By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has set a virtual hearing for April 30, at which it will consider a change of ownership for half a dozen radio stations and an application from CBC to convert its AM station in Cornerbrook, NL to FM.
Among the change of ownership applications is Stingray Radio’s bid to acquire CHUP-FM Calgary, currently branded as Hot AC format C97.7, from Rawlco Radio. Stingray would purchase the assets of the station for $5.5 million, with the total value of the transaction estimated at over $6.1 million.
Rawlco is also seeking approval to acquire 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM) Saskatoon from Saskatoon Media Group. Rawlco would purchase the assets of…
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New wireless competitors took over half of mobile sub adds in 2024
By Ahmad Hathout
Independent wholesale-based internet service providers lost half of their market share since 2020, according to a report from the CRTC.
The market share dropped from a high of 8.4 per cent in 2020 to 4.2 per cent in 2024, according to the Canadian Telecommunications Market Report, released Tuesday. And it’s been steady in between: falling to 8 per cent in 2021, 6.1 per cent in 2022 and 5 per cent in 2023.
“With shifts in the internet service market and in…
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Freedom Mobile on Tuesday announced it is introducing a refreshed suite of Total Freedom plans offering coast-to-coast coverage across Canada, plus international roaming in 120-plus global destinations included at no additional cost.
“These plans will include monthly recurring Roam Beyond data, expanding the value proposition far beyond Canada-U.S.-Mexico use,” said a Freedom press release. “By embedding international roaming into wireless monthly rate plans, Freedom removes the unpredictability and financial burden typically associated with other international roaming options — a longstanding pain point for consumers.”
The new unlimited talk-and-text Total Freedom…
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Bell, utilities say Community Fibre Company’s equipment not authorized on structures
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Community Fibre Company (CFC), a small internet service provider in the Ottawa Valley, says his company “may not survive 2026” after permit delays and the removal of its unauthorized fibre equipment on poles.
“For a facilities based provider to be denied timely access to provide modern Fibre To The Premises services to more than 240 homes is simply devastating, and resulted in CFC losing out to more than $1.65 million dollars in revenue over the past 8 years (240 homes * 80% take-up with an…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The country’s largest telecoms are challenging a decision by Quebec’s highest court allowing a proposed class of plaintiffs to seek punitive damages for device unlocking fees.
Rogers, Bell, Telus and Quebecor are asking the Supreme Court of Canada this week to review the December decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which stems from a Fido (Rogers) customer being charged what she called an “abusive” $50 plus tax to unlock her device before going on an overseas trip in 2016.
The telecoms allege the Quebec Court of Appeal incorrectly interpreted parts of the province’s Consumer Protection…
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The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) announced Thursday the addition of three new members to its board of directors.
Gina Power is a former programming and operations director at The Walt Disney Company in Canada, who currently teaches entertainment law at Yorkville University. She is also the board director for Women in Film and Television, Atlantic Canada.
“Serving on the CRFC Board is a genuine privilege. I look forward to contributing to a future where every community has the resources to tell its own story; a future where local stories are not merely preserved but flourish,” she said in a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Service providers making under $25 million in revenue will not have to contribute to the National Contribution Fund (NCF) or pay annual telecom fees, the CRTC ruled Wednesday.
The regulator bumped up the threshold from $10 million of previous year’s revenues to $25 million for such fees, striking a balance, it said, between relieving an administrative and financial burden on smaller providers and only slightly increasing – by less than one per cent – the amounts to be paid by the rest of the pool to the NCF, which funds the regulator’s flagship Broadband Fund program.
Because the threshold…
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The CRTC on Wednesday issued a call for applications for FM radio stations to serve indigenous communities in Ottawa and Toronto, following First Peoples Radio’s exit from those markets last year.
The commission’s view is there is a need for radio stations to serve the interests of those communities, and its preliminary view is these markets should be served by radio stations operated by and for indigenous peoples.
The CRTC proposes that only one station should be licensed in each of the Ottawa and Toronto markets to serve their…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal on Tuesday turned down Cogeco’s request to argue that the CRTC neglected to consider the editorial impact of allowing Quebecor’s internet station QUB Radio to operate on the traditional FM airwaves.
The court did not provide the reasons.
Cogeco filed the leave to appeal application in November, claiming the CRTC did not adequately weigh the impact of Quebecor’s influence on editorial voices when, in a decision the month prior, it found no issue with a commercial arrangement that allowed QUB Radio to continue operating in the primetime hours,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Friday launched a consultation to review whether the fee structure of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) burdens smaller telecoms.
Specifically, the regulator holds the preliminary views that the watchdog’s fee structure may “disproportionately” harm smaller telecoms, new market entrants and regional players compared to larger ones; and that there may not be an effective mechanism for these telecoms to have the fees related to complaints reviewed before being forced to pay or lose membership, which is a requirement of the CRTC.
“If these two views are accurate, they limit the efficient resolution of…
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