SpaceX’s Starlink beta test in Northern Ontario being hailed a success so far
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA and KENORA – After testing SpaceX’s satellite beta service in northwestern Ontario, David Brown (above), the CEO of Kenora, Ontario-based information technology company FSET, is convinced low earth orbit satellite broadband is the “only path forward” for Indigenous communities.
“We unboxed the , and we were videoconferencing” — all within 20 minutes, he told the House of Commons industry committee on Tuesday. The INDU committee is meeting with various stakeholders to once again examine affordable and accessible…
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Also opposes final approval of Northwestel’s tariff application
YELLOWKNIFE — Far north wireless and Internet provider SSi Canada is asking the CRTC to order Northwestel to provide third-party Internet access to its “monopoly cable television and fibre-to-the-premises facilities” and to file associated tariffs and cost studies in an accelerated timeframe.
SSi Canada made the request in a Part 1 application filed with the Commission on December 7. It also asks the Regulator to expedite the proceeding, and to require Northwestel to have wholesale TPIA services tariffs in place prior to granting final approval of Northwestel’s TN 1099 tariff application to…
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Not of national importance
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Competitive Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) and TekSavvy say the incumbent telecoms have not demonstrated a case of national or public importance to be tried at the Supreme Court of Canada after applying for a review of the wholesale internet rate case.
In September, the incumbents’ appeal to the Federal Court level challenging how the CRTC came to its August 2019 decision to chop the final wholesale rate, which determines how much third-party internet service providers pay to buy space on the incumbents’ networks, was dismissed. Among the incumbents’ complaints was the decision…
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By Peter Nowak
IMAGINE, FOR A SECOND, someone making fun of you for being too skinny. Then they take all your food away.
Got that image in your mind? Okay, good. You’ve just pictured what trying to grow a telecom business in Canada is like.
For years, that’s essentially what big companies such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw and their armies of lawyers, lobbyists and hangers-on have been doing to TekSavvy and other independent service providers.
They’ve argued that the only good telecom company in Canada is one that builds its own networks head-to-toe, from the poles that hold the wires in the…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In a letter sent on Monday, December 7, CRTC staff has indicated that in its dispute against Cablevision, a Bell subsidiary, Quebecor has convinced them that the issue warrants an expedite process.
This process, the fourth in 16 months, features Quebecor’s Vidéotron, which is trying to launch high-speed Internet service in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region on northwestern Quebec region as third party internet service provider riding on Cablevision du Nord’s network.
Previous requests related to Bell’s attempting to end its tariffs, then its reluctance to sign service agreements, in July 2019. Then Québecor argued Bell claimed…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC announced today it has approved the application submitted by the Canadian Administrator of VRS (CAV) for $27,251,477 in funding from the National Contribution Fund (NCF) for 2021.
The Commission has directed the central fund administrator of the NCF to remit the approved amount to the CAV in 12 equal monthly installments, beginning in January 2021.
Access to this funding will enable the CAV to continue to offer video relay service (VRS) in Canada to the benefit of all Canadians, as envisioned by the Commission in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2014-187, the CRTC said today in its decision.
VRS…
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TORONTO — Corus Entertainment today confirmed to Cartt.ca that it is not renewing its licensing deal with BBC to operate the BBC Canada channel, which will no longer be available as of January 1, 2021.
This is the only BBC channel to which Corus owns the licensing rights for Canada, and therefore no other BBC-branded channels are affected by this news.
According to the last financial information Corus filed with the CRTC, as of August 31, 2019, the BBC Canada channel had approximately 2.4 million subscribers, which was a 3.55% decrease from a year earlier. In 2015, its number of subscribers…
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By Denis Carmel
QUEBEC – Former CRTC Commissioner, Suzanne Lamarre is heavily involved in the government of Québec’s effort to speed the deployment of high-speed internet in rural and remote regions funded through the Québec Branché program.
We first heard of this when Bell issued a news release on October 30, announcing new measures to simplify the process of having access to its support structures. The same day, the CRTC announced potential regulatory measures to make access to poles owned by Canadian carriers more efficient.
“To accelerate the implementation of funded projects and meet deadlines, the Quebec government has set…
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GATINEAU — Edmonton’s Akash Broadcasting today received approval from the CRTC to acquire the ethnic radio station CKER-FM (World FM 101.7) from Rogers Sports and Media and to obtain a new broadcasting licence to continue the station’s operation.
However, Akash’s request for an exception to the payment of tangible benefits resulting from the transaction, due to the economic impact of Covid-19, has been denied by the Commission in its decision today.
This will be Akash’s first radio station in Edmonton. It currently owns and operates CJCN-FM in Surrey, B.C., also a commercial ethnic radio station. The broadcaster has said…
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OTTAWA – The INDU committee’s “first start” is already under way for the most part thanks to the CRTC and the telecom industry.
The standing committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) presented a report to the House of Commons on Friday entitled Fraudulent Calls in Canada: A Federal Government’s First Start.
“Fraud calls cause significant losses to Canadians,” says the committee. “Supported by fraudulent offshore call centres and easily accessible technologies, such as robocalls and spoofing, fraudsters manage to deliver scams despite the best efforts of law enforcement agencies. To make things worse, the Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant…
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