OTTAWA – Telus Communications is asking the CRTC to approve revisions to its general tariff, which would allow it to charge customers a 1.5% credit card processing fee.
If approved, new and current Telus customers making a payment by credit card will be charged the fee. The company is proposing this change be effective as of Oct. 17, 2022. If the Commission is not able to issue a decision in time, Telus is requesting the effective date be set at three weeks after the Commission’s decision is released.
In its application to revise its tariff, Telus notes in 2018, there was…
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OTTAWA – When the federal government announced it was proposing a new telecommunications policy direction to the CRTC back in May, it emphasized how it would improve competition.
This is supposed to help ensure telecommunications services are affordable and encourage innovation in the industry.
The proposed policy direction compels the CRTC to consider, among other things, how its decisions “encourage all forms of competition and investment”. But while several telecommunications service providers (TSPs) that submitted comments to the government on the proposed policy direction seem to agree competition is important, there is disagreement on what kind of competition the CRTC…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The CRTC’s renewal of the CBC/SRC’s licences on June 22, was met with dissenting voices within the Commission where the decision was approved by three commissioners over two dissents, as well as outside voices who have issues with some segments of the decision.
Several groups have now filed petitions to Cabinet to have the decision set aside or referred back to the CRTC, including Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF), the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), FRIENDS, l’Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA),…
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Calls claim of confidentiality for certain things “ridiculous on its face”
OTTAWA – Consumer advocacy group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) today filed a request with the CRTC asking for the disclosure of additional information from the documents Rogers Communications filed with it in relation to the company’s nationwide outage last month.
“PIAC submits that Rogers’ response has excessively redacted critical information that the public requires to understand what occurred during the outage and how Rogers plans to mitigate future risks and harms – and to make consumer choices based on these answers and otherwise protect their…
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OTTAWA – The owner of OneSoccer, Timeless Inc., has filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC alleging Rogers Cable is in breach of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations by refusing to carry the dedicated Canadian soccer channel on its cable systems.
Timeless claims despite a “surge in popularity and success for Canadian soccer” Rogers has denied OneSoccer carriage. Its application indicates only Telus customers can currently receive it (although the channel is also available as a direct-to-consumer OTT offering and is available on Fubo TV in Canada).
Timeless argues Rogers will not carry OneSoccer as a cable channel because it has…
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By Connie Thiessen
RENFREW, Ont. – My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) has announced that it’s reached an agreement to acquire GIANT FM (CIXL‐FM) and Country 89 (CKYY‐FM) Welland, ON from Wellport Broadcasting/RB Communications.
“We are very excited to announce the acquisition of these radio stations, particularly CIXL‐FM, one of Ontario’s most respected and highest‐performing Classic Rock stations,” said MBC president Jon Pole (right), in a release. “Combined with our existing portfolio and significant presence across Ontario, we believe these assets will enhance our ability to deliver high quality, engaging, local content and multi‐platform marketing solutions.”
“This strategic acquisition demonstrates our continuing commitment to investing…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC today announced 10 projects will receive up to $20.5 million in funding from its Broadband Fund.
“The projects will support the rollout of fourth-generation (also known as LTE or LTE-A) mobile wireless access along 425 kilometres of roads and highways in Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador,” a press release explains. “They will also support improved Internet and mobile wireless access that will benefit 2,250 households in 35 communities, including five Indigenous communities and one official language minority community, in the three provinces.”
The Broadband Fund has now committed up to $226.5 million to…
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CEO says they are “more determined and motivated than ever” to expand across Canada
MONTREAL – Quebecor Inc. today announced its second quarter 2022 financial results, which states revenue for the quarter was $1.1 billion – a decreased of $16 million compared to Q2 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA was reported to be $491.4 million, a $10 million decrease compared to the same quarter of 2021, according to a press release.
In its telecommunications segment, Quebecor reported $912.6 million in revenue for Q2 2022 (a decrease from $928.4 million in the same quarter of 2021) while adjusted EBITDA was $487.5 million (up from $481.5…
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Calls for minister to ban ads on the public broadcaster
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a letter obtained by Cartt.ca, Québecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau brings falling advertising revenues to the attention of the Minister of Canadian Heritage while criticizing the recent renewal of the national public broadcaster’s licences by the CRTC.
“In the face of technological globalization of non-Canadian companies that rely on advertising (FAANG, and soon Netflix and Disney+), which is the only source of revenue for traditional television, the CRTC has decided to maintain the CBC’s power to continue to use it,” Péladeau mentions in his letter…
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TULITA and FORT GOOD HOPE, NT — Northwestel, a subsidiary of Bell, announced today the launch of fibre Internet in the Mackenzie Valley communities of Tulita and Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories.
“Fort Good Hope and Tulita are the first fly-in communities with seasonal winter-road access to be fully connected to fibre in the north,” a press release says.
With the launch, customers in these communities can access Northwestel’s high-speed, unlimited fibre Internet service, offering speeds up to 300 Mbps, as well as live HD TV with Northwestel TV Plus, the release says.
The Northwestel TV Plus service, starting at $25 per…
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