Interventions suggest scope of CRTC hearing could be appropriately widened
OTTAWA – The CRTC’s decision on the future of the Russian state-funded English-language news service RT is unlikely to have a significant impact, Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. (ECGL) argues in an intervention submitted to the CRTC yesterday.
RT came to Canada in 2009 after ECGL applied to add it to the Commission’s list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution in Canada.
The CRTC received an order from the Governor in Council last week, asking it to “hold a hearing to determine whether RT (formally known as Russia Today)…
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ROGERS PRESIDENT AND CEO Tony Staffieri (above, centre) is “unsurprised” François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said he would not allow the company to acquire all of Shaw Communications’ wireless licences last week.
Speaking with Scotiabank telecom analyst Jeff Fan (right) at the bank’s telecom, media and technology conference this afternoon, along with Glenn Brandt (left), Rogers’ chief financial officer, Staffieri said the statement was actually “very helpful in terms of articulating their broad view, which is on the wireless side, what they’d like to see is a continued fourth player in the marketplace.”
Overall, Staffieri told…
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By Ahmad Hathout
COGECO CEO PHILIPPE JETTÉ (above) said today his company has been in “constant conversation” with Canada’s telecom regulator about when the industry can get the terms and conditions required for establishing a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), and is expecting something in ‘late spring, early summer.’
In April last year, the CRTC decided regional telecoms can force negotiations with the big three national telecoms for access to their mobile wireless networks, thereby allowing these smaller entities to establish services beyond their existing territory – so long as they have spectrum and infrastructure in the target area.
But the regulator has…
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Recommends government ensure all conditions are enforceable if it does
OTTAWA – The merger between Rogers and Shaw should not proceed, the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology says in a report presented to the House today.
The committee recommends that if it does go through, however, the government should ensure “all conditions attached to the merger approval are fully enforceable and that resources are available to enforce them.”
According to the report, the committee, chaired by Liberal member of parliament Joël Lightbound, is unconvinced of the merger’s merits and has taken issue with the enforceability of the commitments Rogers has made…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC today released a call for comments on the distribution of the Russian state-financed English-language news channel RT in Canada after receiving an order from the Governor in Council requesting a hearing be held on the matter.
A motion to issue the order was passed in the House of Commons this past Monday, a day after major television service providers including Bell, Telus and Rogers announced they would be dropping RT from their channel lineups.
The order, which was sent March 2, specifically asked the Commission to “hold a hearing to determine whether RT (formerly known…
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Rogers, Shaw continue to work with government; Quebecor CEO weighs in
OTTAWA – Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne will not allow Rogers Communications to acquire all of Shaw Communications’ wireless licences, he said in a statement today.
“The wholesale transfer of Shaw’s wireless licences to Rogers is fundamentally incompatible with our government’s policies for spectrum and mobile service competition, and I will simply not permit it,” the statement reads.
Champagne noted the importance of access to Internet and wireless services and said the “government is making every effort to ensure that telecommunications services are reliable, innovative, competitive…
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OTTAWA – Two representatives from Rogers Communications appeared (virtually) before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage today to reassure committee members local news will not be worse off after Rogers merges with Shaw.
As Cartt.ca previously reported, there were concerns expressed during the CRTC’s recent hearing on the proposed merger about Rogers’s plan to redirect funding Shaw has previously allocated to Corus’s Global stations to its own City TV stations.
Colette Watson (above), president of Rogers Sports and Media, told the committee the deal will enhance City TV’s local news services.
“Our City TV news stations are located in Winnipeg, Calgary,…
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Document filed reveals new information about 2019 meeting with Bell COO
By Amanda OYE
CHATHAM, Ont. – TekSavvy Solutions Inc. filed a disclosure of facts and circumstances today to the federal Integrity Commissioner regarding the actions of CRTC chair and CEO Ian Scott, which provides new information on the widely reported meeting between Scott and then Bell chief operating officer (now CEO) Mirko Bibic at an Ottawa bar.
According to a public version of its disclosure, TekSavvy is arguing Scott “committed a wrongdoing within the meaning of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.” The company is seeking further investigation into this matter.
The…
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By Mark Goldberg
ON TUESDAY EVENING, a Twitter thread by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez requesting a rushed CRTC review of Russia Today (RT) caught my eye:
That’s right. Two weeks.
The Heritage Minister, the Minister responsible for the CRTC, is asking the independent, quasi-judicial regulator to collect evidence and render a decision in two weeks on whether RT should be continue to be permitted as a broadcasting service option for Canadians.
Two weeks.
The Commission regularly takes two weeks just to have a decision translated. Please tell me how the CRTC can prepare a…
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By Howard Law
HERITAGE MINISTER PABLO Rodriguez’s announcement last week that the federal Liberals are about to introduce an Online News Bill means a second rescue mission in four years to steady the finances of Canadian news journalism.
This time it’s not government money but industry money: a Canadian knock-off of Australia’s Media Bargaining Code will give publishers and broadcasters the leverage they need to obtain fair compensation from Google and Meta for using journalists’ news content to grow their audiences and make money on Search, YouTube and Facebook NewsFeed.
We’re long past debating whether the advertising-dependent business model for…
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