Expects mandatory roaming and tower sharing to be feasible in all cases
By Ahmad Hathout
The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) has launched a consultation this week on a set of proposals to streamline the tower build process and updated the conditions of licence to find that mandatory roaming and tower sharing are technically feasible in all cases.
Through a consultation document released Monday, ISED is asking for comments about the following proposed measures: whether it should allow telecoms, tower owners and broadcasters to forego public consutlation and notification to a land use authority (LUA) if the proposed tower…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Akash Broadcasting Inc. has filed a notice of discontinuance at the Federal Court of Appeal on Tuesday to pull back its case challenging a CRTC decision to deny its buy of AM radio station CKMX in Calgary.
The operator of ethnic stations was granted a hearing at the high court in December and was supposed to file a requisition for a hearing date by tomorrow.
A question to Akash and its law firm as to why it discontinued the application was not returned.
Akash entered into an agreement with Bell in 2024 to acquire the assets of the station,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal said Monday that the CRTC did not err by forcing Rogers to negotiate a deal through staff-assisted mediation or go to final offer arbitration (FOA) to carry OneSoccer.
In a decision from the bench after a hearing Monday, the court said the CRTC was not wrong in deciding that Rogers’s proposed remedy – to negotiate a deal privately – was unlikely to be acceptable to OneSoccer parent Timeless Inc., and that staff-assisted dispute resolution, requested by Timeless, was required.
The cable giant said in its original appeal application that it proposed…
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The CRTC has told Bell via a letter that the telco’s introduction of a $40 device handling fee charged to customers purchasing a new device along with their wireless plan may be in violation of the commission’s new rules eliminating activation, modification and cancellation fees.
In a letter dated May 6, Scott Hutton, the CRTC’s vice president of consumer, analytics and strategy, said he had been informed of the new Bell Mobility practice and it did not appear the new fee falls under the exemption in the new regulatory policy — which comes…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC confirmed Monday that carrier access agreements must be signed before mandated wireless service can be provided to competitors.
With that, the regulator rejected Quebecor’s request to vary that same finding in the summer of 2024 on the basis that signing a separate access agreement with Bell was unnecessary because the terms of that access were already established when the CRTC picked Bell’s rate at final offer arbitration (FOA) on October 10, 2023, and that Quebecor’s subsidiaries had already been roaming on the telco’s network as MVNOs. Quebecor, which alleged Bell was forcing it…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Wednesday ordered the overhaul of how the Broadband Fund collects money from telecoms.
No longer will companies be required to set aside the previously determined amount of $150 million. Instead, at the end of the year, the regulator will forecast an amount it expects it will need for the next year based on the total amount of approved statement of work budgets up to $150 million, plus a $30 million contingency for “unexpected funding requests,” such as changes in project costs that it occasionally receives.
Under the approach, the CRTC said money for already approved projects…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A $600,000 lifeline to a fund that bankrolls public interest participation in CRTC proceedings is again being financed through the authorities of the Canada Media Fund over a two-year period.
“This funding will ensure that Canadian public interest and consumer groups will continue to have the financial support needed to intervene in broadcasting proceedings before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC),” says a January post on the Broadcasting Participation Fund (BPF) website, noting proceedings related to the Online News Act will not be funded through this program.
The details of the funding arrangement are outlined…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The attorney general, on behalf of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s fibre access mandate, arguing the outcome could impact the ability of the federal government to shape telecom policy and impair its cabinet direction power broadly.
Late last week, the AG filed a motion for leave to intervene in SaskTel’s challenge to the CRTC’s decision to force the legacy telcos to open their bundled fibre networks to competitors. SaskTel is arguing there is an inherent conflict between Continue Reading
Brad Danks | CEO, OUTtv Media Global
Part 2 – CARTT Series: Beyond the Walled Garden
Read – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Canada’s media sector consistently produces strong creative talent, compelling content, and flashes of international success. The deeper issue isn’t simply decline, it’s that we haven’t redesigned the system to capture the new opportunities streaming and AI now offer. As a result, Canada keeps missing out on the real upside, time after time.
Canada invents, but rarely converts. We produce cultural milestones that spark briefly and then fade,…
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The federal government on Tuesday said it will take “a comprehensive, national approach to telecom competition and drive meaningful outcomes for Canadian consumers” by implementing a “Telecommunications Competition Roadmap” to improve internet and mobile service affordability.
Included in its spring economic update, the roadmap outlines actions to improve consumer choice, prices, networks and transparency, the federal government said.
Parts of the roadmap are already underway, it said. In August 2025, the federal government upheld the CRTC’s decision on mandatory wholesale internet access, requiring large telcos to give access to their fibre-to-the-home…
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