Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) provided an update last week on the status of high-speed internet deployment across Canada, saying 96.4 per cent of Canadian households had access to internet meeting the federal government’s minimum speed objective of 50/10 Mbps at the end of 2024.
On behalf of ISED, Canada’s secretary of state for rural development, Buckley Belanger, provided the update in response to questions posed in the House of Commons in April by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis, who represents the Ontario riding of Haldimand–Norfolk.
Belanger’s written response, presented in the House on June 10, cited the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor’s Videotron is asking the CRTC to get involved in adjusting the wholesale roaming access prices charged by SaskTel, which would reverse over a decade of regulatory forbearance.
In a Part 1 application with redactions made public Monday, Videotron is claiming it is being forced to pay unfairly high wholesale roaming prices to the dominant wireless service provider in Saskatchewan with no regulatory avenue because the CRTC in 2015 excluded the Crown corporation from the policy that regulated those rates for market power players Rogers, Bell, and Telus. However the regulator “retained the power to…
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On the day the CRTC’s new prohibition on fees for activating, modifying or cancelling wireless and internet service plans came into effect this past Friday, the commission sent letters to Telus and Bell asking the telcos if they have stopped charging customers new fees that it had previously warned could be in violation of the new rules.
Last Tuesday, the CRTC told Telus via a letter its new $15 SIM purchase fee may be considered to be an activation fee that would be prohibited as of Friday. In a Continue Reading
By Doug Barrett, adjunct professor in the Arts, Media & Entertainment MBA Program at the Schulich School of Business
On June 3, Culture Minister Marc Miller scored an own goal on Canadian cultural sovereignty by announcing that the government will develop new policy directions to the CRTC to “adjust” the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, presumably by scrapping the requirement that foreign online undertakings make financial contributions to the production of Canadian programming.
This move — just 21 days after the CRTC decided to increase their financial obligation to the system — constituted a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Friday launched its consultation on the harmonization of the four consumer codes to “improve clarity and consistency of consumer protections across all retail services.”
The regulator also said the harmonization — bringing together the internet, wireless, television, and deposit and disconnection codes — will serve to reduce administrative burden for the CCTS, the complaints watchdog that administers the codes, and the industry by reducing reporting to the commission while making it easier to monitor and improve a single set of rules across all communications services. Some consumer protections, it added, could apply to all retail…
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Eastlink announced Thursday the expansion of its internet services to communities in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador using the wholesale fibre regime.
The communities in New Brunswick include Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John, Miramichi, Tracadie and Bathurst and the capital city St. John’s in Newfoundland.
Eastlink already has its own mobile network in these communities, which it plans to bundle with these new internet services.
“The current wholesale regulatory framework has caused us to consider different ways of expanding our service footprint where investing in building new networks is no longer viable,” CEO Jeff Gillham said in a press release. “This includes…
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By Connie Thiessen
Disney+ has unveiled its first-ever Canadian local Originals, billed as “an important step in the streamer’s expanding investment in Canadian storytelling.”
The new greenlights include “Knighted,” a new eight-episode scripted comedy and “I’m Not Coming Back,” a three-part true-crime documentary.
Produced by Heavy Lifting Productions in association with 3 Arts Entertainment, “Knighted” follows a missing person’s case that spirals into an absurd documentary-style exploration of the sinister secrets lurking beneath a local medieval dinner theatre. Bruce McCulloch (The Kids in the Hall) developed and is executive producing, alongside creators Jackson Rowe and Mike Mildon (For Heaven’s Sake) and producers…
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Having become aware that Telus planned to introduce a $15 SIM purchase fee for both physical SIM cards and digital eSIMs later this week, the CRTC in a letter Tuesday informed Telus such a fee may be in violation of the commission’s new rules eliminating activation fees.
Telus is set to start the new practice on Thursday, June 11, just one day before the CRTC’s prohibition on activation, modification and cancellation fees comes into effect on Friday.
The Canadian Press on Tuesday reported on Telus’s planned $15 SIM…
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Telus announced Wednesday its complete Optik TV suite is now available in Ontario, offering customers flexible TV plans with access to more than 450 sports and live TV channels plus the option to bundle streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Crave, Prime Video and Apple TV.
Separately, the Vancouver-based telecom company also announced the expansion of its Optik TV service to the Montreal and Quebec City areas, offering customers access to more than 300 TV channels plus the aforementioned streaming services as well as illico+. Telus has offered Optik TV to customers…
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By Howard Law, author of MediaPolicy.ca and Canada vs. California: How Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (Lorimer, 2024)
This week’s announcement by Culture Minister Marc Miller that the federal government is striking down the CRTC’s ruling on streamer contributions to Canadian content is perhaps more shocking in its timing than its substance.
After all, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has an appetite for jettisoning government policy that he considers unwanted baggage. Recall the climb down from the Digital Services Tax, the carbon tax, and the suite of Trudeau-era environmental policies.
Miller will be sending…
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