SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of March 2006
Shaw Communications Inc.
(Translation of registrants name into English)
Suite 900, 630 3rd Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 4L4 (403) 750-4500
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of
Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by
Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by
Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): o
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the
registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b)
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
If Yes is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection
with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant, Shaw
Communications Inc., has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
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Date:
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March 9, 2006 |
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Shaw Communications Inc. |
By:
/s/ Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson
Sr. V.P., Chief Financial Officer
Shaw Communications Inc.
NEWS RELEASE
Shaw Responds to Vonage Canadas Claims
Calgary, AB (March 8, 2006) Vonages news release concerning Shaws quality of service
enhancement is both wrong and misleading, said Jim Shaw, C.E.O., Shaw Communications Inc. Shaw
offers its High Speed Internet customers the opportunity to improve the quality and reliability of
Internet telephony services offered by third party providers like Vonage and others. The service
is completely discretionary to our customers.
All public Internet networks (this is not unique to Shaw) encounter intermittent bandwidth
shortfalls as bandwidth is consumed by applications such as Internet browsing and email. Bandwidth
availability is an important issue when using voice services because the amount of bandwidth
available at any given time can vary based on Internet usage. With Internet telephony, voice
packets are treated like regular data. Under peak loads voice frames will be dropped equally with
data frames. Regular data, however, is not time sensitive and dropped packets can be corrected
through the process of retransmission. Dropped voice packets, which are time sensitive, cannot be
corrected in this manner. Shaws quality of service enhancement helps address these shortcomings
with Internet telephony.
Contrary to Vonages claim, Shaw does not offer an Internet telephony service in direct competition
with Vonage or any other Internet phone provider. Shaws Digital Phone service is a carrier-grade,
primary line, local and long distance residential telephone service that uses a managed IP network.
Shaw Digital phone calls travel directly from Shaws secure private network to the tried-and-true
public telephone system. They do not travel over the Internet. The result is a more reliable and
higher quality phone service.
Its also important to realize that Internet telephony services do not provide the same level of
911 service that is available with traditional phone service or Shaw Digital Phone. With Internet
telephony, your 911 call is routed to an emergency response centre which may be in a different city
or province. With enhanced 911 service, available with Shaw Digital Phone, your call is not only
routed to the nearest emergency response centre, but your callback number and address are also
automatically provided to the emergency dispatcher. Even if you are unable to speak, they can
still dispatch emergency personnel to your location. Vonage does not provide enhanced 911 service.
This is an old and tired complaint from Vonage, said Peter Bissonnette, President of Shaw
Communications Inc. We find the timing of this news release to be somewhat curious. We think it
has more to do with their Initial Public Offering and the fact they have so few customers in Canada
rather than any real concerns about consumers, he added. Our customers have always enjoyed the
best High Speed Internet service in
Western Canada. Our quality of service enhancement is simply another value added service that our
customers have asked for and our over 8,000 employees will continue to ensure we provide the best
services we can, said Peter Bissonnette.
Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified Canadian communications company whose core business is
providing broadband cable television, High-Speed Internet, Digital Phone, telecommunications
services (through Big Pipe Inc.) and satellite direct-to-home services (through Star Choice
Communications Inc.) to over three million customers. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York
stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 index (Symbol: TSX SJR.NV.B, NYSE SJR).
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For more information, please contact:
Investor Relations Department
Investor.relations@sjrb.ca