WIND MOBILE FOUNDER Anthony Lacavera (above) wants Canadians (and the federal government) to know he knows they deserve better.
In an open letter posted to his website, Lacavera argues Canada now has the “opportunity to permanently solve our decades-old mobile competition problem.”
That opportunity, of course, is centred around the sale of Freedom Mobile.
Early last month, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued a statement saying he would not allow Rogers Communications to acquire all of Shaw Communications’ wireless licences.
Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw requires approval from ISED, the Competition Bureau and the CRTC. (The CRTC is the…
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OTTAWA – With lots of people busy posting spicy takes on the federal government’s recently introduced Bill C-18, it is worth a reminder we are coming up on a year since two major CRTC decisions were issued.
The first is the CRTC’s decision on mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), issued April 15, 2021, and the second is its decision on wholesale Internet rates, issued May 27, 2021.
Both have proved controversial, and CRTC chair Ian Scott has found himself in the position of defending each decision on multiple occasions in the past year. (You can catch up on…
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ISED says the initiative helps “Canadians who need it most”
WHILE THIS WEEK’S news the federal government has officially launched Connecting Families 2.0 was welcomed by some, critics believe the federal government is not doing enough to ensure Canadians have access to affordable Internet.
Connecting Families, which first launched in 2018 and expanded this month, is a federal government initiative to support access to affordable high-speed Internet in Canada.
When it first started it gave eligible low-income families access to a broadband subscription with a minimum download speed of 10 Mbps and a minimum of 100 GB of data per…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC yesterday initiated a show cause proceeding and call for comments on the use of the term “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” (MSRP) in the Wireless Code.
The CRTC is examining the term after Quebecor submitted a letter to the Commission last March, which claimed it had observed Bell, Rogers (RCCI) and Telus “appear to be inflating the retail price of their mobile devices,” the CRTC’s notice of consultation says.
The retail price of mobile devices is relevant to the fees consumers are on the hook for if they terminate their wireless contracts early.
Termination costs are limited “to the…
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CRTC confirmed as intended regulator
By Amanda OYE
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez (above) today introduced Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which would put in place a framework to level the playing field in the Canadian digital news marketplace and ensure news media and journalists are fairly compensated for their work.
“Bill C-18 would require tech giants to make fair commercial deals with outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms,” a government press release announcing the bill explains.
“The deals would need to provide fair compensation, respect journalistic independence and invest…
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TORONTO – CRTC chair Ian Scott told Ryerson students last Friday the Commission supports the approach of the government’s Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act, and indicated he agrees with Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s assertion that it will not regulate user-generated content.
In his speech, a copy of which was distributed by the CRTC today, Scott said that while some argue Bill C-11 will give the Commission the authority to regulate users’ content on social media sites, “That’s just not true.
“As it’s drafted at the moment, the Bill draws a distinction between the users of…
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By Monica Auer
ONE OF THE MAIN arguments offered by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez (above) in support of Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, is that it will “update Canada’s broadcasting rules to include online streaming services and will require them to contribute in an equitable way to our culture.” Yet if passed as presented to the House of Commons in February 2022, exceptions and gaps in Bill C-11 mean that it may deliver much less than promised.
To begin, Bill C-11 specifically excludes some broadcasters from all or some aspects of Canada’s broadcasting legislation. Take, for instance,…
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WHITEHORSE and YELLOWKNIFE – Northwestel announced today it is boosting the speeds on all its unlimited Internet plans for customers in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, at no additional cost.
“Business and home unlimited Internet customers will see an increase of 50 Mbps or more in their download speeds starting April 8, 2022, following the CRTC approval of revised Northwestel tariffs this week,” a press release explains. (The tariffs were approved on an interim basis.)
Northwestel is reaching out directly to its Internet 125 and Business 150 customers who will need their modems replaced, however, its other customers will not…
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By Christopher Guly
GATINEAU – Telecom regulation should be carved out of the CRTC’s mandate, said a former commissioner on a panel looking at “what’s next in telecom” at the 10th annual Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers (CanWISP) conference at the Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec today.
“We should have a Canadian communications commission based around the idea that the internet is the basic communication method going forward,” said former journalist Peter Menzies (pictured below), a senior fellow of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute who served as vice-chair of telecommunications at the CRTC.
In its final report on Canada’s communications future,…
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OTTAWA – The National Post reported earlier this week the CRTC could be named the regulator in charge of the upcoming legislation that will compel platforms including Google and Facebook to share revenue with Canadian news organizations.
“Several industry sources told the National Post that, following meetings with the government, they expect the CRTC could be tasked with the new regime,” an article from the National Post says.
A government source told the newspaper the CRTC will have a “light touch” and “will not be doing the arbitration itself – that will be left to an independent arbiter that both…
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