By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers said Thursday it has entered into an agreement to sell to a “leading global financial investor” a minority equity stake in a newly formed subsidiary that will include parts of its wireless traffic transport network from one region of the country.
The minority stakeholder will get paid periodic distributions based on the net income made by that subsidiary. Wholesale fees to use the network will maintain it, while consumer use of the network, which Rogers CFO Glenn Brandt said is in the range of 40 to 50 per cent growth per year, will ensure distribution stability.
The investment,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Carriers will have to come to an agreement over the wholesale rate charged for domestic roaming, with the CRTC only acting as the decider of last resort, the regulator announced Monday.
The announcement means the CRTC is moving away from what is called “Phase II” costing methodology, which involves the national carriers submitting cost studies, typically for a five-year forward-looking period, so all regional competitors are paying the same rate.
This time, the commission is choosing to go the commercial negotiation route guided by rate benchmarks it will publish on an annual basis, which it said will include weighted…
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By Connie Thiessen
Anthem Sports & Entertainment has reached an agreement to acquire Hollywood Suite, the owner and operator of four linear TV channels and accompanying digital on-demand service, pending CRTC approval.
Launched in 2011, Hollywood Suite is the largest pure-play movie service in Canada, with its film-focused 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s channels available in over 10 million homes via Rogers, Bell, Telus, Amazon Prime Video, Cogeco, Eastlink, and Freedom Mobile, among other cable providers.
Anthem – which has offices and studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, and Cleveland – says Hollywood Suite’s ability to satisfy both traditional linear viewers and on-demand focused digital…
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The Ontario government announced Monday an investment of $34 million to bring high-speed internet to 3,000 homes and businesses in 14 communities and four First Nation communities across southwestern Ontario.
The money will pass through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project.
Recipients of the funding include Cogeco, which will cover Chatham-Kent, Essex County, Lambton County, the Township of Walpole, and Wellington County, and TekSavvy, which will cover its hometown Chatham-Kent and Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.
Other recipients include Execulink, which will cover Elgin County, Lambton County, Middlesex County, Oneida First Nation, and Oxford County; Beyond Air and BrookeTel, which will both…
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Competitors are left wondering about rates and implications of five-year access immunity
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Tuesday ordered the largest telephone companies to provide wholesale access to their existing last-mile fibre networks across the country by February 13, 2025, but is shielding from the regime any new builds for five years.
The order is an expansion of the temporary regime ordered in November 2023 that forced Bell and Telus to provide competitors bundled access to their middle- and last-mile fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec, which has been in force since May 7. The CRTC will keep the existing rates…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court has granted a fresh website-blocking order that will force broadcasters to block websites streaming different sports league matches for next season.
The July 9 order draws on previous site-blocking precedent but deviates in that it is being applied to multiple sports in a single order. It also applies a permanent ban on the defendants from broadcasting the unlicensed content, though the reason for the site-blocking order in the first place is because said defendants, who can operate from abroad, have historically not stopped the activity.
As such, the order captures all live pre- and regular season…
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CBC and Lionsgate announced Tuesday principal photography has started on the fourth season of hit original comedy series Son of a Critch in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
The new season of 13 half-hour episodes will premiere in winter 2025 on CBC Gem and CBC TV in Canada. Lionsgate handles worldwide distribution rights outside of Canada.
Based on comedian Mark Critch’s award-winning memoir of the same name, Son of a Critch is a comedic and heartfelt window into the life of now 14-year-old Mark, coming of age in St. John’s. Critch portrays his own father, Mike, while Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (The Haunting of Bly…
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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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