By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Government agencies normally say as little as possible when facing a committee of politicians, even when queries from the elected folks repeatedly demand personal opinions. On Friday, however, while appearing in front of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which is studying Bill C-10, which will amend the Broadcasting Act, the chair of the CRTC tried to reassure the MPs the CRTC is up to the task of writing new regs – and offered a few good nuggets of wisdom.
When Conservative member and former sportscaster Kevin Waugh commented, “Actually today, you have the authority to…
Continue Reading
Briefing note pointed to Premier Legault’s promise of 50/10 for all by end of 2022
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The federal portion of the $826.3 million investment announced this week to connect 150,000 households in Quebec by September 2022 is coming from the $1.75-billion Universal Broadband Fund, Innovation Canada confirmed, less than 10 days after the final deadline for applications closed.
This would make Tuesday’s announcement the first award from the UBF’s core program, as its “rapid” stream for projects completed by November has already disbursed funds. The massive $826.3-million operation will be evenly split between Quebec’s new Operation…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Independent internet service provider TekSavvy said this week a lower court made an error when, for the first time, it ordered Canada’s ISPs to block the websites of an alleged copyright infringer.
That’s because the Federal Court, in ordering the blocking of websites associated with alleged IPTV infringer GoldTV, leaned too much toward the rights of the copyright holders at the possible expense of free expression and the impact it could have on legitimate content, it alleged in a two-day hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal this week.
TekSavvy is challenging the first site-blocking order…
Continue Reading
By Steve Faguy
IT WAS SUPPOSED to be to FM radio what FM was to AM: Better audio quality, a way to expand to more channels, and a future replacement with some cool bells and whistles.
In the 1990s, Canada’s radio broadcasters spent millions of dollars on new transmitters and devoted a lot of airtime to marketing the new technology: DAB, or digital audio broadcasting.
“The radio industry is primed to reinvent itself for the digital age and 1997 will be the first year of the revolution,” read a 1996 article from the Vancouver Sun. “Within a generation, AM and FM radio…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — As the first phase of its consultation on the development of a new Indigenous broadcasting policy in Canada, the CRTC released today the results of its early engagement sessions with First Nations, Métis and Inuit broadcasters, content creators and artists during which the Commission gathered input to establish the conduct and scope of the next phase of the policy development.
In June 2019, the CRTC launched a three-phase process to co-develop a new Indigenous broadcasting policy in collaboration with Indigenous peoples. Phase one consisted of 12 engagement sessions — nine in-person and three teleconference sessions — held across…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) came into force on 11 July 2019, with the objective of realizing a Canada without barriers for people with disabilities.
“The ACA furthers this objective by imposing certain reporting obligations on entities under federal jurisdiction, including broadcasting undertakings, Canadian telecommunications common carriers, and telecommunications service providers,” mentions the CRTC’s notice of consultation aimed at devising a regulatory framework following passage of the ACA.
“The Commission sets out the content of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Accessibility Reporting Regulations (the Regulations), to be made under the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and calls…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — In its third report, released today, the C.D. Howe Institute’s new telecommunications policy working group — which includes executives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw, among others — says cellular phone services have seen a 25% price drop over the past five years, which they say meets Ottawa’s mandated wireless rate cut.
That means, the group says, it’s time to shift the focus of telecom policy debates to other issues, such as the modernization of the CRTC and rate-setting challenges for mandated access.
Citing data from Statistics Canada’s consumer price index, the telecom group says cellular services…
Continue Reading
By Ken Kelley
MONTREAL – Not that we expected otherwise, but there was no dodging the Rogers-Shaw elephant in the room when Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jetté spoke during the Desjardins’ Group annual Industrials, TMT & Consumer virtual conference Tuesday.
In fact the session’s moderator, analyst Jerome Debreuil, ripped off the band-aid straight away, asking Jetté if he expected Cogeco would be interested in bidding on any wireless assets Rogers may be forced to divest as part of the tie-up.
“There’s a great deal of uncertainty as far as we’re concerned, as to whether the deal will be approved and…
Continue Reading
“French to follow”
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – This what you could read in an indignant tweet from the Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF) when the group saw the CBC had filed its final reply to the CRTC in English only. And they added facetiously that they will stop “following” the public broadcaster.
This is the culmination of CBC’s licences renewal process that lasted way too long, but we should have a decision before the end of the licence extension, on August 31, 2021. The initial renewal application by the CBC was filed with the CRTC on August 23, 2019.
That tweet…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU — The CRTC announced Tuesday it will hold a non-appearing hearing on May 27 to consider the sale of several radio stations in Ontario and one in Vancouver.
The Vancouver radio station is CIRH-FM Vancouver (98.3 FM), currently owned by Roundhouse Radio, which is proposing to sell the station to Ontario-based Durham Radio Inc. (DRI) for either $701,000 (if the related applications are approved on terms and conditions acceptable to DRI) or $551,000 (if the applications are denied or approved on terms and/or conditions not acceptable to DRI).
In Toronto, Intercity Broadcasting Network is proposing to sell CKFG-FM Toronto (G98.7…
Continue Reading
