ONLY ONE MORE week until independent cable operators from across Canada, suppliers, and other industry delegates (including Cartt.ca, of course) gather for the annual CCSA conference.
The ‘Connect 2010’ summit, which this year is sponsored by Turner Networks, is scheduled from September 26 – 28 at the White Oaks Resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.
Over 250 attendees will take in an expanded trade show, sessions on innovative technologies, and speakers such as renowned British author, Dr. Donald Sull (The Upside of Turbulence). The CCSA will also announce its Member and Supplier of the Year winners.
One of the sessions will feature Gord Hendren, president of…
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As the dust begins to settle after Tuesday’s deferral accounts decision, opinions from industry stakeholders run the gamut from “disappointing” to "harmful" to “reasonable”.
Barrett Xplore Inc., Canada’s largest provider of rural broadband services, described the decision as anti-competitive and an ineffective use of monies.
“We’re obviously disappointed that the CRTC chose to proceed as they did, using technology that is not the least-cost solution for rural Canada”, its chief legal officer, C.J. Prudham, told Cartt.ca. “We’re also disappointed that they did not take in to consideration the expansion by other companies, including us, into those areas. Essentially they’re…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Most stakeholders agree that the CRTC’s new community TV policy did little to lessen cable’s firm grip on the country’s community channels. But even some of the country’s biggest cable companies appear to have some concerns.
“The closed captioning component is going to be a challenge”, said Colette Watson, VP of Rogers TV, in an interview with Cartt.ca. “As of December 31st, the funding is frozen to the levels we’re at now for four years. That’s fine, we’ll make that work. The issue then becomes, if in that same time frame we have to caption 100%…
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FEW FEEL THE turmoil in our industry like independent communications companies.
They lack the resources of the national cable, satellite and telco carriers and are quite small by comparison, of course – but their customers expect similar options (prices, services, broadband speeds, etc) that they see advertised by those big companies. Those independents also have to deal with the same regulatory and legislative change, negotiate contracts with programmers and others, and keep on top of the latest tech trends and new business opportunities, too.
Which is the reason why the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance exists and thrives. Working collectively, the…
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QUISPAMSIS, N.B. – With change swirling all around, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance has hit on a very apropos keynote speaker for its September annual conference: Donald Sull, author of The Upside of Turbulence.
As financial markets gyrate, commodity prices zigzag, new technologies disrupt long-standing businesses and entire industries, we live in a world beset by turbulence.
But throughout history, that turbulence has also created untold possibilities to create economic value, notes Sull’s book, and companies that seize the opportunities arising out of seething markets will become tomorrow’s champions, he believes.
Sull is professor of strategy and the faculty director of…
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TORONTO and OTTAWA – Reaction to this week’s new draft copyright legislation was swift and predictably varied.
A coalition of Canada’s telecommunications, retail, Internet and technology companies and organizations, known as the Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, largely supported the bill. But some parts of the legislation unfairly restrict consumer freedom and need to be revised before being passed by Parliament, such as the inability to circumvent digital locks for private use, the organization said in a statement.
The group includes the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable, Rogers, Telus, Google, the CCSA and the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, among others.
The…
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QUISPAMSIS – On-line registration is now open for the CCSA ‘Connect’ Conference and ‘Click’ Trade Show at White Oaks Conference Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.
The event begins on Sunday, September 26 with the President’s Reception, and Monday, September 27 will be the business day and Gala dinner. Tuesday, September 28 will be a golf day with an ‘Explore the Falls’ alternative available for non-golfers.
To register on-line, visit www.ccsa.cable.ca, click on ‘Register/Connect 2010 Conference’ and select ‘Non-Member’.
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QUISPAMSIS – The CCSA has finalized an affiliate agreement for the NFL Network, NFL HD and NFL on Demand.
Owned and operated by the National Football League, the network airs football programming on a year-round basis, including more than 2,000 live hours of programming each year.
“CCSA is pleased to partner with the NFL International LLC to offer the specialty sport services, NFL Network, NFL HD and NFL On Demand, to our Members,” said CCSA president and CEO Alyson Townsend, in the announcement. “The commitment from NFL International LLC to deliver quality products makes these services a popular programming option for…
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GATINEAU – After watching day one of the CRTC’s hearing into its policies on community television, we settled on couple of key takeaways.
1) It would appear unlikely the Commission will adopt the CACTUS plan where the estimated $130 million already devoted to cable community channels via 2% of subscriber fees would be redirected to a new fund backing dozens of new independent, not-for-profit community channels/multimedia centres across the country.
2) The CRTC commissioners do seem to want a higher level of access, accountability and transparency from the cable companies who already offer their own community channels.
First into the live CPAC.ca…
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HAVING READ THROUGH some of the reams of paper (virtual, thankfully) submitted on the CRTC’s proceeding into its regulatory framework for community television, the most prescient comment I read came from the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance.
While urging the Commission to be more flexible (don’t all submissions, by some sort of unwritten law, have to urge that?) the CCSA’s Chris Edwards wrote: “The term ‘community’ should be used to denote a ‘community of common interest’ rather than a specific geographic area.”
Its submission was about the seventh I read and when I saw that line, I nearly shouted, “YES!”
Now, the…
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