OTTAWA – The CRTC has tweaked some of the conditions around audits between broadcasters and broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs).
The Commission said Thursday that the revised audit provisions clarify the manner in which audits are conducted by programming undertakings, thus ensuring a proper verification of the subscriber information held by BDUs.
It also announced plans to issue a notice of consultation setting out proposed amendments to section 15.1 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations to bring into force the audit provisions set out in the appendix to this regulatory policy.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – The CRTC cleared up confusion around how the new Wireless Code applies to wireless services with tab billing models (tab contracts) in response to queries from Rogers and Telus.
Under a tab contract, the customer obtains a device at a reduced upfront cost and the amount of the device subsidy goes onto the customer’s “tab.” Thereafter, a percentage of the customer’s monthly bill is used to “pay down” their tab.
In its response, the Commission also provided clarification on how the maximum early cancellation fee may be calculated for tab contracts, and what…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on a targeted review of its policies for commercial radio.
The Commission said Wednesday that a comprehensive review is not necessary at this time, noting that the sector has remained relatively stable, both financially and in terms of tuning, since the last policy review in 2006. Nevertheless, the CRTC continued, the commercial radio sector would benefit from an update of certain regulatory and policy elements.
The regulator requested comments on the following topics:
– the Commission’s approach to calls for applications and to small markets;
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is heading to Surrey early next year to consider more than a dozen new radio applications vying to serve the Vancouver market.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has scheduled a hearing on January 27, 2014 beginning at 9:00 AM at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel in Surrey. Among the new radio proposals for consideration include applications from the likes of Newcap, Sky Radio and Channel Zero.
The deadline for interventions is November 28.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – With the Throne Speech still ringing in our ears, the Feds were quick to applaud the CRTC’s ‘Let’s Talk TV’ discussion which kicked off this week.
Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, issued a statement Thursday reiterating the government’s pledge to unbundle TV channels while also protecting Canadian jobs.
“Consistent with that commitment, the Canadian Radio-television Communications Commission has today launched a dialogue with Canadians on the future of television”, the statement reads. “The dialogue launched today will play a part in fulfilling our Speech from the Throne…
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GATINEAU – “Canadians have an unprecedented choice of television programs that includes the best of what Canada, and the world, has to offer,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the CRTC this morning in kicking off “Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians,” which is to be a month-long discussion about the future of Canada’s television system.
“Many still enjoy network-scheduled programming on their TV sets, but the viewing habits of many others are changing. Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians is an opportunity for all Canadians to tell us what they think of their television system and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC should prohibit telecommunications companies from charging for paper bills and order refunds for fees already charged to regulated phone customers, says the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
In an application filed with the Commission Wednesday, PIAC, in conjunction with the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), argued that fees charged to receive bills in paper format are an “unauthorized rate increase” for regulated landline customers, and "unjustly discriminatory" towards all telecommunications customers.
“By charging a paper bill fee, telecommunications service providers assume that all Canadians are comfortable with, or have access to, electronic…
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OTTAWA – Consumer complaints received by the CRTC regarding bandwidth throttling by their Internet service providers (ISPs) for the last quarter are on par with those reported in the first quarter of this year.
The Commission reports it received a total of 17 complaints regarding Internet Traffic Management Practices (ITMPs) from July 1 to September 30, 2013, the same number of complaints that were filed from January 1 to March 31. Six were filed from April 1 – June 30, 2013.
The complaints are grouped into two categories:
– ITMP disclosure complaints are those related to whether the ISP has disclosed…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC and the Competition Bureau are joining forces with regulators from United Kingdom and the United States to tackle the problem of phone number ‘spoofing’, according to a statement issued Monday.
Spoofing involves callers hiding their identity by causing a false or invalid phone number to display when making calls. It is a tactic often used by organizations carrying out unsolicited, misleading or even fraudulent telemarketing activities and can increase the harm caused to consumers from nuisance calls.
A ‘spoofed’ number on a call display might be a random series of digits,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC will kick off its hearing into the feasibility of establishing a Canadian video relay service (VRS) on Monday morning.
The hearing follows the Commission’s public consultation into the matter announced last March. Currently, two text-based relay services, Internet Protocol relay and teletypewriter relay, are available to Canadians who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. Video relay service would enable people who use sign language to communicate with voice telephone users via an operator who relays the conversation from sign language to spoken language, and vice versa.
Simultaneous translation of the…
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