OTTAWA – National Capital FreeNet (NCF), an Ottawa-based non-profit ISP, today petitioned the government to overrule the CRTC’s May 2021 decision on wholesale Internet rates, which reversed the Commission’s 2019 decision on the matter.
NCF has requested “the Governor in Council vary Telecom Decision CRTC 2021-181 and reinstate Telecom Decision CRTC 2019-288,” the petition reads.
The ISP states in its petition it is filing it because it believes the CRTC’s May decision “does not promote competition, affordability, or consumer interests, as ordered in the 2019 Policy Direction, but instead actively inhibits these goals, while disproportionately affecting those living on low…
Continue Reading
Party proposes new Crown corporation to compete with telecoms
WINDSOR – NDP leader Jagmeet Singh announced today the party’s plan to lower Canadian cell phone and internet bills at a press conference in Windsor.
“This is something that Justin Trudeau promised he would do something about, he promised he would make things better,” Singh said at the press conference. “He promised two years ago that he would lower the price of cellphone fees per family by about $1,000, well two years later, that hasn’t happened. He hasn’t done anything to lower the cost of cellphone fees… cellphone and Internet.”
Singh said the…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
YOU KNOW THERE is vigorous competition when companies are always at each other’s throats – and we can surely say there is no collusion between Bell Canada (BCE) and Québecor!
This time, BCE is complaining to the CRTC that Videotron, a Québecor affiliate, launched a new service on August 17 that is not available to competitive distributors contrary to the CRTC’s Terms and conditions of the exemption order for video-on-demand undertakings, related to hybrid video-on-demand undertakings (HVODs). The CRTC specifies an HVOD is an undertaking that “… offers its service over a broadcasting distribution undertaking provided that all…
Continue Reading
“Left with no choice” due to CRTC’s wholesale rate reversal, the ISP says
CHATHAM, Ont. — Independent ISP TekSavvy announced in a blog post yesterday it has no other option than to raise the price of its residential Internet packages as a result of the CRTC’s May 2021 reversal of its 2019 decision to lower wholesale Internet rates.
“Starting with the Oct. 1 billing cycle, most existing TekSavvy residential Internet customers will see an increase of $3 a month on their service packages,” reads the post written by Peter Nowak, TekSavvy’s vice-president of insight and engagement.
“To be clear, we do…
Continue Reading
Some bright spots remain
CANADIAN SPECIALTY CHANNEL revenues took a hard hit in 2020, thanks to Covid-19, with independents taking bigger shots than vertically integrated (VI) companies.
The recently published CRTC 2020 Individual Discretionary and On-Demand Statistical and Financial Summaries for the year ended August 31, 2020 shows Canada’s VI companies, taken together, reported a 6.9% year-over-year decrease in total revenues to $2.9 billion in 2020. The CRTC considers VI companies to include Bell Media, Rogers Media, Quebecor Media, and Corus Entertainment.
These companies spent 36.2% of their total revenues on Canadian programming, but total expenditures on Canadian programming was down 8.1%…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) last week gave Telus permission to appeal the CRTC’s April 2021 wireless review decision, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-130.
Telus went to court, not to argue against the CRTC’s decision requiring it to introduce a wholesale service that will enable eligible regional wireless carriers (Editor’s note: like Vidéotron) to use national wireless carrier networks to provide competing services while they build out their own networks.
No, when the CRTC issued its decision in April 2021, it took the opportunity to rule on other issues raised during the proceeding as well, including…
Continue Reading
ORGANIZERS OF THE Canadian ISP Summit, the Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) and the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA), announced today the program agenda for this year’s virtual conference is now live.
Scheduled to take place from September 28-29, the virtual ISP Summit will be hosted by Adam Growe (Cash Cab) and will feature panel discussions, keynote speakers, entertainment, and a virtual trade show.
Confirmed keynote speakers include: business and technology visionary Leonard Brody; Paul Chato, president of Your Web Department; and Matt Stein, president and chair of CNOC and CEO of Distributel.
In addition to tech and business panels, the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA and GATINEAU — With a federal election officially called for September 20, the CRTC announced today its Voter Contact Registry is now accepting applications from candidates, political parties, corporations, trade associations and others who plan to use a calling service provider to contact voters during the election campaign.
“The Voter Contact Registry helps protect Canadians from rogue and misleading telephone calls during federal elections, and to ensure that those who contact voters during an election do so transparently,” reads a CRTC press release.
The Commission will accept registrations up until 48 hours after the federal election is held on Monday,…
Continue Reading
CHATHAM, Ont. – Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) at a meeting today called on the federal government to overrule the CRTC’s recent decision to backtrack on its 2019 wholesale rates decision.
“Ontario’s Big City Mayors call on the Federal Cabinet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and ISED Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne to overrule the CRTC’s reversal and immediately implement the evidence-based 2019 Rates Order,” an OBCM motion reads.
In a press release, TekSavvy “applauded the unanimous resolution passed by the Ontario Big City Mayors.”
“The CRTC’s reversal is bad news for consumers, as it effectively guarantees Canadian internet prices – which…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The CRTC announced yesterday it will hold a public hearing starting November 22 at 9 a.m. MST (11 a.m. EST) into the broadcast side of the proposed Rogers/Shaw deal.
The Commission will specifically consider an application “for Rogers to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Shaw and the authority for Rogers to operate various licensed broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) currently owned by Shaw in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba,” as well as Shaw Direct, Shaw Broadcast Services, and Shaw Pay-Per-View, according to a CRTC notice of consultation.
The application also seeks approval for Rogers to…
Continue Reading
