Bell and NFL win at the Supreme Court
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In what some will consider a surprising decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (in a 7-2 majority decision) on Thursday quashed the 2015 CRTC Let’s Talk TV decision to disallow the practice of simultaneously substituting the Super Bowl broadcast.
That decision, announced with much fanfare by then-CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais, prevented Bell Media from requiring distributors to substitute the American broadcaster signal with the CTV for the Super Bowl and just the Super Bowl. The simsub policy for all other programming carried on as it has for decades.
Both…
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And Bell’s complaint against Videotron on Super Écran’s packaging is dismissed
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – In the context of Quebecor pulling its TVA Sports signal from Bell on the eve of the NHL playoff (for which the company was reprimanded), Quebecor had filed an undue preference complaint against Bell asserting that TVA Sports was not distributed as well as RDS (a Bell Media subsidiary) on Bell’s distribution networks.
(The first win came Monday when the CRTC told Bell it has to allow Videotron to ride on its network in northwestern Quebec.)
“The Commission notes that sports services rely on revenues…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA-The federal Liberals campaigned on reducing cellphone and wireless service bills by 25% and reiterated that commitment in the government’s throne speech.
The man to ensure that happens is Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, whose ministerial mandate letter, publicly released last Friday, instructs him to “use all available instruments, including the advancement of the 2019 Telecom Policy Directive” issued to the CRTC to advance that price-reduction objective, working with telcos and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the marketplace.
If the cost target is not achieved within two years, the minister “can expand…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – In leaving behind environmental activism to enter federal politics, new Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault will now be responsible for combating online hate speech; helping to develop a new set of online rights; expanding the CBC’s news coverage; and ensuring that web giants contribute to making, and carry Canadian content.
In the ministerial mandate letter he received from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which was released on Dec. 13 Guilbeault is tasked with creating “new regulations for social media platforms, starting with a requirement that all platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or…
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Vidéotron wins a dispute against Bell!
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – The CRTC has ordered Cablevision du Nord, a Bell Canada subsidiary serving certain communities in Northwestern Quebec, to resume negotiations to allow Videotron to serve customers in the region as a third party internet access provider.
The Commission told Cablevision to file a Tarif Notice before February3, 2020 and to be ready to implement interconnection in Val d’Or and Rouyn-Noranda before April 3rd.
In a different decision issued the same day, the CRTC denied Cablevision’s request to withdraw its third-party Internet access (TPIA) tariff noting: “Although Cablevision was not obligated to provide…
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No surprises in the documents
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – As expected, Rogers, Shaw, Vidéotron, Cogeco and Eastlink have filed an official Review & Vary application with the CRTC, requesting changes to Telecom decision 2019-288—the final rates for aggregated wholesale high-speed access services (HSA).
The themes are similar to what was filed with their appeals to the courts and to federal cabinet.
The cable carriers focused on “new facts and circumstances and on errors of fact and principle” that questions how the Commission arrived at its much-delayed decision.
“The Commission has announced an imminent review of its approach to setting…
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A good sign to win in a Review & Vary on third party network access?
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – The CRTC admitted Monday it may have misjudged the complexity of an independent ISP connecting to fibre.
“The Commission acknowledges that the differences between in-building fibre and in-building copper are greater than it had originally considered. There also appears to be some confusion about the existing framework among both in-building wire owners and competitors. It appears that some LECs that own in-building wire believe that only Bell Canada must give access to its in-building fibre to other LECs, while some competitors are…
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OTTAWA — Canadians will soon have access to a call blocking system that better protects them against illegitimate calls. Telecom service providers are required by the CRTC to implement this system within their networks by December 19.
With the implementation of this system, calls with caller ID information that either exceeds 15 digits or does not conform to a number that can be dialled (for example, 000-000-0000) will be blocked before reaching the subscriber, the CRTC explains in a news release issued Tuesday.
Providers that offer their subscribers call filtering services — which provide more advanced call management features —…
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MONTREAL — TTP Media, the independent broadcaster which has been trying for almost a decade to launch two news-talk AM radio stations here, has faced yet another setback. A windstorm in late November has knocked both stations off the air, and it will be several weeks before they're transmitting again.
Nicolas Tétrault, a real estate agent and former politician who is one of three partners behind the company, told Cartt.ca that the storm caused damage to a lot of equipment at the transmission site on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve south of Montreal. This included damage to the power supply,…
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TORONTO – With the national dialogue stuck on familiar battle lines of lower prices versus network investment, Boston Consulting Group’s Centre for Canada’s Future published a new report today reminding the industry, the public and especially policy makers there are no simple black and white decisions here.
It’s complicated. Government and the CRTC must balance affordability with the need for quality, availability, investment, and innovation to enable the best outcome for Canada’s digital infrastructure. It isn’t easy.
The report estimates the benefits of what its authors see as the coming digital revolution could add $200 billion or more per year to…
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