While “deeply interested” in launching wireless services, will only proceed under the right circumstances
By Amanda Oye
It is no secret Cogeco wants to offer its customers wireless services. The question yet to be answered is when?
Cogeco has been trying to get into wireless since 2018. The company has made advancements towards this goal, including its recent purchase of 38 licences for $295 million in the 3500 MHz spectrum auction that closed in July.
Another step forward came a couple of years prior, in 2019, when Cogeco proposed a Hybrid Mobile Network Operator (HMNO) model to the CRTC…
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By Denis Carmel
Several Internet service providers and related groups have now officially weighed in on TekSavvy and the Competitive Network Operators of Canada’s (CNOC) petitions to the Governor in Council, requesting cabinet overturn CRTC Decision 2021-181.
Unsurprisingly, competitive high-speed access (HSA) providers appealed CRTC Decision 2021-181, which reversed the Commission’s own Decision 2019-288, setting final rates on HSA. The rates had been interim ones since 2016.
This reversal came after the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed the CRTC’s 2019 decision and the Supreme Court denied the incumbents’ appeal to the Highest Court. It also came after the government refused to send…
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A commentary on what our PM could have said in response
By Denis Carmel
Dear Mr. O’Brien,
THANK YOU FOR providing your opinion on how to deal with a Bill to Modernize the Broadcasting Act.
One of the main perks of my job is all the free advice I get all the time, all the time.
You will appreciate that part of the way forward I cannot control nor predict but let me share as candidly as I can my thoughts at this venture.
I am inclined to appoint someone new to serve as Minister of Canadian Heritage. Steven Guilbeault did serve with…
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PIAC asks CRTC to strike CPAC reply from the record
GATINEAU – Rogers Communications maintained in its reply to interventions received regarding its application to acquire Shaw Communications’ broadcast holdings, submitted to the CRTC yesterday, that approval of the application will provide a myriad of benefits to the Canadian broadcast sector and consumers.
“Clearly, the transaction will enhance competition, will benefit consumers, Canadian programming services and independent producers and will, therefore, further public interest and contribute in an appropriate manner to the achievements of the policy objectives outlined in subsection 3(1) of the Broadcasting Act,” Rogers’ reply reads.
According to the…
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TORONTO – Canadian wireless upstart Data on Tap Inc. (dotmobile) announced yesterday there has been wide support for the petition it submitted in May to the Governor in Council to review and vary the CRTC’s April Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) decision.
“As of today, the petition has been supported by 30 independent telecom providers (the Competitive Network Operators of Canada), TekSavvy, the Public Interest Advocacy Group, and more than 34,000 Canadians,” a press release says.
The Liberal government promised more affordable connectivity in 2019, and introduced a new policy, which “kicked off a formal two year review of…
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Dear Greg,
SPEAKING PERSONALLY, I disagree with your commentary “Letter to the Prime Minister: Keep C-10 Dead”. You are right that the legislation needs to be clear, and well-explained.
However, no broadcasting legislation can be so good it doesn’t need a mechanism to amend it short of brand new legislation. After all, if the U.S. Constitution did not have an amending formula, our neighbours would either still have slavery, or a new (and improved?) Constitution.
We don’t know how commercial content will be delivered in the future. We need to allow the regulator the flexibility, within clear limits, to keep up with changes…
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COMMENTARY: The new bill can’t be the same as the old bill
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
FOR MOST OF ITS SHORT life, Bill C-10, your now-dead proposed amendment to our Broadcasting Act, trundled along, hardly noticed by those outside the content industry.
It was considered a modest attempted bill which avoided some complicated questions altogether (such as the CBC’s future mandate) but, as you know, aimed at one main thing – having the likes of Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Google and others, contribute to Canadian content.
However, the whole thing turned sour, as you and our readers may recall, on just what will be…
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GATINEAU – Major concerns have been raised about the broadcasting side of the proposed Rogers/Shaw deal, which is currently being reviewed by the CRTC.
Individuals and organizations had until last Monday to send in their submissions in response to the Commission’s call for comments on Rogers’ application to the CRTC on behalf of Shaw to acquire Shaw’s licensed broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), Shaw Direct, Shaw Broadcast Services and Shaw Pay-Per-View.
Bell, Telus, Independent Broadcasters Group (IBG), Cogeco, Corus, Ethnic Channels Group (ECG) and TLN, Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC) and Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) are…
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Independent ISP pushing voters to get pledges to lower rates from election candidates
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal will look into whether the CRTC was correct in its May decision to revert back to older, more expensive bulk internet purchase rates set in 2016.
The court said it will review the case in a decision dated last Wednesday after independent internet service provider (ISP) TekSavvy, which buys network capacity from the larger telecoms, filed an appeal of the decision in June. The larger carriers include Bell, Rogers, and Telus.
The CRTC originally set lower final rates in a 2019…
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By Amanda Oye
OTTAWA – A CRTC inquiry into accessible wireless originally announced in June 2020 is now well underway, with the deadline to submit comments having passed in late August of this year.
Three organizations representing Deaf, Deaf-Blind or Hard of Hearing (DDBHH) Canadians – Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee-Comité pour les Services Sans fil des Sourds du Canada (DWCC-CSSSC), Canadian Association of the Deaf-Association des Sourds du Canada (CAD-ASC) and Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind (CNSDB), (collectively DWCC et al.) – came together and submitted several documents in response to the CRTC’s call for comments.
The documents delve…
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