By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Rogers Communications’ proposed $26-billion purchase of Shaw Communications will reduce competition in Canada’s broadband and wireless sector at a time when the industry’s top players are enjoying record profits, and therefore needs to be opposed by the federal government, according to Windsor, Ontario Member of Parliament Brian Masse, the New Democrat critic for telecommunications.
“We need to have strong direction for the industry that buying each other out is not a solution for lowering prices, increasing access for Canadians and bringing greater accountability to consumers,” he told Cartt.ca in an interview.
The federal government should use…
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CityWest wanted to mitigate Connected Coast risk; ISED sliced $1.5M from “served” communities
By Ahmad Hathout
WHEN THIS PUBLICATION reported Innovation Canada reduced the scope of the Connected Coast project, it couldn’t get the precise details from any of the federal or British Columbia governments or the builders as to how much funding was cut and which communities were axed – until now.
That story reported ISED had reduced a number of communities from Connect to Innovate funding because the federal government considered them already served, but with an outdated guideline of 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. (The project,…
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OTTAWA – The next meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which is studying Bill C-10, the bill to amend the Broadcasting Act, will be held Monday with the following witnesses: Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, BCE, Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and Unifor.
Shaw Communications had been scheduled to appear, too, but cancelled.
The Committee, in its meeting on committee business of March 8, agreed to ask the CRTC to appear, on March 26, and be given 10 minutes for their opening statements (this is more time than…
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Bill C-10 and Canadian ownership rules
By Len St-Aubin
BILL C-10 WOULD REMOVE from the Broadcasting Act the requirement that “the Canadian broadcasting system shall be effectively owned and controlled by Canadians”.
Would that change lead to foreign ownership of Canadian broadcasters? Answer: No.
But it’s the wrong question to ask. The better questions, so far left unasked, are:
Would Bill C-10 make it easier to remove Canadian ownership rules? Answer: Yes.
Would Bill C-10 drive broadcasters to seek removal of Canadian ownership rules? Answer: Yes, and C-10 would make it tough for the government to refuse.
Would that impact Canadian ownership in…
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Cumulative revenue for Canadian TV and radio has declined by $1.36 billion since 2016
By Robert Malcolmson
THE DIRE SITUATION FACING Canada’s television and radio industry – the lifeblood for Canadian content, including local, regional and national news – is hurting our communities and weakening a far-reaching sector of the Canadian economy, a sector that employs approximately 25,000 and contributes enormously to our cultural landscape.
With Bill C-10, the government of Canada is laying the groundwork for a much-needed rebalancing of available support for the Canadian broadcasting system.
This rebalancing would see online players like Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Disney+ and others –…
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GATINEAU — Another area code region in Ontario is in a jeopardy condition due to the fact the projected exhaust date for phone numbers in the 249/705 area code has advanced by 20 months, according to a recent CRTC letter citing the Canadian Numbering Administrator’s (CNA) January 2021 numbering resource forecast report.
Area codes 705 and 249 cover most of northeastern and central Ontario, including the communities of Alliston, Barrie, Bracebridge, Collingwood, Huntsville, Midland, North Bay, Parry Sound, Peterborough, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins.
The CNA’s January 2021 Relief-Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (R-NRUF) shows the projected exhaust date for the…
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And what still stands in their way
By Greg O’Brien
THE PURCHASE OF SHAW by Rogers has been a steady recurrent rumour which would crop up from time to time over the past 23-plus years this reporter has been tracking the industry, meaning Monday’s $26 billion purchase deal by Rogers was a long, long time coming.
In fact, when I first spoke with former Shaw president Peter Bissonnette in late 1997 (so long ago I don’t think he had yet been appointed president), I asked him then about the rumour I heard Rogers would buy Shaw. Too soon. Much too soon,…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein and James Mitchell
THE PRINCIPAL AIM of Bill C-10, an Act to amend the Broadcasting Act, is to bring online broadcasting (i.e., “streaming”) under the aegis of the Act.
Today, online broadcasters – Netflix most prominently – are already highly visible in Canada and currently not subject to any regulation, even as they compete vigorously with Canadian broadcasters and Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs).
In Canada, broadcasters and BDUs must obtain a licence from the CRTC and comply with a host of regulations regarding content, exhibition, and contribution – all designed to foster the production and distribution of Canadian…
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Minister makes draft policy directive public
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a somewhat surprising move, the Heritage Ministry on Thursday decided to share the draft policy directive to the CRTC which is to be delivered to the Regulator once the bill aimed at updating the Broadcasting Act is passed.
The draft direction (as in, not final) was supposed to provide more clarity into what the government expects from the CRTC after the passage of C-10, a bill to modernize the Broadcasting Act. But, to be honest, there isn’t much direction in the directive which hasn’t already been examined during our reportage…
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CALGARY and TORONTO — Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications announced today they have reached an agreement for Rogers to acquire all of Shaw’s issued and outstanding Class A and Class B shares in a transaction valued at approximately $26 billion.
The deal agreement will see Rogers pay $40.50 per share in cash, amounting to approximately $20 billion. The transaction total includes approximately $6 billion of Shaw debt.
The Shaw Family Living Trust has already agreed to vote in favour of the transaction, which still requires the approval of two thirds of votes cast by Class A and Class B shareholders at…
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