OTTAWA – More than 2,560 Canadians have weighed in on the role of community television in Canada, according the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Status (CACTUS).
The comments now form part of the CRTC’s online and written public record for its 2010 review of community television scheduled for April 26, 2010. The deadline for responses to the Commission’s questions on community TV was February 1st.
CACTUS, who will be front and centre at the review, says that it has developed a model that will allow most communities in Canada to establish their own multi-media centres and “take back”…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request from wireless industry stakeholders that it conduct separate reviews of the mobile data services framework and its applicability under the recently established Internet traffic management practices (ITMP) framework.
Bell Aliant, Bell Canada, NorthernTel, Télébec société en commandite and SaskTel supported the requests made by Telus and Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, while the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association opposed the requests.
In its decision, the Commission said that it “is not persuaded that the scope of NoC 2010-43 should be modified as requested”, and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has issued a report examining telecommunications, broadcasting, and the evolving converged world of communications in an effort to help shape future regulation.
Called Navigating Convergence: Charting Canadian Communications Change and Regulatory Implications, the document seeks to:
– compile cultural, economic and technological trends toward convergence, to reflect the pace at which change is occurring and to present the resulting challenges and opportunities for traditional regulatory models;– outline the high-level structural changes and regulatory considerations that will need to be navigated between now and 2014; and – provide a specific, but not exhaustive, list of mid-term issues that…
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TORONTO – FreeHD Canada received CRTC approval Monday to provide national direct-to-home satellite TV and wholesale programming satellite distribution (SRDU) services in Canada.
However, the Commission declined to rule on certain parts of FreeHD Canada’s application – such as its request for a free local program package and exemption from LPIF contributions, until it has issued policy on all matters related to Canada’s upcoming digital transition.
“…the Commission notes that specific issues related to the digital transition, and, in particular, possible alternatives to free conventional television signals in those markets where broadcasters do not construct digital facilities, are under consideration in the…
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Several months after establishing conditions under which small incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) would have to face competition in their local markets, the CRTC has put those plans on hold.
In a consultation issued late last month, the Commission decided to reconsider the competition framework for small ILECs, as well as the potential impact that wireless number portability (WNP) could have on them. As a result, 12 cases of local competition implementations and one case of WNP have been suspended pending the outcome of the proceeding.
Jonathan Holmes, executive director of the Ontario Telecommunications Association (OTA), says…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved the use of deferral account funds by Bell Aliant and Bell Canada to expand broadband services to 38 distribution serving areas in 10 Ontario and Quebec communities.
Harriston, Hastings, Hepworth, Lanark, Michigan, Tweed, and Wingham, Ontario were approved, as were La Patrie, Napierville, and Yamaska in Quebec.
The Commission denied the Bell companies’ request to use deferral account funds in 29 other distribution serving areas in eight additional Ontario and Quebec communities.
Click here to read the full decision.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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MONTREAL; WINNIPEG and OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Both Bell and MTS Allstream debuted their enhanced wireless 911 services Monday, squeaking in just under the CRTC-imposed deadline.
Wireless E911 is now available to Bell Mobility and Solo Mobile clients with compatible handsets wherever wireline 911 service exists in Canada, while MTS Allstream introduced the service across its CDMA cellular network in Manitoba. Telus launched its upgraded emergency service last week.
The enhanced 911 (E911) phase II capability is the result of a year-long effort involving Canada’s wireless carriers, local telephone companies and 911 call centres across the country. The CRTC set February…
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TORONTO – Reduced CRTC requirements and the recession are the real reasons behind the program cuts and layoffs at Citytv in Toronto, says the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP).
Canada’s largest media union confirmed that Rogers Television handed out layoff notices to 36 full-time employees and seven part-time employees at the Citytv flagship station in Toronto on Tuesday. Additional program cuts were also made at Citytv stations in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
"Citytv viewers will notice a big difference", said Bob Huget, VP of CEP’s Ontario chapter, in a statement. "The CRTC has permitted major market television stations to reduce local programming…
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OTTAWA – CACTUS has some prickly words for the CRTC.
As the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) prepares for the Regulator’s review of community TV in April, it has accused the Commission of denying Canadians access to information about the 139 cable-run community channels in Canada.
"The lack of publicity by the CRTC about this important hearing along with the absence of meaningful and objective data, together deny Canadians the opportunity to understand how $116 million dollars that cable subscribers paid for community TV in 2008 alone, were actually spent”, said spokesperson Cathy Edwards, in…
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OTTAWA – The new year is shaping up to be a busy one for broadcasters and the CRTC alike.
In addition to reviewing Mediadenovo’s request to sell ad time on US specialty channels’ local avails, the CRTC will consider a number of other applications at its hearing scheduled for February 22.
Astral Media has applied for three new broadcasting licences for national, English-language Category 2 specialty television networks. Adrenaline would air action movies and series “primarily driven by a fast-paced fictional plot featuring car chases, explosions, special effects, or martial arts” according to its application, whileSuperstar will be devoted…
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