Telecom now says bulk agreements can be good for customers
Beanfield Technologies Inc. has withdrawn a complaint filed to the CRTC in September 2023 that alleged Rogers’s bulk internet service agreement practices in multi-dwelling unit (MDU) buildings were giving the cable giant an undue advantage.
In a letter made public on the CRTC’s website on Sept. 10, the telecom regulator said Beanfield submitted a letter to the commission on Aug. 14 withdrawing its Part 1 application in which it had complained Rogers’s practices served to limit competition and were inconsistent with the CRTC’s MDU…
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CMPA joins global coalition calling for domestic production protections
A group of Canadian independent radio and TV broadcaster associations has sent an open letter to the federal government urging it “to stand firm in its commitment to Canadian sovereignty and culture” and to reconsider its intention to redirect the CRTC on its decisions requiring foreign streaming services to contribute to Canadian content funds.
The letter dated Sept. 14 is co-signed by Joel Fortune, legal counsel for the Independent Broadcast Group/Le groupe de diffuseurs indépendants (IBG/GDI); Cal Millar, chair of the Local Independent Television Stations (LITS) group; Chris Pearson,…
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By Alistair Vigier, CEO of Caseway, an AI company that co-creates products with large enterprises and shares the revenue with them
Canadian telecom has spent the better part of 20 years arguing about who gets access to whose infrastructure: wholesale rates, resale, aggregated and disaggregated access, fibre. Anyone who works in this business knows how long those arguments can run.
Watching Bell and Telus build their AI businesses, I would like us to ask a few of the same questions earlier this time.
Bell announced its AI Fabric in May 2025, with plans for more than 500 megawatts of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell President and CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that Northwestel’s prospective buyer, a consortium of indigenous organizations known collectively as Sixty North Unity, is still discussing a critical component of the deal: funding.
“That is very much an active file,” Bibic said in response to a question about the deal during the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in New York. “We’re working through with the potential new investors there how to structure it. They’re in discussions with funding partners on their end in order to fund their contribution. Should it proceed, which…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Thursday ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to establish, within six months, the “typical” download and upload speeds their customers can expect to get in their area at pre-sale and then ensure they can deliver on them.
The only reprieve to that is during peak period – established by the commission as between 7 pm at 11 pm local time – inside of which the CRTC acknowledges that there can be significant congestion that will impact speeds.
“Accordingly, for compliance and enforcement purposes, the Commission considers that 100% of the typical download and upload speeds must be…
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Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) has announced that John Melville will be leaving the company at the end of the year.
The vice president of content development and operations at the not-for-profit media company “been instrumental in the broadcaster/content creation company’s evolution from making media accessible to all Canadians to creating exceptional, award-winning content for AMI-tv, AMI-audio, AMI+ and YouTube,” a statement said.
“Projects greenlit during his tenure at AMI include Underdog Inc., Crip Trip, How We Do It!, Reflections, Audiobook Café, Para Sport Nation, Pretty Blind and Adapting,” the statement added.
Prior to joining AMI in 2011, Melville worked for the Blue Jays Radio network,…
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The CRTC last week in a letter asked several independent service providers for information regarding their retail internet subscriber numbers as the commission continues to monitor market conditions to ensure its wholesale high-speed access (HSA) framework achieves its policy objectives.
The commission directed its request for information to IT2IS Inc. (doing business as Bravo Telecom), Carry Telecom Inc., CIK Telecom Inc., Cipherkey Exchange Corp., Execulink Telecom Inc., Fibernetics Corporation, Frontier Networks Inc., Purple Cow Internet Inc., TekSavvy Solutions Inc. and Vianet Inc. Several other independent ISPs were included on the letter’s distribution list, and the CRTC said…
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ACTRA (the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is calling for urgent action from the Canadian government to bolster support for the country’s film and television industry — including implementing the CRTC’s 15 per cent Canadian programming expenditure requirement for online streaming services, which the government recently asked the regulator to review.
The performers union is calling on the government to bolster domestic production with stronger, predictable financial support for Canadian producers, stories and creative talent, as well as diversify internationally by attracting more productions and investment from markets around the…
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The CRTC on Monday approved an application by Byrnes Communications to remove a condition of service related to news programming imposed on its English-language commercial radio station CFLZ-FM Fort Erie, operating as 101.1 More FM and serving the Niagara region.
The condition of service — a legacy obligation originally imposed more than 20 years ago on a former station owner in response to that licensee’s lack of local programming — required CFLZ-FM to broadcast at least three hours of news programming each week, with a minimum of 30 per cent devoted to local news of particular relevance…
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By Connie Thiessen
CHCH-TV in Hamilton has cancelled its Saturday evening newscasts at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. as economics force the Channel Zero-owned television station to trim costs.
The station made the announcement over the weekend, with News Director Greg O’Brien writing in a post to its website that while CHCH has historically been able to exceed its licence obligations, the business has been “co-opted by foreign attention miners who care only about enriching themselves by keeping people addicted to their apps, and not about properly informing us.”
“CHCH now competes with these large foreign platforms for the attention of the citizens in our…
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