GATINEAU, QC – The federal government launched a public consultation today into its proposed approach for addressing harmful content online, which includes a last resort mechanism that would allow for court orders to be used to require telecommunication service providers to block repeatedly offending sites.
The consultation is part of the government’s commitment “to taking concrete action to combat serious forms of harmful online content, specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, child sexual exploitation content and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images,” according to a government press release.
The public is being asked to consider and comment on a…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC announced today it will not regulate access to fibre in-building wire (IBW) in multi-dwelling units (MDUs) across the country, stating it found “that access to fibre IBW is not an essential service.”
This decision was outlined in Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-239, which follows a public proceeding announced in December 2019.
The notice of consultation itself followed a series of decisions and statements on the issue of fibre IBW in MDUs starting in 2018 when Cloudwifi, an independent ISP, alleged Bell disconnected its customers at two Ontario properties where the company had been using Bell fibre…
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Bureau notes past Shaw comments about its influence in the market
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Competition Bureau has asked the Federal Court to compel the disclosure of records from four telecoms related to its inquiry into the proposed purchase of Shaw by Rogers.
The competition watchdog filed the first in a possible series of document requests on July 22, which, if approved, will force Bell, Telus, Quebecor, and Xplornet (respondents) to disclose related information on mobile wireless activity in the shared operating provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba, and outside.
That information, which falls roughly within the timeframe between…
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MONTREAL — Cogeco Connexion, the Canadian cable subsidiary of Cogeco Communications, announced today it has appointed Nancy Audette as vice-president and general manager for the Quebec region, effective today.
Most recently, Audette (above) was vice-president and general manager of Fido Mobile, a position she held since 2016.
With more than 25 years of experience in Quebec and internationally, Audette has served in several senior management and executive roles in sales, marketing and operations in companies such as Transcontinental (TC) Media, Rogers Communications and Microcell. Her international telecom experience includes working with Telesystem International Wireless (TIW), in Brazil, Czech Republic and Morocco.
“I am…
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GATINEAU – OUTtv, Canada’s only specialty service dedicated to LGBTQ2+ communities, submitted a letter to the CRTC this week, replying to interventions submitted on its licence renewal application and calling out Rogers and Bell for using double-standards.
“Regrettably, while claiming to support OUTtv’s service, programming and mandate to serve and reflect LGBTQ2+ communities, both companies are opposed to OUTtv’s request to ensure that OUTtv is widely offered to Canadians and properly compensated by a fair and adequate wholesale fee,” the letter reads.
OUTtv’s renewal application requests a distribution order that would require Broadcasting Distribution Undertakings (BDUs) to carry OUTtv both on…
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OTTAWA — The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) announced yesterday it has terminated the participation of SkyChoice Communications Inc. for a series of breaches and for not responding to multiple contact attempts from the CCTS to fix those breaches.
The CRTC requires all Canadian telecommunication service providers participate in the CCTS complaint-handling process.
Oakville, Ont.-based SkyChoice Communications, a provider of Internet, TV and home phone services, has participated in the CCTS since October 2017.
The CCTS says the breaches committed by SkyChoice include: failure to implement a binding CCTS recommendation; failure to cooperate in the CCTS process and abide…
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QUEBEC – When the Quebec provincial government needed to make decisions about which ISPs would receive funding from the Canada-Quebec Operation High Speed program, Gilles Bélanger (above), parliamentary assistant to the premier for high-speed Internet in Quebec, said they approached it like a game of Risk.
Responsible for making sure all households in Quebec have access to high-speed Internet (defined by the CRTC as 50 megabytes, minimum) by the end of September 2022, Bélanger and his team of 20 took out a map and looked at which ISPs were already providing services and where.
While the game of Risk is about…
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The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), wrote the CRTC last week to express “serious concerns regarding the actions” of Bell, Telus, and Rogers with regards to their recently released low-cost plans.
On July 14, Bell, Telus and Rogers each released new low-cost and occasional-use plans, as directed by the CRTC in Telecommunications Regulatory Policy CRTC 2021-130. PIAC, in its letter to the CRTC, noted the policy indicated “the Commission expected that the incumbents provide at least one low-cost plan on their premium brands.”
Despite this, PIAC did not find any such plan on the any of the companies’ premium brand…
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Combined $4B in funding going into the effort
By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Ontario wants to connect all households in the province to high-speed internet by December 2025, starting with a reverse auction, this summer, for billions in funding.
The province’s infrastructure ministry announced Friday the auction will be open to projects that rely predominantly on fibre, with some fixed-wireless where applicable. The ministry says fibre is future-proofed because of its ability to scale-up to speeds as high as a gigabit – and the provincial government wants these funds to be disbursed and projects to begin very quickly.
The total pot of…
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OTTAWA – Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) filed a formal appeal today, asking Cabinet to overturn a recent CRTC decision to reverse its own 2019 decision on wholesale rates charged to third party internet access providers for network access.
“In May, the CRTC, facing pressure from the large telecom and cable companies’ lobbyists and lawyers, and receiving mixed messages from the government, reversed its own 2019 decision to drastically lower the rates that smaller, independent internet service providers pay for network access,” a press release explains. CNOC requested Cabinet “overturn the CRTC and restore the 2019 decision, thereby…
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