By Geoff White
IN A COMMENT PIECE just under a year ago (Opinion, One of Canada’s most important institutions is failing Canadians, June 17, 2021) I argued that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — one of Canada’s most important institutions — is failing Canadians, by failing to respond to their needs.
Instead of fostering competition for telecommunications services, it has under the tenure of its chair and CEO slowly but surely rendered decisions that entrench and protect the largest companies. I argued that this contradicts the Liberal government’s 2019 direction to the CRTC to promote “competition, affordability and consumer…
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OTTAWA – Mobile wireless pricing is trending downwards in Canada and fixed broadband Internet prices have mostly increased since 2020, according to the latest edition of the government commissioned report Price Comparison Study of Telecommunications Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions.
The report, prepared by Wall Communications Inc., was released recently but is dated February 15, 2022, and covers pricing from 2021.
A note on methodology
The price comparison study was designed “to provide a detailed comparative price analysis of telecommunications services within Canada, as well as an international comparison (G7 + Australia),” it says.
Data was collected on mobile wireless, fixed…
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60 persons, including leading Radio-Canada talent, ask the public broadcaster to disavow decision
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Last week, between St-Jean-Baptiste and Canada Day, the CRTC issued a decision blaming the CBC/Radio-Canada for saying on the air the N-word, which is part of the title of an iconic book in Québec, written by Pierre Vallières, a prominent member of the FLQ, a separatist/terrorist group of the sixties.
A letter signed by 60 people including leading on-air talent and journalists of Radio-Canada was sent on Sunday to the higher echelons of the CBC/Radio-Canada and published in La Presse on Monday….
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OTTAWA – Last week, the CRTC issued a decision renewing the licence for ATN South Asian Television (SATV) from Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2027 and denied the licensee’s requests related to access rights and conditions of licence around accessibility.
SATV is South Asian Television Canada Limited’s (ATN) third-language ethic discretionary service. It provides 75% of its programming in South Asian languages and the rest in English, according to its application to renew its licence.
ATN, which is eligible to operate SATV under an exemption order for discretionary services with fewer than 200,000 subscribers, requested to remain a licenced service….
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Cabinet declined to consider petition to set aside CRTC decision on Rogers merger
CALGARY – Shaw Communications announced today its financial results for Q3 2022, which shows revenue decreased 2.1% to $1.35 billion, compared to the same quarter the previous year.
The financial results for the quarter ended May 31, 2022, further show adjusted EBITDA increased slightly (0.3%) to $644 million compared to Q3 2021, while net income decreased 42.7% to $203 million.
“The prior year period included incremental Wireline Consumer revenue of approximately $20 million related to the release of a provision following the decision on final aggregated Third Party Internet…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today announced it estimates its total telecommunications regulatory costs for April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, to be $48.07 million.
“This includes additional funding to secure the necessary incremental increases to the Commission’s resources to address both current and future regulatory operational requirements,” Telecom Order CRTC 2022-177, which announces the fees, says.
After accounting for a $0.55 million annual adjustment amount for the previous fiscal year, “the net billing for the Commission’s telecommunications fees for the 2022-2023 fiscal year is $47.520 million,” the decision says, adding it is an increase of 24.17% compared to 2021-2022.
For more,…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — The first paragraph of the CRTC’s decision to renew CBC/Radio-Canada’s TV and radio licenses was no surprise. The Commission is never going to deny a license to the national public broadcaster.
But many of the changes to its conditions of licence — and in particular the conditions it chose not to impose any more — are a major step toward implementing the new philosophies of the Ian Scott-led Commission. And that step does not come without some resistance — including from within the Commission.
Four paragraphs into the introduction of its mammoth, 68,000-word renewal decision issued…
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Two dissenting positions included with final decision
OTTAWA – The CRTC is forcing national public broadcaster Société Radio-Canada (SRC) to make a public written apology to a complainant who asked the Commission to reconsider the findings of the SRC’s French services ombudsman regarding the use of the “N-word” in French on the program Le 15-18.
A decision on the matter, issued today, specifies the SRC is also required to report to the Commission by Sept. 27 “on internal measures and programming best practices that it will put in place to ensure that it better addresses similar issues in the future.”
As…
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GATINEAU – City Wide Communications, a Dartmouth, N.S.-based independent telecommunications service provider, has asked the CRTC to review and vary its recent decision to deny City Wide’s 2020 application asking the Commission to order Bragg Communications (Eastlink) to move its third-party Internet access (TPIA) point of interconnection (POI) in Nova Scotia from its current location in the rural community of Pennant Point to a location in the core of Halifax.
In a decision issued on March 25, 2022, the Commission noted it found “that while Eastlink is subjecting City Wide to a disadvantage and providing itself with a…
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Company sent a letter to ISED and Competition Bureau and is preparing ad blitz
By Ahmad Hathout
THE COMPANY THAT formerly owned the assets of what is now called Freedom Mobile has not given up on reacquiring them, despite a deal announced earlier this month that (pending relevant approvals) would see Rogers sell the wireless assets to Quebecor to satisfy regulators looking at its proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications.
Globalive Capital on Friday sent a letter to Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell – with a copy to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – further pitching its case as being…
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