Report wonders if higher-income Canadians willing to subsidize less fortunate
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – After concluding another study on telecom affordability and accessibility, the House of Commons industry committee released a report Tuesday that excoriates the CRTC for issuing a critical decision on wholesale internet rates that it said upsets the very issues the committee was hoping to address.
The CRTC did not, as some wished, open the large national wireless networks to any service provider when it decided in mid-April that only regional carriers with spectrum and networks can lease capacity from the big carriers. Then in May, the…
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But Commission will not open a public proceeding to examine the issue
GATINEAU — In a Commission letter dated June 22, the CRTC responded to a request made in February by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) asking for the disclosure of confidential information submitted by Canadian mobile carriers to the Commission regarding unauthorized mobile telephone number transfers (or ports) and SIM swapping.
PIAC wanted public disclosure of the carriers’ monthly reports regarding the occurrences of SIM swapping, and also asked the Commission to initiate a public proceeding to look into the matter of SIM-swap fraud.
“With regards to the disclosure…
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GATINEAU — Today, the CRTC released its Wireless Code Public Opinion Research – Spring 2021 final report, which finds generally an increasing number of Canadians are opting for unlimited data plans and finding their wireless contracts easier to understand.
For the report, the CRTC commissioned Kantar to conduct a public-opinion research survey to obtain tracking data on how consumers understand their wireless service contracts and their related rights, as well as to explore various topics such as wireless complaints, data usage, bill shock and ease of switching service providers.
Among the report’s findings, a small but increasing number of Canadians (15%)…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC today announced it has approved recommendations made in a report submitted in October 2020 by the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee’s (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG), which now requires facilities-based wireless service providers to take steps to implement handset-based location technology in Canada by March 1, 2022.
With approximately 80% of 9-1-1 calls now being made on wireless devices, according to the Commission, wireless location information is critical when providing assistance to callers in emergency situations.
Advanced mobile location (AML) is a handset-based location protocol which can be used to find caller location for 9-1-1 calls made…
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HAVING COMPLETED THE procurement phase of its regional broadband expansion program, Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) today provided an update saying it has awarded 95 contracts representing total investments of $268 million in broadband infrastructure to bring high-speed Internet access to 63,254 households and business across Southwestern Ontario by 2023.
“Through the program’s competitive procurement process, SWIFT has increased the project’s total infrastructure investment spend by 36% to deliver an additional $71 million in broadband internet improvements above and beyond the initial $197 million targeted investment goal,” reads SWIFT’s press release.
The number of premises passed will also exceed the program’s…
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Say letters telecoms sent to ISED in order to get funds
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Rogers and Videotron have promised Innovation Canada they will implement several key policies that will speed up and cheapen access to subsidized support structures if granted money from the $2.75-billion Universal Broadband Fund.
The two companies propose to participate in frequent meetings of a co-ordination committee of owners of passive infrastructure; streamlining and accelerating permit reviews, administrative processes and contracts; and establishing a “dig-once” policy, whereby other carriers will be able to lay their fibre down at the same time that their own infrastructure is being…
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Want faster, cheaper piracy measures
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The country’s largest broadcasters and telecoms want new copyright legislation to include provisions that give the courts the ability to order website-blocking, prevent the CRTC from overruling blocking orders, and to expand authority over other intermediaries to choke off infringers.
Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Quebecor, SaskTel, Eastlink, and the Canadian Communications System Alliance also want the legislation to reflect the courts’ ability to unilaterally order search engines to de-index infringing websites, social media platforms and to force hosts, like Cloudflare, to take down infringing services and not direct users to it,…
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If it doesn’t pass and there’s no election, it will continue in the fall
By Bill Roberts
AT MOMENTS HE LOOKED a bit like that deer in the proverbial headlights.
Minister Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, was in virtual conversation with Prem Gill, CEO of Creative B.C. on Thursday at the virtual Banff World Media Fest.
It was also somewhat of a hot seat.
“Look, I’ve been minister for 20 months and 18 of those were under Covid… it’s been a steep learning curve,” shared Guilbeault as he acknowledged his baptism by flamethrower at the Ministry.
And with Bill C-10, “we’ve had 120 amendments…
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OTTAWA — As a discretionary service, several of Starz’s broadcasts containing coarse language, sexual content and violence which aired during afternoon time slots in December 2020 and January 2021 violated the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics and Violence Code, says a decision released today by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The broadcasts at issue were episodes of the drama series High Fidelity and Ramy, and the comedy movie The Right Kind of Wrong on Starz 1, as well as the comedy movies The Hangover and Bridesmaids on Starz 2.
The CBSC concluded all of the broadcasts should not…
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NORTH BAY, Ont. — Radio station CFCH returned to the airwaves Tuesday morning, officially signing on at 7:30 a.m. ET as Country 90.5 FM, CFCH North Bay.
The CFCH call letters originated with the first radio station launched by Roy Thomson in North Bay back in 1930, which was right at the beginning of Lord Thomson of Fleet’s media-empire building. (The current Thomson-Reuters is a descendant of that company.)
The new CFCH FM station is owned and operated by Vista Radio, which is owned by Thomson’s granddaughter Sherry Brydson, who helped to kick off the launch of CFCH and spoke about…
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