OTTAWA-GATINEAU- Northwestel is often the only choice for customers in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut seeking telecommunications services, but is it the best choice for the future? The CRTC wants residents to weigh in on the issue and has launched a public consultation on the telecommunications services that Northwestel provides to northern Canadians.
Following the consultation, a public hearing will be held on June 17, 2013, in Inuvik, Northwest Territories and June 19, 2013, in Whitehorse, Yukon.
"Canadians expect to have a choice of high-quality telecommunications services, regardless of where they live," said…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has denied a request by Globalive (Wind Mobile) to review Telus’ foreign ownership.
“The commission is satisfied that Telus’ mechanisms for ensuring its compliance are consistent with the provisions and requirements established,” and that it “does not consider there to be sufficient evidence of non-compliance on the record of this proceeding to warrant a review,” the CRTC wrote in its decision.
Globalive requested the review claiming the carrier was in breach of regulations that prevent non-Canadians from owning more than 33.3% of the common shares of incumbent telcos like Telus….
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC says it’s beginning plans now to respond to a telephone number shortage expected to impact southern Ontario and all regions of Alberta by 2017/18.
The Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) has advised the CRTC that southern Ontario area codes 226 and 519 are expected to run out of telephone numbers by January 2017. The CNA has also advised that all area codes in Alberta, 403, 587 and 780, are expected to run out by June 2018. The CNA administers the distribution of phone numbers in Canada under the oversight of the CRTC.
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OTTAWA – Some 31,500 rural Canadians who relied on rabbit ears or antennas to view local TV now have another year to apply for Shaw Direct’s Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS), to ensure the transition to DTV and loss of OTA transmitters doesn’t leave them behind. Under LTSS Shaw provides a free dish, receiver and installation to rural viewers so they can continue to receive local channels.
The CRTC in a letter to Shaw has agreed to extend the eligibility period for LTSS for 12 months to November 30, 2013. It also approved Shaw’s requested…
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AFTER A LONG CAREER in telecom in Canada, Len Katz calls his time at the CRTC the best years of his career.
The 61-year-old former vice-chairman, telecom (and former Bell Canada and Rogers executive) is spending some time now taking a deep breath, a bit of a break, after seven-plus extraordinarily busy years at the Commission. While he admits some boredom has already set in since leaving last month, he is happy to be able to spend extra time with family before deciding what to do next.
Despite some rumours in the summer, his health is good after recovering from a…
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TORONTO – University of Toronto campus radio station CIUT-FM 89.5 has filed a lawsuit against its former station manager Brian Burchell seeking to retrieve more than $162,000 in station funds that he allegedly used to pay for personal expenses before he was fired in October 2010.
In its statement of claim filed against Burchell to the Ontario Superior Court, the University of Toronto Community Radio Inc. (UTCRI), which owns and operates CIUT, is seeking damages of $162,193.68, payment of its legal fees and other damages as may be proven. UTCRI is a registered charity that relies in…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today launched an online discussion “to facilitate broader discussion among Canadians on a new code for wireless services, such as cellphones and other personal mobile devices,” says today’s press release.
This discussion is part of a proceeding that will include a public hearing beginning on February 11, 2013, in Gatineau, as previously reported by Cartt.ca.
"We encourage Canadians to join the online discussion and have their say on how wireless contracts could be clearer and easier to understand," said Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the CRTC, in the release. "By sharing their views, Canadians…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is threatening to withhold subsidies to four Quebec small ILECs for delays in opening up their networks to local telephone competition. Cogeco Cable claims the delays have prevented it from offering competing triple-play bundles (telephone, Internet, television) to those regions.
The regulator denied Cogeco the settlement it sought, but instead issued a Notice of Consultation regarding the potential withholding of subsidy payments to CoopTel, Téléphone Guèvremont Inc., Téléphone Milot Inc., and Sogetel Inc.
The decision stems from the failure of the ILECs to complete an interconnection arrangement based on leased…
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by Steve Faguy
GATINEAU – With the recent, unexpected and much-publicized denial of Bell Canada’s purchase of Astral Media (because the players didn't prove the transaction to be a net benefit to Canadians) as a backdrop, the CRTC made it clear to Rogers Media Wednesday that its tough line isn't limited to Canada's largest media company.
At a hearing in Gatineau on Wednesday, the commission grilled Rogers, Channel Zero and a Montreal-based start-up on their multi-part plan to essentially convert ethnic television station CJNT Montreal (branded Metro 14) into two television stations, allowing Citytv to enter Canada's second-largest…
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By John Bugailiskis
TORONTO – While the industry is still digesting the CRTC killing Bell’s takeover of Astral, the decision does not signal a dramatic change in policy at the Commission. Instead it continues to work to strike the right balance between the best interests of consumers and industry, said Tom Pentefountas, vice-chairman, broadcasting for the CRTC.
Pentefountas was the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters Connections 2012 luncheon at the Westin Bristol Place Hotel. However, he appeared to contradict his business as usual stance somewhat when he went off script and joked…
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