By Ahmad Hathout
The Canadian Media Producers Association is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to hear an appeal challenging the CRTC’s decision to grant Corus regulatory relief of its Canadian content spending obligations, alleging the media company has been delinquent on its obligations to independent content.
The CRTC in May reduced until the next licence renewal date Corus’s obligations to programs of national interest (PNI) from 8.5 per cent of previous year’s revenues to five per cent, which is exactly what the pure play media company asked for because it was struggling financially against the backdrop of…
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The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) on Wednesday said it is “very disappointed and frankly shocked” by the CRTC’s decision to exclude community television from the base contributions to the Canadian broadcasting system that will be required from online streaming services.
The CRTC announced June 4 that foreign and standalone online streamers that make $25 million or more in annual contributions revenues will be required to contribute five per cent of those revenues into certain funds supporting the broadcasting system in Canada.
In its breakdown of how the base contributions from audio-visual online streaming…
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A group of multicultural, community, local, and national news publishers and trade associations, representing hundreds of publications, is calling on the CRTC to make regulations with respect to the Online News Act “that will ensure consistency and fairness, maximize newsroom investment, enhance transparency and minimize misrepresentation,” says a Tuesday press release.
The news publisher coalition’s call for CRTC regulations follows Google’s announcement Friday that it has chosen the Canadian Journalism Collective-Collectif Canadien de Journalisme (CJC-CCJ) to distribute the digital giant’s annual $100-million contribution to eligible news businesses under the Online News Act.
None of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell is telling the CRTC it has not received approval on a proposed tariff that would address the issue of the cost of prep work for its poles to which a Montreal municipality wants to attach.
The Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) de D’Autray, located in the Lanaudière region northeast of Montreal, filed a Part 1 application in April asking the CRTC to force Bell to make adjustments to its existing attachment applications so that the telco, not MRC, is absorbing the costs of corrective work incumbent upon it.
The demand stems from a Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
If the CRTC raises the revenue threshold for contributions to the regulator’s administration of telecom matters, it will effectively concentrate the burden on fewer providers, which is the opposite of what it has been trying to do with changes to broadcasting fees that an application to raise the threshold is partially relying upon, Bell argues.
The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association filed a Part 1 application in late April calling for the increase in the revenue threshold from $10 million to $25 million to contribute to the CRTC’s administration of the telecom regime, with an annual…
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The CRTC last week asked the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee’s (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG) to provide recommendations to ensure 911 calls routed to intermediary call centres are handled in the caller’s preferred official language.
The request stems from incidents reported in January in which 911 calls from francophone residents of Quebec were routed to Sudbury-based intermediary call centre Northern911 and answered in English.
In a May 31 letter to Ryan Anstey of the CISC’s ESWG, the CRTC’s executive director of telecommunications, Leila Wright, says the commission is concerned about the reported events.
“Canadians need…
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Foreign streamers say base contribution will make collaborations more difficult
By Ahmad Hathout
Foreign and standalone online streamers that make $25 million or more will be required to contribute five per cent of their previous year’s Canadian revenues into the system, an amount the CRTC said Tuesday would draw $200 million per year into supporting Canadian content.
The regulator said it is prioritizing certain categories of content to the receive funds, including the expensive-to-produce local news on radio and television, and content catering to French-language, indigenous and minority communities.
Of the five per cent, two per cent will go toward the Canada Media…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Rogers to maintian TekSavvy’s ability to service its customers at two Toronto buildings until it can make a determination on an application by the wholesaler that warns the cable giant’s move to pure fibre would leave competitors behind.
The request came two days after TekSavvy complained that Rogers’s transition from hybrid fibre-coax facilities to pure fibre would mean it would lose 29 existing and possibly more future subscribers at the 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street buildings.
The regulator said in a Friday letter shared with Cartt that it is “concerned that customers…
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By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC is proposing cost recovery regulations that would apply to the largest online platforms that distribute news content as it continues to set up a framework around implementation of the Online News Act.
With the vast majority of the commission’s operations funded by fees charged to companies it regulates, it’s now proposing additional cost recovery rules in light of work required under the new Act. In a call for comments on the suggested measure, published Thursday, the CRTC proposes charging the largest digital operators to fund that new work, stipulating it will not collect from news businesses.
Cost recovery…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has ordered Bell’s Northwestel to stop adding a $20 surcharge for DSL internet services that don’t bundle the telecom’s home phone service.
The surcharge was approved by the commission in 2016 for the purpose of providing the telecom with enough revenue to complete by the end of 2017 DSL network upgrades in 45 communities in the Far North, which are considered high-cost serving areas outside of Whitehorse, Yukon, and Yellowknife.
“With the completion of these upgrades, the surcharge’s purpose has been fulfilled and it should no longer be added to customers’ bills,” the CRTC…
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