada
    CAAMA PRESENTS canada MARKET ACCESS GUIDE PREPARED BY PREPARED FOR Martin Melhuish Canadian Association for the Advancement of Music and the Arts The Canadian Landscape - Market Overview PAGE 03 01 Geography 03 Population 04 Cultural Diversity 04 Canadian Recorded Music Market PAGE 06 02 Canada’s Heritage 06 Canada’s Wide-Open Spaces 07 The 30 Per Cent Solution 08 Music Culture in Canadian Life 08 The Music of Canada’s First Nations 10 The Birth of the Recording Industry – Canada’s Role 10 LIST: SELECT RECORDING STUDIOS 14 The Indies Emerge 30 Interview: Stuart Johnston, President – CIMA 31 List: SELECT Indie Record Companies & Labels 33 List: Multinational Distributors 42 Canada’s Star System: Juno Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductees 42 List: SELECT Canadian MUSIC Funding Agencies 43 Media: Radio & Television in Canada PAGE 47 03 List: SELECT Radio Stations IN KEY MARKETS 51 Internet Music Sites in Canada 66 State of the canadian industry 67 LIST: SELECT PUBLICITY & PROMOTION SERVICES 68 MUSIC RETAIL PAGE 73 04 List: SELECT RETAIL CHAIN STORES 74 Interview: Paul Tuch, Director, Nielsen Music Canada 84 2017 Billboard Top Canadian Albums Year-End Chart 86 Copyright and Music Publishing in Canada PAGE 87 05 The Collectors – A History 89 Interview: Vince Degiorgio, BOARD, MUSIC PUBLISHERS CANADA 92 List: SELECT Music Publishers / Rights Management Companies 94 List: Artist / Songwriter Showcases 96 List: Licensing, Lyrics 96 LIST: MUSIC SUPERVISORS / MUSIC CLEARANCE 97 INTERVIEW: ERIC BAPTISTE, SOCAN 98 List: Collection Societies, Performing
    [Show full text]
  • Rogers Communications Inc. 2013 Annual Report Media
    ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2013 ANNUAL REPORT WIRELESS CABLE MEDIA ROGERS.COM AT A GLANCE OUR BUSINESS Rogers Communications Inc.. is a diversified Canadian telecommunications and mem dia compana y. Rogers Wireeless is CaC nadaa’ss laargeg st wireless voice and data telecommunications seervicese provider and tht e counntry’s onlyy natioi nal carrier operating on the combined world standard GSMM/HSPS A+A /LLTE techc nooloogy platforms. RRogers Cable is a leading Canadian cable services provider, offeringg high-speeed InI ternnett access, cablel television, and telephony products, and together with Rogers Business Solutions, providdese businness tet lecom, networking, hosting, managed services and IP solutions to small, medium and lal rgr e ennterrprise, government and carrier customers. Rogers Media is Canada’s premier group off categorry-lel ading broadcast, specialty, print and online media assets, with businesses in radio and televisionn broadcasting, televised shopping, sports entertainment, magazine and trade journal publishingg ana d digital media. We are publicly traded on both the TSX and NYSE stock exchanges and are included ini thee S&P& /TSX 60 Index of the largest publicly traded companies in Canada. DELIVERING ON OUR COMMITMENTS IN 2013 FREE CASH FLOW DIVIDEND OPERATING FAST AND RELIABLE GENERATION GROWTH EFFICIENCIES NETWORKS WHAT WE SAID: Deliver another WHAT WE SAID: Increase WHAT WE SAID: Implement WHAT WE SAID: Maintain year of significant consolidated cash returns to shareholders productivity improvement Rogers leadership in network pre-tax free cash flow. consistently over time. initiatives to capture sustainable technology and innovation. operating efficiencies. WHAT WE DID: Generated WHAT WE DID: Increased the WHAT WE DID: Rogers was $2.0 billion of pre-tax free cash annualized dividend per share WHAT WE DID: Reduced operating named both the fastest wireless flow in 2013, supporting the 10% from $1.58 to $1.74 in 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Circular Igniting Growth
    Notice of 2016 Annual General Shareholder Meeting and Information Circular Igniting growth Our Annual General Shareholder Meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at the Velma Rogers Graham Theatre, 333 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario A live webcast of the meeting will be available on our website at rogers.com/investors Rogers_Proxy_Cover_2015_Letter_E_01a.indd 1 2016-02-16 3:37 PM Who We Are Rogers Communications Inc. is a leading diversified public Canadian communications and media company. We are Canada’s largest provider of wireless communications services and one of Canada’s leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet and telephony services to consumers and businesses. Through Rogers Media, we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, televised shopping, magazines and trade publications, sports entertainment, and digital media. Our stock is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further information about the Rogers group of companies, please visit rogers.com. Please Register for Electronic Delivery of Shareholder Materials In our continuing effort to reduce environmental impacts as well as printing and postage costs, Rogers Communications Inc. has adopted the “Notice-and-Access” provisions of the Canadian securities regulations. Under notice-and-access, Canadian companies may post electronic versions of shareholder meeting-related materials such as information circulars and annual financial statements on a website for investor access, with notice of the meeting and availability of the materials provided by letter. Physical copies of such materials are still made available if specifically requested.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 WFTMR Volume 3: Non-Pricing Remedies
    Promoting competition and investment in fibre networks: Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review 2021-26 Volume 3: Non-pricing remedies Non-confidential version – redacted for publication [] STATEMENT: Publication date: 18 March 2021 2021 WFTMR Volume 3: Non-pricing remedies Contents Section 1. Approach to remedies 1 2. Copper Retirement 12 3. General remedies: physical infrastructure, WLA, LL Access and IEC markets 45 4. Specific remedies: physical infrastructure market 81 5. Specific remedies: WLA, LL Access and IEC markets 104 6. Specific remedies: dark fibre 128 7. Regulation of geographic discounts and other commercial terms 168 8. Legal tests 204 2021 WFTMR Volume 3: Non-pricing remedies 1. Approach to remedies 1.1 This section sets out our approach to remedies. These are the remedies that we have decided to impose on Openreach1 in order to address BT’s SMP in each relevant wholesale fixed telecoms market in the UK (excluding the Hull Area). As set out in our market analysis (Volume 2), the markets where we have found BT to have SMP are: • the physical infrastructure market in the UK; • the Wholesale Local Access (WLA) markets in each of Area 2 and Area 3; • the Leased Lines Access (LL Access) markets in each of Area 2, Area 3 and the High Network Reach (HNR) Area; and • the Inter-Exchange Connectivity (IEC) markets at BT Only and BT+1 exchanges. 1.2 Our approach to remedies takes into account stakeholders’ comments in response to our consultations. The detail of our non-pricing remedies is set out in Sections 2 to 7 of this volume; our pricing remedies, including charge controls, in Volume 4; our specific quality of service remedies in Volume 5 and our regulatory reporting remedies in Volume 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Rogers Communications Inc
    Notice of 2018 Annual General Shareholder Meeting and Information Circular Make more possible Our Annual General Shareholder Meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, April 20, 2018 at the Velma Rogers Graham Theatre, 333 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario A live webcast of the meeting will be available on our website at investors.rogers.com Who We Are Rogers Communications Inc. is a leading diversified Canadian communications and media company that’s working to deliver a great experience to our customers every day. We are Canada’s largest provider of wireless communications services and one of Canada’s leading providers of cable television, high-speed Internet, information technology, and telephony services to consumers and businesses. Through Rogers Media, we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, sports, televised and online shopping, magazines, and digital media. Our shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further information about the Rogers group of companies, please visit rogers.com. Information on or connected to this and any other websites referenced in this document does not constitute part of this document. Please Register for Electronic Delivery of Shareholder Materials In our continuing effort to reduce environmental impacts as well as printing and postage costs, Rogers Communications Inc. has adopted the “notice-and-access” provisions of the Canadian securities regulations. Under notice-and-access, Canadian companies may post electronic versions of shareholder meeting-related materials, such as information circulars and annual financial statements, on a website for investor access, with notice of the meeting and availability of the materials provided by letter.
    [Show full text]
  • Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C
    Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 Petition For Declaratory Ruling Regarding ) The Rate For Cable System Pole Attachments ) WC Docket No. 09-154 Used To Provide VoIP Service ) ) A National Broadband Plan ) GN Docket No. 09-51 For Our Future ) ) Implementation of Section 224 of the Act; ) Amendment of the Commission’s Rules and ) WC Docket No. 07-245 Policies Governing Pole Attachments ) ) IP-Enabled Services ) WC Docket No. 04-36 COMMENTS OF THE NATIONAL CABLE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION Neal M. Goldberg Steven F. Morris National Cable & Telecommunications Association 25 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. – Suite 100 Washington, D.C. 20001-1431 September 24, 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As the Commission has recognized, any strategy to promote increased deployment and adoption of broadband must take steps to improve the business case for investing in broadband facilities, particularly in rural areas. Pole attachment fees are a significant cost associated with deploying and operating broadband networks, and therefore ensuring that those rates are fair for all broadband providers should be a key element of the Commission’s National Broadband Plan. The Petition for Declaratory Ruling filed by four large electric companies in WC Docket No. 09-154 is completely out of touch with the national emphasis on broadband. The Petition would double or triple the rate applicable to the vast majority of cable operator pole attachments. Such an approach would increase the cost of deploying and operating broadband networks by hundreds of millions of dollars annually, in direct contravention of the Commission’s policy goals. If the Commission is to achieve the congressional goal of universal access to broadband capability, it must pursue a different course than the one proposed by the electric companies.
    [Show full text]