OTTAWA – Canada’s top two communications industry regulators lamented the fact that they don’t have the appropriate tools to deal with a rapidly changing marketplace.
CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and Helen McDonald, assistant deputy minister at Industry Canada, were speaking on a panel of regulators at the International Institute of Communications annual conference in Ottawa earlier this week (where Cartt.ca was the media sponsor).
McDonald said that for the department to more effectively manage scarce spectrum resources, legislative changes are in order. She pointed to secondary market trading for spectrum as an area that would run much more efficiently…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended its call for new French-language general interest pay television service applications, but only for channels that don’t plan to compete with Astral’s Super Écran.
That was the gist of Friday’s rather peculiar decision denying a request from TVA Group for a new channel called Ciné-TVA. After asking for comments in January on how best to open up the genre, the Commission acknowledged that a second French-language pay television service could be viable, though applicants must provide evidence "clearly demonstrating demand and a market for the proposed service". It also added that though the service will…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC kicked off hearings into the Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV policy yesterday with chair Konrad von Finckenstein questioning why Bell TV hasn’t yet started to transition to MPEG4, a move that would add more capacity to the company’s satellite distribution offering.
Under questioning from the chairman, Bell Canada acknowledged that it has yet to begin transitioning to the higher compression standard.
“We’re evaluating methods by which we may be able to stage that migration obviously because of the limited number of MPEG4 boxes that are in our installed base,” said Heather Tulk, senior VP of residential…
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OTTAWA – New funding criteria could mean greater flexibility for Canadian new media projects and program development.
In a decision on Tuesday, the CRTC said that it would amend the criteria for determining which independent production funds are eligible for contributions from Canada’s big BDUs.
Class 1 and Class 2 cable BDUs and satellite operators may direct up to 20% of their required contributions to Canadian programming to one or more independent production funds that meet the eligibility criteria.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – Television distributors have received official CRTC approval to offer a package of local programming to viewers in smaller markets where local stations decide not to convert to digital.
The Commission announced Wednesday that, subject to certain conditions, BDUs have been granted a general authorization to distribute a local package both in and outside mandatory markets for digital transition, without having to provide users of the local package with the full basic service.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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GATINEAU – The small incumbent telcos in Ontario lashed out at the cable companies during the rebuttal phase of the obligation to serve hearing Wednesday, telling the CRTC that it has no business taking any advice from them because they have never had an obligation to serve any community.
Tracy Cant, director of finance and regulatory matters at Ontera, told commissioners that the small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs) have respected the regulatory bargain that their costs would be covered for serving their communities. The cable companies, he noted, have not had an obligation to serve for “one single…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a request from Super Channel parent Allarco to amend regulations in Francophone markets with a significant English-speaking minority community to distribute all English and French-language pay television services.
Allarco said in an application to the CRTC that despite its best efforts, Class 1 BDUs in Quebec have refused to negotiate the distribution of Super Channel in their markets. It argued that by refusing to distribute the pay-TV movie network where there is a significant English-speaking minority community, these BDUs are contravening the government policy put in place to encourage and facilitate access to the…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC said Wednesday that it has initiated a process to address the projected telephone number shortage that will affect British Columbia within the next six years.
The Canadian Numbering Administrator, which is the authority that administers the distribution of phone numbers in Canada on behalf of the CRTC, told the Commission that the province is expected to run out of telephone numbers by August 2016. The Commission said that it is establishing a relief planning committee to evaluate various options and provide recommendations.
Until 1996, 604 was the only area code in the province. At that time, 250 was…
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GATINEAU – Perhaps not a full U-turn, but the CRTC did alter the way it allows Bell Canada to implement usage-based billing on certain wholesale gateway access service (GAS) customers. And small ISPs believe the Commission made the wrong decision.
Speaking with Cartt.ca on the floor of the CRTC’s obligation to serve hearing in Gatineau, Michael Garbe, president of Accelerated Connections Inc. (ACI), says the decision (an approval of Bell Canada’s request to review and vary the original decision) will still create serious trouble for the small and medium business Internet provider.
“It absolutely creates a significant negative impact on…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Telus is not violating the country’s unsolicited telecommunications rule by using automated calling devices, the CRTC has determined after an investigation.
Automated calling devices are used to dial telephone numbers and automatically deliver a pre-recorded message. The CRTC’s Automatic Dialing and Announcing Device Rules prohibit telemarketers from using these devices to sell or promote a product or service unless a consumer has consented to be called by them. Telus has used these devices to notify its prepaid mobile customers of an actual or imminent service interruption and how to purchase more minutes to avoid such an interruption.
“We are pleased that Telus acted…
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