GATINEAU – A number of companies are worried about Bell getting bigger.
In July 2019, Groupe V Media announced it was selling for $20 million its five conventional stations to Bell Media. V, previously known as TQS, has had a long story of financial and regulatory problems and its acquisition by Bell had been rumoured for quite some time. (Photo at right are the stars of the V show Ne Jamais Faire à la Maison, or Never do this at Home, Marie-Soleil Dion and Jonathan Roberge.)
On October 29th, the CRTC issued it Notice of Hearing with a short intervention period ending…
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OTTAWA – The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) said today it received nearly 19,300 complaints from Canadian telecom and TV customers, an all-time high in the organization’s 12-year history.
Given we’re also at an all-time high for wireless and broadband customers in Canada, not to mention how recent news and noise surrounding telecom companies in Canada have likely helped more Canadians realize the CCTS can help, such an increase is not surprising.
Canadians, said the CCTS annual report (which tallies complaints for the 12-months ended July 31), complained most often about…
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HAMILTON – Cable 14 and Hamilton Food Share have launched the second Annual 14 Ways To Feed The Hammer campaign just in time for the holiday season.
Cable 14 has produced a series of public service announcements designed to promote Hamilton Food Share’s organizations and programs to local residents in need. The PSAs will feature how these organizations support individuals over the holidays and how they ensure vulnerable citizens have access to food all year.
This holiday season, approximately 10,000 Hamilton households will reach out to the emergency food system for assistance in providing their families with the…
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TORONTO – Radioplayer Canada, the radio streaming app that delivers more than 500 radio stations to Canadian listeners across multiple platforms (loads of stations, except for Bell Media’s), has surpassed one million downloads in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, combined, the company announced this week.
“Two and a half years ago the majority of Canadian radio broadcasters joined together to collaborate on technology in order to make radio listening easy for the audience – wherever, whenever, and however they want,” said Julie Adam, board chair of Radioplayer Canada and senior vice president of Rogers Radio. “Clearly,…
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GATINEAU – After reviewing a dozen of the new submissions made at the CRTC’s latest wireless policy review submission deadline on Friday, we can confidently say: No one has yet changed their mind since the last rounds of information were filed.
The arguments, butressed by some new expert reports in some instances, mostly bolster what has been said and repeated early and often.
The incumbent carriers say mandated mobile virtual network operators riding on their networks as wireless resellers will cause them to decrease investment.
Poppycock, says the Canadian Network Operators and the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance. “Such threats have never, not…
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OTTAWA – The judicial process against the CRTC’s August decision on the final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access (HSA) service will go forward – and the decision’s application will remain suspended pending a ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal.
This means that the rates in force today are the interim ones set in 2016 and retroactive payments set out in the summer decision are suspended, pending the court’s decision.
The FCA had already granted a temporary stay on October 1st.
Justice Richard Boivin determined “the implementation of the CRTC Order that could result in a permanent market distortion…
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OTTAWA – Back in the summer, as we reported, Justices from the Federal Court ordered the individuals operating the so-called GoldTV Services to cease operations.
They are unauthorized subscription services that provide access to programming content over the Internet without having obtained the rights, a violation of the Copyright Act, and Bell Media, Groupe TVA, and Rogers Media had all pursued the matter in court.
Despite the issuance of injunctions, the Court, in a decision released last week, says some of the GoldTV services remain in operation and the infringements continue.
Last Friday, the Complainants against Gold, Rogers,…
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MONTREAL – Leclerc Communications’ desire to get into Quebec's largest market may cost Montreal listeners their classical music station.
The company announced on Wednesday it has entered into an agreement to purchase Montreal's CJPX-FM (Radio Classique 99.5) from entertainer Gregory Charles. An application published by the CRTC the same day sets the purchase price at $3.88 million.
Charles, who bought CJPX-FM and sister station CJSQ-FM in Quebec City from founder Jean-Pierre Coallier in 2015, will keep CJSQ-FM and the radioclassique.ca website. However, with CJPX being unprofitable, it's hard to imagine how CJSQ could remain so without its big brother.
Before it takes…
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GATINEAU – Canada’s major cable carriers (Eastlink, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron) Wednesday made the point to federal cabinet that all the CRTC decision on new third party internet access aggregated wholesale rates does is disincentivize needed investment in high-speed networks, which is contrary to public interest.
November 13th was the deadline to file petitions to Cabinet (technically to the Governor-in-Council with cabinet) on the August CRTC decision to set lower final rates for TPIA – and force the incumbents to pay three years of retroactive overpayments to independent ISP resellers – and as the cable carriers argue, “by reducing…
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BOCA RATON, FL and TORONTO — Global digital infrastructure investor Digital Colony announced Tuesday afternoon it is acquiring independent fibre-optic network provider Beanfield Technologies Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
Toronto-based Beanfield’s portfolio includes 366 route kilometres of pervasive and dense metro fibre infrastructure in Toronto and Montreal and more than 76,000 strand kilometres of fibre infrastructure, representing an average of 208 strands per route kilometre. The company also has 541 on-net locations, including 367 commercial locations, 161 multi-dwelling units and 13 data centres, according to a news release issued by Digital Colony. Cartt.ca profiled Beanfield…
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