The Canada Media Fund (CMF) last week announced a new chair and the appointment of a new director to its board.
Michael Schmalz has been elected as chair of the board, succeeding outgoing chair Alain Cousineau, who left the board of directors after an 11-year tenure.
Appointed as a CMF board director by the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2017, Schmalz resides in London, Ont., is fully bilingual, and brings more than 17 years of experience in the digital media industry, with a focus on gaming innovation.
René Guimond has been appointed…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers and TekSavvy have come to an agreement to avert an impending disconnection of wholesale customers at two Toronto buildings.
Earlier this week, TekSavvy requested that the CRTC suspend a Part 1 application it filed late last month asking the regulator to intervene in a case where its customers at two buildings on Sherbourne Street were at risk of disconnection as Rogers transitions to pure fibre connections.
The CRTC sent a letter dated Wednesday to both telecoms outlining that TekSavvy sent a letter on June 11 saying that an agreement had been reached between the two companies “to…
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By Howard Law, author of Canada vs. California, and MediaPolicy.ca
Last week the CRTC released its anticipated “Phase One” ruling on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11. The headline was the $200 million price tag put on Canadian content contributions assessed by the commission on large foreign online audio and audio-visual streamers operating in Canada.
Following the commission’s decision, many industry players and public policy commentators were quick to declare victory or disaster, something we can expect in a regulatory drama that never quits.
This drama is chronicled in my book, Canada vs California: How…
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Foreign streamers say base contribution will make collaborations more difficult
By Ahmad Hathout
Foreign and standalone online streamers that make $25 million or more will be required to contribute five per cent of their previous year’s Canadian revenues into the system, an amount the CRTC said Tuesday would draw $200 million per year into supporting Canadian content.
The regulator said it is prioritizing certain categories of content to the receive funds, including the expensive-to-produce local news on radio and television, and content catering to French-language, indigenous and minority communities.
Of the five per cent, two per cent will go toward the Canada Media…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Rogers to maintian TekSavvy’s ability to service its customers at two Toronto buildings until it can make a determination on an application by the wholesaler that warns the cable giant’s move to pure fibre would leave competitors behind.
The request came two days after TekSavvy complained that Rogers’s transition from hybrid fibre-coax facilities to pure fibre would mean it would lose 29 existing and possibly more future subscribers at the 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street buildings.
The regulator said in a Friday letter shared with Cartt that it is “concerned that customers…
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Disconnections are expected June 4, TekSavvy said
By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy is again asking the CRTC to intervene in a case where its internet customers are at risk of losing service because the cable network from which it leases capacity is being migrated to pure fibre.
In a Part 1 application dated Wednesday that has yet to be posted at the time of this story’s publishing, Teksavvy said 29 customers at two buildings – 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street – in Toronto are at risk of disconnection because Rogers told the Chatham-based company that it is migrating those hybrid fibre-coax facilities to…
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Cogeco announced Wednesday a new organizational structure combining the commercial, operational and technical functions of its Canadian telecommunications business Cogeco Connexion and its U.S. telecom business Breezeline into a single North American organization.
Cogeco said in a press release the streamlined structure “will enable the creation of strong cross-border centers of expertise in key strategic areas such as digital, advanced analytics, and technology.” In addition, it “will also accelerate the deployment of top talent and best practices across the organization and will facilitate the harmonization of systems and platforms,” Cogeco said.
“We identified…
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Rogers is the leading fixed broadband provider in Canada for overall experience, according to a new report from U.K.-based mobile analytics firm Opensignal.
“Rogers, which now includes Shaw customers, is recognized for the best overall experience more frequently than any other provider in our report,” Opensignal says.
When compared to other national fixed broadband providers including Bell, Telus and Starlink, Rogers secured three outright national wins for consistent quality, download speed and video experience, according to the report. In addition, it achieved 21 wins (11 outright wins and 10 joint wins) across various…
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Regulator says it is aiming for wholesale internet decision by end of summer
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said Friday it will not immediately decide whether the three largest telecommunications companies should be banned from accessing the large telcos’ bundled middle- and last-mile fibre facilities, effectively greenlighting Bell, Rogers, and Telus to ride on those networks in the interim.
A consortium made up of Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink, TekSavvy, and the indie rep the Competitive Network Operators of Canada filed a late March request for the CRTC to rule that the Big 3 are banned from accessing Bell’s and Telus’s fibre facilities…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell’s joint request of the CRTC to permanently block the three largest telecommunications companies from accessing its bundled fibre facilities is an attempt to nullify the competitive impact of the interim access regime, Rogers and Telus argued earlier this month.
The country’s largest telco partnered with wholesale competitors to ask the regulator in a procedural request to clarify that the Big 3 are ineligible to access the bundled middle- and last-mile facilities of Bell and Telus before the May 7 deadline to implement the interim regime in Quebec and Ontario. The CRTC did not explicitly…
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