OTTAWA – The program put together by the organizers of this year’s International Institute of Communications Canadian Chapter conference should attract a good crowd this Halloween.
Scheduled for October 31st and November 1st at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, the annual policy and legal gathering looks to take a deep dive into the federal government’s Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review – and will feature the first public appearance of the expert panel examining the Broadcasting, Telecom and Radiocommunication Acts.
All seven members of the panel, announced in June, will close the two-day event on November 1st in…
Continue Reading
ON MONDAY, WE described a Federal Court of Appeal decision as one that strikes down the CRTC’s TV Wholesale Code.
Bell Canada had appealed the Code to the Court, saying the way it was implemented fell outside the CRTC’s jurisdiction – and in its decision released Monday the Court agreed with Bell, saying the Commission had no authority under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act to meddle in private carriage contracts the way the Wholesale Code mandates.
The decision seemed to us to be the end of that Code – and we were bolstered in that…
Continue Reading
Better to leave it to various Acts review
GATINEAU – The CRTC announced this morning it has dismissed a proposed website-blocking regime which would address copyright piracy, dubbed FairPlay Canada by its backers.
The Commission ruled it does not have the jurisdiction under the Telecommunications Act and so it did not consider the merits of the proposal, saying in a release this is best considered under the Copyright Act, over which it has no jurisdiction.
The Copyright Act, is under review, on which Cartt.ca has been reporting on Continue Reading
GATINEAU – If Iristel wants to make sure hospitals can reach patients who are also its customers on the phone in order to call them in for surgery, then the company should stop illegally boosting network traffic so those calls make it through, Telus told the CRTC in a letter today (September 28).
This week, the CBC posted a story detailing how a hospital could not reach a cancer patient in Behchoko, NWT (about 100 kms northwest of Yellowknife) in order to call her in for surgery. She is an Ice Wireless customer – which is a…
Continue Reading
AS THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of Canada’s fastest-growing telecommunications company, I understand corporations operate to make a profit. Profits build shareholder value and create jobs.
And in competitive environments, corporations will battle. I get that. My company is currently entangled in a heated dispute with Telus Corp. in Canada’s North. Of course, we think we’re right and Telus thinks something else. Lawyers are involved. The regulator is involved. Even politicians are beginning to take notice.
The problem is that innocent Canadians are involved, too.
And this week, I received a phone call from a CBC reporter that underlined that…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadians are spending more time watching video content online and their genres of choice is largely long form action and drama, says a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM).
Genre Preferences for Online Viewing: Analysis of the English-Language Market examines what type of content Anglophones are watching online, as well as which genres they tend to access through various online sources.
Highlights from the report include:
– Comedy comes in as the second most popular genre to view online after action/drama;
– Men are more interested in watching sports and news content online than are women. However, men and women…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada unveiled a new three-year plan this week that it says sets out its strategy to reflect the full range of Canadian perspectives through its content, workplace culture and workforce.
The 2018-21 Diversity and Inclusion Plan provides workforce results for all of the ‘pubcaster’s main business units, details action plans by major services, and lays out the objectives for the coming years.
The plan says that having a diverse workforce is only the beginning, and that its workplace culture must be truly inclusive, where everyone feels that his/her voice, views and ideas are valued.
"We want to make sure…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications started to examine how the three federal communications statutes (the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Radiocommunication Act) can be modernized In light of the evolution of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in the last decades.
Last week they heard from university professors and today, Konrad von Finckenstein, former chair of the CRTC, and the Commissioner of Competition met the committee.
Von Finckenstein submitted six points for the Committee to examine. “First, in the reform of our communication legislation, examine everything from an Internet-centric point of view. To borrow a…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – To compete with OTT players, does ad-funded TV in Canada need a ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’ to focus the entire industry? If so, what would that rallying cry look like?
The BHAG was one of the stated aims of an industry panel session on the future of ad-funded TV in Canada at the Future TV Advertising Forum Canada at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto last week.
The panel did not unite over a single big hairy goal, but did identify some smaller furballs – like broadcasters needing to collaborate more on content creation, strengthening channel branding and…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Despite issuing over 100 updates and wireless alerts warning of high-risk emergencies, Canadians still have questions about how the national public alerting system works and which devices are compatible, says CRTC chief consumer officer Scott Shortliffe.
Speaking Monday before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, Shortliffe said that the system, publicly branded as Alert Ready, has been used successfully to warn of dangerously high water levels and flooding in Alberta, wildfires in Saskatchewan, Amber Alerts in Ontario and Saskatchewan, and drinking water advisories in several communities. On Friday, it also warned of tornado watches in…
Continue Reading
