OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved, for the most part, the revised structural and operational plan proposed by the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC).
The CRFC is a not-for-profit organization that supports the development of non-commercial, community-based broadcasters including campus radio stations. Its plan must receive CRTC approval before the organization can begin administering mandatory basic annual Canadian content development contributions from the big commercial radio broadcasters, as well as tangible benefits arising from transfers in the ownership of commercial radio undertakings.
The Commission said Wednesday that it would accept the plan once it was tweaked to include amendments related to…
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OTTAWA – As the CRTC turns to the gargantuan task of sorting through the issues surrounding usage-based billing, at least one of its Commissioners decided to have a little fun and flex his creative muscle upon the conclusion of the hearing.
An ode to UBB, as penned by Commissioner Timothy Denton:
On Usage Based Billing
On usage-based billing, oh let’s take a stab!Perhaps it’s no more than a revenue grab.Capacity constraints, which we try to fix,May be as real, as in IPv6.
Whose size is so large, so vast and so great,Like stars…
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CALGARY – The Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA) has asked the CRTC to assign the three digit number 8-1-1 to the Canadian ‘Call Before You Dig’ program, as it is in the U.S.
‘Call Before You Dig’ is a service that allows the public to identify the location of buried utilities before starting digging projects to reduce potentially hazardous situations. CCGA says that a Canada-wide three digit number will make it easier to follow this practice, and as a result, protect Canada’s underground utility network and increase public safety.
"Making that one call is critical, it can save lives or avoid…
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OTTAWA – Bell Media’s request for a new movie channel, a French-language Discovery Channel and a female-skewing channel called Bella, are among a multitude of new television and radio applications that the CRTC will consider at a hearing set for September 16 in Gatineau.
The Commission made the 37 new applications public on Friday. Other applications of interest include one from Andtell Studios for Fitness Lifestyle TV, a pay-per-view channel from Canyon TV, a number of new ethnic channels, and a request by Dufferin Communications to buy two Winnipeg-based radio stations from Newcap.
The deadline for interventions is August 15,…
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OTTAWA – As the CRTC continues to sort through the potential impact of vertical integration, it offered a clarification to its original continuation of service notice.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has amended paragraph 2 of Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2011-415 as follows (the changes are in bold):
2. The preceding determinations shall remain in effect until 30 days following the publication of the Commission’s decision in the above-noted proceeding. The Commission clarifies that affected broadcasting distribution undertakings and programming undertakings are not precluded from renegotiating the rates, terms and conditions or any combination thereof of pre-existing distribution agreements during the…
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HALIFAX – The CRTC seems to have a rather unlikely ally in its desire for stronger means to enforce its guidelines on net neutrality.
Responding to an article by Michael Geist questioning the Commission’s record for protecting consumers from Internet management practices, the Liberals suggested that the CRTC conduct “pro-active audits” in order to “measure” such practices.
“Without the threat of sanctions from the CRTC, Internet service providers have little reason to follow the CRTC’s established management framework”, reads a statement from Geoff Regan, Liberal Critic for Industry and Consumer Affairs. “Without pro-active audits by the CRTC to measure internet management practices, there…
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OTTAWA – The standstill that some asked for during the CRTC’s recent vertical integration hearing has been granted.
The Commission said Friday that programmers and BDUs currently engaged in a terms of carriage negotiation must continue to operate under the terms of their previous agreement as the CRTC reviews the regulatory framework relating to vertical integration.
The continuation of service was issued “in order to better permit the Commission to implement determinations that may result from (the vertical integration) proceeding”, reads the notice.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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GATINEAU – An annual report commissioned by the CRTC confirms what the telecom industry has been saying for a while about their broadband and wireless plans: It ain’t so bad here…
Prepared for the Commission by Ottawa’s Wall Communications, the annual “Price Comparisons of Wireline, Wireless and Internet Services in Canada and with Foreign Jurisdictions” report combines and averages wireline, wireless, broadband and bundled rates in Canada and compares them with plans with other international jurisdictions. The report found that while Canadian rates aren’t the most expensive, they aren’t the cheapest either, that while Canadian broadband speeds aren’t the fastest,…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has laid out the ground rules for its hearing into usage-based billing (UBB) which begins on Monday.
In a letter to stakeholders dated July 4th, the Commission instructed those planning to appear to “present their submissions at the oral hearing in as plain language as possible” and to “support their recommendations with appropriate rationale and to quantify the impact of these recommendations to the fullest extent possible”.
Oral submissions must be structured as follows:
1. Which of the billing models proposed by interveners should the Commission adopt?
2. If a usage component is adopted, which of the two different…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for feedback on new draft regulations meant to regulate certain forms of spam, or commercial electronic messages (CEMs).
The proposed regulations detail the form and certain information to be included in a CEM, and with respect to requests for consent for the sending of CEMs, the alteration of transmission data in electronic messages, plus the installation of computer programs.
Comments are due by August 29, 2011. For more on the proposed regulations, click here.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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