GATINEAU – Having received a radio station licence application for one of the last known available frequencies in Ajax, Ont., the CRTC (as is its policy), opened a consultation on whether a new radio station in the community of 121,000 in Durham region, just east of Toronto (sandwiched between Pickering and Whitby) is a good idea.
The applicant is a numbered company which wants to launch a Commercial Ethnic FM radio station at 91.7 MHz (channel 219A) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 880 watts (maximum ERP of 2,000 watts).
Those wishing to intervene have until February 10 to…
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GATINEAU — Cloudwifi and Bell Canada are each asking the CRTC to respond on an expedited basis to their ongoing dispute regarding access to in-building fibre owned by service providers such as Bell.
On December 16, the CRTC issued a notice of consultation asking for comments regarding changes to the framework for access to in-building wire as well as appropriate rates, terms and conditions for in-building fibre connections. The Commission gave interested parties until April 2 to comment, with reply comments due by May 4.
However, Cloudwifi has now submitted a Part 1 application for the CRTC to review and vary…
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GATINEAU — With two CRTC commissioners reaching the end of their terms this spring, applications to fill their positions are still being accepted until February 9.
The appointment opportunities were first posted to the Governor in Council Appointments website back in June, and with a month left before the application deadline, the Commission on Tuesday reminded its Twitter followers about the job openings.
The CRTC term for Commissioner for Alberta and Northwest Territories Linda Vennard (pictured left) ends May 10, while the term for Commissioner for Atlantic Region and Nunavut Christopher MacDonald (pictured right) ends June 16.
The job title…
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Wants independent experts to examine Competition Bureau’s confidential information
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Telus has asked the CRTC to again delay the public hearing portion of its wireless policy review hearing because it says the Competition Bureau’s handling of confidential information filed with to the Commission in November is unfair to other participants.
In its November 22nd submission to the CRTC’s wireless policy review proceeding, the Competition Bureau, “makes a number of findings that directly contradict Telus’s own submissions,” reads a document sent to the CRTC on December 23. “These findings are based on data that certain providers were directed…
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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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