By Greg O’Brien
WHILE SOME PRO SPORTS have returned to play, like the English Premier League, the PGA, NASCAR and others, new and growing outbreaks of the Covid-19 virus in the U.S. threatens the return of the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, each currently planning for a July start or re-start.
If marquee North American pro sports don’t come back to TV soon, as planned, there may be permanent effects on the pay-TV bundle and the overall value of the TV rights, says a recent report from Scotiabank’s media and telecom analyst Jeff Fan.
There are between 8 million and 9…
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GATINEAU — While it determined the radio market in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough cannot support an additional commercial English or ethnic service, the CRTC announced today it will consider an application already submitted for a specialty Christian music station in a future non-appearing public hearing.
In January 2019, the Commission announced it had received an application from International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association for a broadcasting licence to operate a new Christian music FM station in Scarborough.
The Commission received a number of interventions, some opposing the introduction of a new commercial service in the Scarborough market, and one opposing…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Some of the country’s largest carriers tried to persuade a panel of Federal Court of Appeal judges Thursday that the CRTC – in its reasoning that led to a decision to slash the wholesale internet rate – did not adequately balance the impact of the decision with a 2006 cabinet directive setting out a market-based approach to regulatory decisions.
The 2006 cabinet directive outlines that the CRTC “should rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible and regulate, where there is still a need to do so, in a manner that interferes with market…
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OTTAWA — The two vacant commissioner spots at the CRTC have been filled, with the announcement Thursday by Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault that Ellen C. Desmond (pictured, left) has been appointed as commissioner for Atlantic Canada and Nunavut, and Nirmala Naidoo (right) as commissioner for Alberta and Northwest Territories.
Desmond is filling the vacancy left when former Atlantic Canada and Nunavut commissioner Christopher MacDonald’s five-year term ended June 16. Naidoo is taking over from former Alberta and Northwest Territories commissioner Linda Vennard, whose term expired in May. Each new commissioner will serve a five-year term.
Desmond, of New Brunswick,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Quebecor Media will not challenge the CRTC’s decision to approve Bell’s purchase of the V Network in the Federal Court of Appeal, according to a letter to the court.
The letter, sent June 23, said despite finding an error in the Commission’s approval of the purchase, it wishes to discontinue the proceeding.
Quebecor first filed a notice in the court in early May reserving its right to challenge the CRTC’s decision approving the purchase in April. It did not decide whether it wanted to appeal the ruling because at the time, the regulator had not…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – During one of the CRTC’s most anticipated hearings earlier this year, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle appeared before the Commission reviewing impending changes to the wireless industry and warned mandating new entrants without facilities to ride on the networks of the incumbents would mean many jobs lost, philanthropic spending slashed and reductions in investments.
It was a defining moment during the hearing. Drawing the attention of national media and critics on social media, it encompassed for some the realities of the competitive delicacy of the industry; for others, it was viewed as a baseless threat…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – On June 16th,, Videotron requested the CRTC intervene in a disagreement on access to support structures claiming Bell was using anti-competitive tactics to prevent Videotron from serving its customers.
In Videotron’s territory (Québec and part of Eastern Ontario), the vast majority of support structures are owned by Bell, according to Videotron’s application, and access to those structures are essential for the deployment of high-speed Internet access and to enjoy competition in the marketplace. In that regard, the CRTC has rules in place to deter multiplication of support structures and has tariffs in place to ensure smooth…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC has set the final deadline for submissions to its wireless policy review proceeding as July 15, 2020.
The original deadline was March 23, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission announced it was suspending all deadlines between March 17 and April 10 associated with open proceedings. In a later announcement, the Commission said the submission deadline for the wireless policy review would remain suspended until further notice.
In a notice of consultation today, the Commission announced the revised deadline for final submissions (it added another round of comments asking if the Covid-19 crisis had…
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WHITEHORSE and GATINEAU — Far north telecom provider Northwestel has received interim approval from the CRTC to increase the usage caps on several of its terrestrial Internet service packages, which the carrier is seeking to have permanently increased in a new tariff application submitted June 1.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 situation, Northwestel has applied several times to the Commission for temporary relief on residential Internet usage, including the waiving of data overage charges, which the Commission approved first in March, then in April and also in May.
The Bell-owned company, due to its dominant position in…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC is extending the deadline for interventions to an application filed by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) for a Basic International Telecommunications Services (BITS) licence for Starlink.
As reported yesterday, SpaceX applied for the BITS licence on May 20, and interested parties had until June 19 to comment. The company wants to serve rural and remote areas with satellite delivered broadband using low earth orbit birds.
OneWeb Global (another company which also wants to serve the far north with LEO technology, but is also in bankruptcy protection) submitted a request to the Commission on…
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