Navigating controversy and complex negotiations, Rogers Communications’ acquisition of Shaw Communications, perhaps unexpectedly, resulted in significant job cuts. Amidst skepticism and fears of further layoffs, Rogers remains steadfast in their stance, insisting on their commitment to job creation. However, the telecommunications landscape is a convoluted jigsaw, and this merger has merely revealed another challenging piece.
A historic milestone for the Canadian telecommunications sector was realized as Rogers Communications Inc. announced it had successfully concluded its merger with Shaw Communications Inc. The merger unites two famous Canadian companies that have been connecting Canadians for over five decades. The merger creates a coast-to-coast nationwide company which has fiber-powered internet that is accessible to nearly 70% of Canadian households. The newly combined company plans to bundle more products and services, including internet, television, phone, smart home monitoring, wireless services, credit card offers and sports and media content. In the next five years, the company intends to spend billions of dollars to offer fast, reliable networks in additional towns across Western Canada. Rogers will invest $1 billion in the four Western provinces to link rural, remote and Indigenous communities, as well as unserved distant routes. The business also intends to invest $2.5 billion to expand and strengthen…
T-Mobile’s data breach affected 37 million customers A major data breach impacting 37 million T-Mobile users has been revealed. The hack, which was discovered on January 5th, is thought to have started on November 25th, 2022. An application programming interface (API) was taken advantage of by a hacker to attain unauthorized access to client data. The breach allowed access to names, billing addresses, emails, phone numbers, dates of birth and T-Mobile account numbers, but did not reveal payment card information, social security, tax, driver’s license, or other government-issued ID numbers. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mtsr7tkm Microsoft makes a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI Microsoft has made an undisclosed multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, the developer of the popular artificial intelligence service ChatGPT. This expenditure is Microsoft’s largest bet on AI technology to date. The AI platform will be used with a variety of consumer and commercial products, including Office software and the Bing…
Canada’s merger court has ruled in favor of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications in a major antitrust case, removing one of the final barriers to the merger of two of the country’s largest telecommunications companies. The decision follows a month-long hearing that included evidence from 45 witnesses and thousands of pages of documentation. The merger of Rogers and Shaw has been in the works for almost two years and was always expected to face scrutiny from competition authorities. One key concern was the consolidation of the Canadian mobile sector through Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile. To address this, the companies pledged to sell Freedom Mobile to the smaller mobile network operator, Videotron. After considering this concession, the Canadian Competition Tribunal ruled that the acquisition could proceed, provided that Shaw first completes the disposition of Freedom Mobile. The Competition Bureau had requested that the tribunal block the merger…
A multibillion-dollar merger between Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications Inc., two of the biggest telecommunications businesses in Canada, was officially rejected by the federal industry minister. “Today, I officially denied that request. My decision formally closes that chapter of the original proposed transaction,” said Canadian Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. The US$19 billion merger between the two businesses was revealed in March, but it was met with opposition because it may limit consumer choice and drive up mobile costs. Shaw’s wireless spectrum licenses would have been completely transferred to Rogers as a result of the acquisition. Shaw’s ownership of Freedom Mobile has been largely viewed as the biggest impediment to the deal’s ratification. Videotron, located in Montreal, agreed to purchase it for $2.1 billion earlier this year. Champagne stated that he wanted two specific commitments before approving the Videotron merger. Videotron would have to agree to maintain the…
Zain launches voice over 5G Zain has become the first operator to commercially offer voice over 5G (Vo5G) services on its standalone 5G network. The new Vo5G service is accessible across Kuwait with statewide coverage, and on the all-new Samsung Galaxy S22 family of handsets. Phone-over-5G enables clients to experience crystal-clear voice communications over the 5G network alongside data services, all without interruption. Customers may also utilize the Internet, streaming services and data-heavy apps while having phone conversations, thanks to 5G’s stable and ultra-fast speeds. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8as9nu Staffbase buys a majority stake in dirico Staffbase has purchased a controlling position in 247GRAD Labs GmbH, the software business behind the dirico content collaboration platform. The dirico platform enables businesses to plan, develop, publishand evaluate content for marketing as well as internal and external communication. As a consequence, Staffbase today employs over 700 people and serves over 2,000 customers globally…
Orange launches satellite broadband service in France Orange-owned satellite broadband business Nordnet has officially launched its satellite broadband service in France. As is well known, Neosat provides broadband services of up to 100 Mbps to homes and businesses in areas with poor connectivity for less than €40 per month. Nordet launched its services just as a new generation of satellite broadband services is beginning to emerge around the globe. The company packages satellite broadband services with a fixed-line telephone service, together with unlimited calls to fixed and mobile telephones and certain other destinations. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/ap4rdryh Microsoft acquires Marsden In continuation to expand its capabilities to better serve industry verticals, Microsoft has acquired The Marsden Group, the company’s current partner focused on rapid prototyping and digital transformation for industrial customers. The acquisition of Marsden, an existing Microsoft Gold partner, will accelerate Microsoft’s capability to take advantage of its cloud,…
