Cogeco

Cogeco Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	TSX: CGO TSX: CCA
Industry	Media and Communications
Founded	Trois-Rivières, Quebec (1957)[1]
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec
Key people	Louis Audet (President and CEO), Jan Peeters (President and CEO, Chairman of the Board), Pierre Comtois (CIO and Vice Chairman of the Board) [2]
Products	Cable TV, Internet, Telecommunications, Broadcasting
Revenue	$746.9 million CAD (2006)[1]
Operating income	$253.1 million CAD (2006) [1]
Net income	$23.1 million CAD (2006)[1]
Employees	2,415 (2008)[3]
Parent	None
Subsidiaries	Cogeco Cable (Ontario & Quebec), Cogeco Diffusion, Cabovisão (Portugal)
Website	www.cogeco.ca

Cogeco Inc. (TSX: CGO) is a Canadian media and communications company. The name is an acronym for Compagnie Générale de Communication ("General Communications Company").^[4]

History

Cogeco first entered the television business in the mid-1950s with the launch of a Radio-Canada affiliate in Trois-Rivières, CKTM-TV^{[citation needed]}. Later the company expanded with the creation of CKSH-TV in Sherbrooke, a radio network and diversification in the cable television industry. Until 2008, Cogeco co-owned the TQS network^{[citation needed]} (now "V") with CTVglobemedia, as well as eight television stations affiliated with both TQS and Radio-Canada. TQS and its five owned-and-operated stations were sold to Remstar Corporation, and the Radio-Canada affiliates were sold directly to Radio-Canada, in 2008. Cogeco is the largest cable company in Canada not owning any terrestrial TV outlets^{[citation needed]} (Rogers Communications owns Citytv and Omni, and also Quebecor-owned Vidéotron also owns the TVA network with several O&O stations and an independent station in Toronto).

Through its broadcast holdings, Cogeco Cable (TSX: CCA) is a major cable television distributor offering analogue and digital television, as well as high-speed Internet services and VoIP telephony. It is the second largest cable system operator in both Ontario and Quebec^{[citation needed]}, (respectively behind Rogers & Vidéotron), and the fourth largest in Canada.

Cogeco Cable Services logo.

Cabovisão Portugal Cable, Cogeco's subsidiary.

Starting in 2006, Cogeco Cable began the process of overhauling their Ontario & Quebec-based Hybrid fibre-coaxial physical plant networks to expand the total amount of bandwidth available. The ability to offer expanded 2-way bi-directional services such as High Definition digital cable, High-Speed Internet and VoIP Digital Telephony and to improve network reliability is the driving force behind this upgrade.

After upgrades are complete, the Ontario network will have 750 MHz^{[citation needed]} of bandwidth and the Quebec network will have 550 MHz of bandwidth^{[citation needed]}. With this capacity, a total of 110 or 83 analogue channels (depending on the network) can be transmitted. Given that each analogue channel occupies 6 MHz of bandwidth, Cogeco utilizes the latest compression, multiplexing and modulation technologies to be able to transmit up to 13 Standard Definition TV signals or else up to 3 High Definition TV signals on each of these channels.^[5]

Digital services

Digital Cable Television

Within their Canadian cable operations in Ontario & Quebec, 98% of all homes passed by Cogeco Cable-owned plant are able to access digital cable services, with 90% of homes passed also able to access digital video on demand services. Currently, 93% of homes passed also have access to Cogeco Cable's 2-way bi-directional cable plant, giving customers the ability to enjoy high definition TV programming and high-speed Internet services.^[5]

Cogeco Cable utilizes Motorola and Pace set-top boxes (STB's) for delivery of their digital cable services^{[citation needed]}:

Standard Definition STB's:

• Motorola DCT700: Composite & Coaxial video outputs. RCA-stereo audio outputs. No analog tuner.
• Motorola DCT1700: Composite & Coaxial video outputs. RCA-stereo audio outputs.
• Motorola DCT1800: Composite & Coaxial video outputs. RCA-stereo audio outputs.
• Motorola DCT2000: S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display.
• Motorola DCT2500: S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display.
• Motorola DCT3080: S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes 80 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner. eSATA port for external storage. No analog tuner. Deployed only in Quebec.
• Pace TDC575D: YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes a 80 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner. eSATA port for external storage. No analog tuner. Deployed only in Quebec.

High Definition STB's:

• Motorola DCX700: HDMI, YbpPr Component and Composite video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. No analog tuner.
• Motorola DCT6200: DVI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display.
• Motorola DCT6208: DVI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes an 80 GB hard drive for PVR functions.
• Motorola DCT6412: DVI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes a 120 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner.
• Motorola DCT6416: HDMI, DVI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes a 160 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner.
• Pace TDC777D: HDMI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes a 250 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner. eSATA port for external storage. No analog tuner.
• Pace RNG200N: HDMI, YbpPr Component, S-Video, Composite & Coaxial video outputs. SPDIF, Dolby Digital & RCA-stereo audio outputs. Front LC display. Includes a 500 GB hard drive for PVR functions. Dual-tuner. eSATA port for external storage. No analog tuner.

Internet access

Cogeco Cable utilizes a DOCSIS 3.0 -compliant network^{[citation needed]} to provide all of their Internet Protocol (IP)-based services, such as Internet access and VoIP. To position itself as a leader in delivering broadband solutions to its customers, Cogeco Cable became actively involved in the DOCSIS program^{[citation needed]} and was one of the first major cable operators to deploy a DOCSIS-based network.^[6]

Since April 2009, Cogeco has implemented a cost penalty for surpassing the bandwidth limits for each tier, for standard this is $1.50 per 1GB to a maximum of $30 monthly. Cogeco sometimes but frequently fails to e-mail a warning at 85% and 100% of their combined bandwidth limit^{[citation needed]}. A three-month history is available online.

Since January 2010, Cogeco has offered a 50Mb/s download speed in select areas which takes advantage of the new DOCSIS 3.0 platform upgrades. This platform takes advantage of 4 downstream data carriers and a special DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem to provide top speeds in North America with capabilities of over 250Mb/s

In many areas, Cogeco maintains a de-facto regional monopoly on cable internet service^{[citation needed]}.

VoIP Digital Telephony

Cogeco Cable launched their Digital Phone service in June 2005, a VoIP-based telephony service offering customers unlimited local & long distance calling within Canada and to the United States, voice mail, call display, call waiting, visual call waiting, call forwarding, 411-directory assistance, 911-emergency assistance, 611-technical support assistance, 711-message relay services & 0-operator services.

As of October 16, 2006, 70% of all homes passed by Cogeco Cable plant are able to access this service.^[7]

Cogeco Data Services

On June 13, 2008, Cogeco acquired the Telecommunications division of Toronto Hydro, Toronto's municipal electric utility. As of August 1, 2008, Toronto Hydro Telecom is now known as Cogeco Data Services.^{[citation needed]}

Cogeco-owned stations

Radio

Prior to Cogeco's acquisition of Corus Québec, all its stations, except CJMF-FM, were part of the Adult Contemporary network, Rythme FM.

• Montreal - CFGL-FM 105.7
• Quebec City - CJEC-FM 91.9 (sale pending)
• Quebec City - CJMF-FM 93.3
• Sherbrooke - CFGE-FM 93.7
• Trois-Rivières - CJEB-FM 100.1

Cogeco also owned the now-defunct CKO radio network after acquiring AGRA subsidiary Cybermedix in 1989; the network and its stations went dark in November of that year.

Acquisition of Corus Québec

On April 30, 2010, it was announced that Cogeco will acquire all radio stations owned by Corus Entertainment in Quebec, including its Corus Québec group of stations and Montreal anglophone station CFQR-FM (since re-called CKBE-FM), pending CRTC approval.^[8] Cogeco will acquire these stations for $80 million, as these stations are less profitable to Corus than their stations in other parts of Canada.^[9] However, Cogeco must either apply with the CRTC for an exemption from the common ownership policy, or sell off some of these (or their own) stations as they will be over the maximum allowable number of stations in Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke.

The sale of the Corus Québec stations to Cogeco has been approved by the CRTC on December 17, 2010, on the condition that Cogeco-owned CJEC-FM and Corus-owned CFEL-FM and CKOY-FM (since re-called CJTS-FM) be sold to another party by December 2011.^[10]

The sale also included the transmitter sites and equipment in Kahnawake, which were previously used for CINF and CINW, before the stations closed down in January 2010; the sale excluded the licenses, as they were submitted to the CRTC for cancellation.^[11]

The sale did not include CKRS-FM in Saguenay, which is being sold to a local company, Radio Saguenay.^[12]

The stations acquired were:

• Gatineau - CJRC-FM (now CKOF-FM)
• Montreal - CFQR-FM (now CKBE-FM), CHMP-FM, CKAC, CKOI-FM
• Quebec City - CFOM-FM, CFEL-FM
• Saint-Jérôme - CIME-FM
• Sherbrooke - CKOY-FM, CJTS-FM
• Trois-Rivières - CHLN-FM (now CKOB-FM)

Television

Cogeco Télévision

Cogeco's primary television venture is the TVCogeco system of local community channels in markets served by Cogeco Cable. As of the sale of TQS, Cogeco no longer owns any conventional television assets. In 2008. Cogeco also sold its 20% interest in Canal Indigo to Quebecor Media^{[citation needed]}.

The five TQS O&Os which were owned by Cogeco were acquired by Remstar as part of the TQS transaction:

• Montreal - CFJP (TQS)
• Quebec City - CFAP (TQS)
• Saguenay - CFRS (TQS)
• Sherbrooke - CFKS (TQS)
• Trois-Rivières - CFKM (TQS)

Concurrently, Cogeco also sold its three Télévision de Radio-Canada affiliates directly to the CBC:

• Saguenay - CKTV (Radio-Canada)
• Sherbrooke - CKSH (Radio-Canada)
• Trois-Rivières - CKTM (Radio-Canada)

See also

• TV Cogeco
• List of Cogeco Cable Ontario TV Channels

External links

• Cogeco (mirror link: http://www.cogeco.com)
• CRTC chart of Cogeco's assets

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Cogeco Annual Report 2006". http://www.cogeco.ca/files/pdf/financial_annual_report_en/CGO_Annual_report2006.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-14. 
2. ^ "Cogeco Governance". http://www.cogeco.ca/cable/corporate/cgo/governance/directors.html. Retrieved 20 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Company Profile for Cogeco Inc (CA;CGO)". http://zenobank.com/index.php?symbol=CA;CGO&page=quotesearch. Retrieved 2008-10-08. 
4. ^ Youtube: Station identification for CKTM-TV, which included the Cogeco logo and its meaning.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Cogeco Annual Report 2006 - Page 10". http://www.cogeco.ca/files/pdf/financial_annual_report_en/CGO_Annual_report2006.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-14. 
6. ^ "Cable Television Laboratories Inc. SPECS News & Technology Newsletter, August 2002". http://www.cablelabs.com/news/newsletter/SPECS/spectechdec/tech.pgs/leadstory.html. Retrieved 2007-04-14. 
7. ^ "Cogeco Annual Report 2006 - Page 5". http://www.cogeco.ca/files/pdf/financial_annual_report_en/CGO_Annual_report2006.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-14. 
8. ^ "Canada's Corus Entertainment sells all its stations in Quebec, including Montreal". Radio-Info.com. April 30, 2010. http://www.radio-info.com/news/canadas-corus-entertainment-sells-all-its-stations-in-quebec-including-mont. 
9. ^ St. Petersburg Times, "Canada Report" column, May 9, 2010.
10. ^ Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2010-942: "Transfer of effective control of various commercial radio programming undertakings from Corus Entertainment Inc. to Cogeco inc.", issued December 17, 2010.
11. ^ The Gazette (Montreal): "Radio: Not just the usual channels", October 29, 2011.
12. ^ Corus sells Saguenay station to local buyers, The Wire Report, 25 June 2010