TORONTO – After a query by the CRTC about an old tangible benefits package sent Corus Entertainment back into its files for a look-see, the company discovered a payout it never made – and so the Canadian Media Fund will soon be getting an additional $525,355.35.
Back in 2009, Corus bought SexTV: The Channel (now the Cooking Channel) and Drive-In Classics (which became the now-defunct Sundance Channel) for $40 million from CTV (which had purchased the channels when it acquired CHUM Ltd. in 2007). In order to approve such ownership changes, CRTC regs require the purchaser to create a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – Some of the country’s largest carriers have lost an appeal challenging the process by which the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) set higher pole attachment rates they say could hamper the delivery of broadband services.
Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Cogeco, Quebecor and Bragg (Eastlink), among others, didn’t like the consultation process that saw the rate to attach their cables on structures jump from an annual rate of $22.35 per attachment set in 2005 to $43.63 across the province. They argued in the province’s divisional court in late September that the OEB had not provided them with the appropriate…
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And can we please deal with all the delays?
By Lynn Greiner
TORONTO – The regulatory world is a strange and often not-too-wonderful place, and annually the ISP Summit’s regulatory panel takes a look at its current state. The panel’s theme this year: To Compete or Not Compete in Canada’s Telecom Sector – That is the Question.
This year, moderator Greg O’Brien, editor and publisher of Cartt.ca was joined by panelists Christian Tacit, principal, Tacit Law; Dr. Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa; Laura Tribe, executive director of OpenMedia, a community-driven organization that…
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Briefing call shows urgency, sticking points, for large players on broadcast changes
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – As major Canadian broadcasters fired off rote responses to media requests saying they are still reviewing proposed changes to the Broadcasting Act announced Tuesday, Cartt.ca has obtained early reactions to potential landmark amendments that could see the CRTC enforce foreign online contributions to the benefit of Canadian content.
On Tuesday, Heritage held separate technical briefings with reporters and industry about the proposed amendments under Bill C-10, with Cartt.ca obtaining audio of the latter. The comments and questions in that call suggest an industry in relief,…
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TORONTO – The day after the Heritage Minister tabled amendments to the Broadcasting Act in the House of Commons, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Navdeep Bains, “attended” the ISP Summit virtually in a somewhat stilted, and awfully short, Q&A session with Matt Stein, chair of Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) and CEO of Distributel.
The questions seemed read and planned before the questions were asked – and it was over in seven minutes.
That is called controlling the message.
The Minister reiterated his stance that in response to the appeal of the August 2019 wholesale rates decision…
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By Matt Stein
THERE’S NO LONGER ANY question that telecommunications is an essential service. Turn off the Wi-Fi in your house and you’ll see what happens!
The pandemic, as we all know from personal experience and from our daily lives, our interactions with our customers and our employees, really underscore just how vital affordable, high-quality communications is.
Everybody says this. But think about whether or not the Canadian communications sector as a whole is delivering on that. Are Canadians getting what they need? The services, the speeds, the packages, the pricing, they demand? Are they being treated fairly?
Fair pricing, fair service, and…
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By Greg O’Brien
GIVE THE DEPARTMENT OF Canadian Heritage and Minister Steven Guilbeault some credit for coming up with amendments to the Broadcasting Act which seem, at least upon first reading, like they can actually be turned into law in a minority Parliament.
This is something Guilbeault said would be coming some weeks ago, knowing there is only so much change for which the federal government can marshal support from its political rivals. He told an industry town hall in September: “One of the things we had to think long and hard about is do we go with this massive…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC today denied a review and vary application from Rogers Communications concerning the Commission’s decision in April to extend the deadline for Bell to deploy one-way toll trunks between the two companies’ networks — a deadline extension which Rogers wasn’t happy about.
Considering the Commission’s decision today comes two and a half months after the deadline by which Bell was supposed to have deployed the one-way toll trunks (to connect to Rogers switches in the Bell operating territories where Rogers also provides service), perhaps the whole matter of the R&V denial has become a moot point.
The…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU and TORONTO – There is a general rule in Ottawa that one should not steal the spotlight from public officials, especially Ministers of the Crown. They, of course, had to be elected while officials are merely appointed. And the chairman of the CRTC, a distinguished official, did not derogate from that rule.
As luck would have it, while Ian Scott was addressing the Competitive Network Operators of Canada’s 10th annual ISP Summit being held virtually Tuesday and Wednesday, Steven Guilbeault, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, was in Ottawa introducing significant changes to the Broadcasting Act at the…
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Videotron, others, are skeptical of Bell’s commitments
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – On Friday, Bell Canada issued a news release announcing new measures to simplify the process for access to poles by recipients of the Québec Branché and Régions Branchées grant programs and other service providers.
This follows a process announced by the Government of Québec back in May 2020, along with the members of a working group that was tasked to accelerate the deployment of high-speed Internet in rural regions through a program financed by the Government of Québec.
“To address the many technical challenges associated with the deployment of fibre…
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