By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC wants to know whether news publishers that fail to strike a deal with online platforms to host their content should be required to immediately use CRTC staff for mediation, rather than an external third party.
The concern from the regulator – which launched the consultation period Wednesday on the implementation of the Online News Act – is that much of the allotted 120-day mediation period could be consumed by a search and then agreement on that third party mediator, notwithstanding the cost to smaller news businesses.
“Given that Commission staff already offers mediation services to resolve certain…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Concerned about further delay in the process, the CRTC on Tuesday denied Bell’s application asking it to defer to the courts the question of whether it has jurisdiction over small cell attachment on telco structures or hold a separate proceeding on just that question.
The regulator launched a proceeding on the wireless attachment issue last month, holding the preliminary view that it has simultaneous jurisdiction over those structures with spectrum auction authority Innovation Canada (ISED). It also laid out some other related issues to be determined during the consultation period.
Bell has argued that these attachments on poles it…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telecommunications carriers will face significant delays and barriers in deploying 5G technology if the CRTC is determined not to have jurisdiction over municipal structures on which small cells are attached, Rogers told the Supreme Court of Canada this month.
The nation’s highest court granted an application by Telus in December to hear its arguments challenging the Federal Court of Appeal’s determination that Parliament did not intend for “transmission line” to include wireless technology under the Telecommunications Act. The appeal stemmed from an April 2021 CRTC decision neglecting to regulate that space because the regulator said it…
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Featured today, in the first extended podcast conversation of her Commission mandate, is Vicky Eatrides, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the CRTC.
Coming to the job with an impressive toolkit of practicing regulatory law in the private sector, a raft of undeniably key assignments with the Competition Board of Canada, and even skills in enforcing criminal provisions and criminal investigations, Eatrides presents a clear and determined vision of what needs to be done… and the sooner the better.
Join Contributing Editor, Bill Roberts, as together they review Eatrides’…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said Tuesday that the telco is anticipating that the CRTC will mandate access to incumbents’ fibre facilities, and the outstanding questions about that access will determine what types of difficult business decisions it will have to make.
Bibic was speaking at Scotiabank’s TMT conference when he was asked about regulatory assumptions the telco makes that affect how it approaches business decisions.
In response, Bibic targeted the regulator’s November decision to temporarily provide competitors access to the bundled middle and last mile fibre facilities of Bell and Telus in Ontario and Quebec until it concludes its…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC launched Wednesday a proceeding to probe whether it should mandate all telecommunications service providers to join an effort to mitigate nuisance calls on their networks.
The regulator had adopted most of the recommendations of a working group of its Interconnection Steering Committee when it approved the rollout of the traceback process in August 2021, which requires the provider to keep a time-limited call log to trace the origin of nuisance calls that are in violation of telemarketing rules.
While the CRTC had previously said that the success of such an enforcement mechanism involves all providers, it deviated…
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More than a year after Execulink Telecom asked for the CRTC’s help to gain timely access to three multi-dwelling units (MDUs) in Tillsonburg, Ont., the commission has approved the southern Ontario telecom service provider’s request and is enforcing its MDU access condition against JLC Homes Ltd.
On Feb. 22, 2023, Woodstock-based Execulink filed a Part 1 application saying it had been denied timely access to three MDUs owned by JLC Homes Ltd. The property owner had previously indicated to Execulink that it had exclusive access agreements with other carriers, and when informed by Execulink that exclusive…
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The Canadian telecommunications sector experienced a 3.5-per-cent increase in total revenues in 2022, similar to the 3.4-per-cent growth achieved in 2021 and a clear progression from the sector’s revenue decline in the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic year, according to the CRTC’s Communications Market Report (CMR) for calendar year 2022, released Tuesday.
Telecom revenues totalled $57.2 billion in 2022, primarily driven by the almost $1.7-billion increase in mobile revenues, which represents a 5.7-per-cent increase over 2021, according to the report. Mobile service revenues grew to $30.9 billion in 2022 from $29.2 billion in 2021. This was mostly due…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell wants the CRTC to defer to the Federal Court of Appeal to determine whether the regulator has jurisdiction over small cell attachments on telco-owned or controlled structures – or, in the alternative, separate that question from the rest of its proceeding on the matter.
The telco filed a Part 1 application Tuesday challenging the CRTC’s preliminary view on which it launched a proceeding earlier this month that it has concurrent jurisdiction with Innovation Canada (ISED) over the wireless attachments crucial for 5G technology. Bell has always argued that ISED, which manages spectrum auctions required…
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Canadian Heritage announced Thursday the appointment of Nathalie Theberge to a five-year term as the CRTC’s vice chair of broadcasting, starting April 3.
Theberge, who has been vice chair and CEO of the Copyright Board of Canada since 2018, is replacing Alicia Barin, who stepped down last month.
Before her stint at the Copyright Board, the long-time public servant has been working in various capacities in the Canadian Heritage department for 18 years, including her latest as the director general of creative marketplace and innovation. In descending order, she was also director general of copyright and international trade; direct…
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