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…
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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…
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“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…
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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…
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By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Canada’s big telecoms are divided on a CRTC proposal to create a framework that would establish an independent body tasked with creating and maintaining a block list of known malicious software networks, known as botnets.
A botnet is a network of malware-infected devices that are controlled from a central location and used to do things like steal data and/or send an overwhelming number of communications to a server, which causes it to fail (denial-of-service attack). The increasing number of internet-connected devices coming to market, a lot largely with flimsy security measures, are multiplying the risk of…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage met for the eighth time to hear witnesses’ testimonies on Bill C-10, the Act to amend the Broadcasting Act, on Monday. We’ve pretty much got a bead on who’s thinking what, now.
We heard again from Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (Friends) whose question time had been taken up by committee business and the Fedération National des Communications which could not appear in a previous meeting due to technical problems.
They were joined by BCE, Unifor, and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). Shaw had been slotted to…
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By Jay Thomson
THE CCSA WAS FORMED in the early 1990s, around the same time as the current Broadcasting Act came into force. Like the Act back then, our members at the time did not contemplate the growth in size and influence of the “foreign digital giants”.
But also like the Act back then, our members did not contemplate the massive consolidation that would take place in the Canadian broadcasting industry.
Neither the Act nor our members contemplated that just three domestic companies – Bell, Rogers and Quebecor – would come to dominate Canada’s communications marketplace; that, through ownership of most of…
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By Steve Faguy
IS TERRESTRIAL RADIO dead?
Well, no. The Canadian commercial radio industry brought in $1.45 billion in total revenues in 2018-19, according to CRTC data. But that’s a steady decline from $1.6 billion in 2014-15, and even without the effects of Covid-19, it looks like the only way forward is down as both advertisers and audience increasingly migrate toward digital services.
Faced with this decline, broadcasters are taking various strategic approaches to the future. Some are embracing new platforms, launching podcasts and streaming services of their own.
“I think there’s still a place for…
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Telus asks for more subsidies
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – If the CRTC wants to encourage more investment in rural broadband and not have to shell out more subsidies, it should not impose additional regulatory obligations, such as open access to their networks, the big telecoms are arguing.
In final submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on barriers to deploying broadband in rural Canada, launched in late 2019, the big telecoms took the opportunity to reemphasize fewer regulations will mean more private investment in their networks – and then the government can save money on programs, too.
Should “the investment climate worsen due to…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC last week announced seven transport projects will receive up to $57.7 million in funding from the Commission’s Broadband Fund to improve broadband connectivity in 15 underserved communities in northern Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
Approximately 1,400 kilometres of fibre transport networks will be built in the 15 rural and remote communities representing almost 6,500 households, including five communities that are both Indigenous and official-language minority communities. In addition to providing improved transport connectivity for households in the targeted communities, the networks will collectively connect up to 55 public institutions, such as schools, medical facilities and libraries.
A…
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