GATINEAU – After being told in a letter from CRTC staff that the Commission would not be pursuing an investigation into contact-tracing applications, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre today demanded certain procedural rights its original application requires.
First, PIAC notes the CRTC has not yet posted the May 4 application publicly on its website, which is required by section 23 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure and wants to see it on crtc.gc.ca immediately.
Plus, the advocacy group said it wants the full Commission, not just staff, to issue a ruling on its application, which was opposed…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC won’t open a proceeding to investigate the role and responsibilities of telecom service providers when it comes to contact-tracing applications currently being developed by government authorities to help in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
In a letter Wednesday to the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), the Commission said it would not give further consideration to PIAC’s Part 1 application filed on May 4. The Commission’s decision comes a day after Bell and Telus submitted letters to support a previous May 7th letter from Rogers which asked the Commission to dismiss PIAC’s application.
In…
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OTTAWA — The CRTC will reimburse almost $124,000 to telemarketers after the total amount paid for violations in 2019-20 exceeded its estimated regulatory costs.
The Commission said Wednesday that $3,423,472 was paid under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Fees Regulations last fiscal year, which is $123,472 more than the $3.3 million it estimated in telemarketing regulatory costs. In accordance with the formula set out in subsection 4(2) of the Regulations, the CRTC must refund the overage amount.
The Commission also estimated its telemarketing regulatory costs for fiscal year 2020-21 to be $3.3 million. Costs to enforce the national Do Not Call List…
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GATINEAU — Rogers, Bell and Telus are asking the CRTC to dismiss a recent Part 1 application from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) that asks the Commission to investigate and clarify the rules and responsibilities telecom service providers have regarding Covid-19 contact-tracing apps.
In a letter to the Commission dated May 7, Rogers submitted the initial request to have PIAC’s application dismissed, arguing the concerns about privacy and oversight raised by PIAC in its application are already being addressed by Canada’s privacy commissioners in a joint statement outlining the principles expected to be adhered to by governments…
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Why the mechanism may be required under international treaties to protect copyrights
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A bevy of organizations representing copyright holders spanning several continents are asking Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal to allow them to argue the merits of site blocking to protect their content rights online, suggesting the mechanism may actually be required of Canada under international treaty obligations.
A dozen organizations – including book publishers, research and educational journals, music industry groups and sports networks including DAZN and the English Premier League – wish to argue as interveners that TekSavvy’s appeal against a website blocking…
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OTTAWA — The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) reported early Tuesday a 12% decrease in the number of complaints it received from Canadian telecom and TV customers between August 1, 2019 and January 31, 2020, following a 44% increase for that same six-month period last year.
The CCTS accepted a total of 8,621 complaints in the time frame and resolved 90% of all complaints. There were 46 confirmed wireless code breaches, five TV service provider code breaches and three deposit and disconnection code breaches.
The main contributors to the decline were Cogeco and Bell, with Cogeco recording a 75%…
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By Greg O’Brien
“THERE’S A WASTE OF two hours,” was my thought after listening to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on Thursday evening.
Not just my own time. Everyone’s.
The meeting notice said only that the INDU committee was looking at the Canadian response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but with a witness list of Jay Thomson, CEO of the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance; Ian Stevens, CEO of independent broadband provider Execulink; Andy Kaplan-Myrth, vice-president, regulatory and carrier affairs at TekSavvy; two rural politicians – Steve Arnold, mayor of St. Clair Township and Rob Gay, the board chair of the…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – On December 10, 2019, the CRTC opened a new proceeding to examine potential barriers to the deployment of broadband-capable networks in underserved areas in Canada, such as support structures and the cost of access to transport networks.
It identifies two issues that might help accelerate the rollout of broadband”: In this regard, identifying barriers to extending transport networks and accessing support structures, while considering regulatory steps to address such barriers, could simultaneously help to reduce the costs associated with extending broadband networks and serve to improve Canadians’ access to high-quality telecommunications services,” the CRTC document…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – In the middle of March, Rogers Communications was asked to prepare a document by Innovation, Science and Economic Development that floated ideas for how governments could potentially help enhance network capacity if needed, including mobilizing temporary wireless sites, fast-tracking permit applications and allowing access to rights-of-way for emergency fibre installs.
The example measures, obtained by Cartt.ca through an access to information request, was in response to one of several questions asked of Canadian telecommunications companies by the federal department in the event the virus strained networks – and before the full effect of what the virus…
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OTTAWA — The Conservative caucus issued a call to action on rural Internet by launching its own consultation process Wednesday morning which purports to force the country to meet the CRTC’s 50/10 Mbps universal service objective, everywhere, including rural and remote regions, by 2021.
In 2016, the CRTC set 2030 as the deadline for that particular speed to be made available everywhere in Canada.
“Today’s digital economy means that affordable, reliable access to consistent high-speed internet is a determinant to economic productivity, and individual equality of opportunity. Despite the CRTC designating broadband as an essential service more than 5 years…
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