Execs optimistic about future with Welo, wireless bundling, AI
By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco executives said Thursday that the company’s U.S. business, Breezeline, is going through “significant turbulence” as it grapples with competition and inflation.
“The competitive environment has gotten further elevated versus the beginning of our fiscal year,” CEO Frederic Perron said on a third-quarter earnings conference call Thursday.
On top of that, he said Breezeline has had to grapple with inflation that’s over four per cent. “As customers see a higher cost of living on fuel, on groceries, on living in general, we see that they’re trying to optimize their wallets and…
Continue Reading
The CRTC is asking the major telecoms to provide updates on their subscriber numbers, both in and out of their operating territories, as well any network upgrades they have made — part of the regulator’s monitoring of market conditions following the final wholesale internet access framework from August 2024.
In a July 10 letter sent to incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) Bell, Telus and SaskTel and cable carriers Rogers, Videotron, Cogeco and Eastlink, the CRTC asks for by-province summaries of the carriers’ total retail residential wireline internet subscribers — including standalone, those bundling a…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
As excitement around the FIFA World Cup continues to grip audiences, Stingray is attempting to unite global soccer fans with the launch of a new pop-up music channel dedicated to the world’s biggest sport.
Running through July 31, with launch dates varying by platform, Stingray Soccer Anthems features “the world’s most iconic stadium songs, global hits, and fan-fueled chants that define the spirit of the game.”
Tailored to local audiences, outside Canada and the U.S., the channel will be branded as Stingray Himnos del Fútbol in Mexico and Spain, and Stingray Hinos de futebol in Brazil.
Musical selections will span…
Continue Reading
President says organization will submit a comprehensive application “promptly”
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has denied Vues & Voix a three-cent increase in the rate broadcasters must pay to carry its 24-hour French-language radio station Canal M, saying there is insufficient evidence to justify it.
The discretionary service, which provides news and current affairs programming for the accessibility community and for people with disabilities, requested a three-cent rate increase – from four cents to seven cents per subscriber, per month – due to financial pressure. The not-for-profit said it has had to implement significant budget cuts, which resulted in…
Continue Reading
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an application for leave to appeal from Canada’s largest broadcasters regarding a Federal Court of Appeal ruling that supplanted a Copyright Board decision regarding rate setting for the retransmission of distant television signals.
The high court does not provide reasons for rejecting leave to appeal applications.
The group of broadcasters who brought the leave to appeal application to Canada’s highest court include Bell, Rogers, Telus, Videotron, Cogeco and the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA).
They sought clarification about whether a relatively new judicial…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general, on behalf of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s fibre access mandate, arguing the outcome could impact the ability of the federal government to shape telecom policy and impair its cabinet direction power broadly.
Late last week, the AG filed a motion for leave to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s decision to force the legacy telcos to open their bundled fibre networks to competitors. SaskTel is arguing there is an inherent conflict between Continue Reading
The total economic impact of Canada’s media and advertising sector contributed $22.6 billion to the country’s GDP in 2024, but the sector faces critical job losses due to declining digital ad revenue, according to the latest Canadian Media Means Business report, released earlier this month.
“Foreign tech platforms are siphoning our ad dollars and starving Canadian media,” said Sarah Thompson, project leader of Canadian Media Means Business (CMMB), a consortium of media owners and industry associations, in a press release. “This industry is a massive economic engine, yet we are bleeding…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Friday set the final wholesale access rates to the bundled fibre networks of the incumbent telcos, keeping them “similar” to the existing rates set in 2024 because of their success in inducing new offerings in the market.
“The final rates set in this order are similar to those interim rates, which dozens of competitors have successfully been using to bring new offers to market and attract tens of thousands of new customers,” the CRTC said Friday.
Indeed, the final rates are mostly only slightly changed. For access to Bell’s FTTP facilities, between 3 Mbps and 1.5…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Cabinet has declined to overturn petitions challenging the CRTC’s decision to allow the three largest telecommunications companies access to the wholesale internet framework, arguing the regulator has instituted investment protections and has an opportunity to solidify the balance between that and competition by setting final access rates.
“The Governor in Council considers that bringing down costs for Canadians is a key priority and that restricting larger telecommunications service providers from accessing mandated wholesale high-speed access services, as requested in the petitions, would reduce the level of competition and consumer options in the retail high-speed Internet services market,” said…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) has been approved Monday for a three-cent increase in the price broadcasters must pay to carry the service, despite the CRTC suspending that application months earlier until after it implemented changes to the regulatory system.
Broadcasters will now pay 16 cents per subscriber, per month to carry the channel, which is required of them under the Broadcasting Act’s 9.1(1)(h) rule. The new rate, which is what the not-for-profit asked for, will take effect on September 1, which is the start of the new broadcasting year.
“The Commission is of the…
Continue Reading
