OTTAWA – Two organizations well-versed in internet issues will argue, if they are granted intervenor status, that an extraordinary Federal Court order forcing internet service providers to block websites hosting allegedly infringing material (stemming from the Gold TV case) is a method that runs afoul of the country’s established copyright laws.
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) and the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) have filed applications for leave to intervene this week in an appeal brought forth by TekSavvy late last year against a decision by the Federal Court to order ISPs to block…
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Follow-up proceedings coming for small ILECs and Northwestel
OTTAWA — The CRTC issued two decisions Tuesday related to the phasing out of the local telephone service subsidy and the Commission’s associated review of the price cap and local forbearance regimes for Canada’s large incumbent local exchange carriers (Bell, Telus and SaskTel).
In 2018, in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2018-213, the Commission announced it would phase out the local telephone service subsidy over a three-year transition period from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021, through semi-annual reductions. At the same time, the Commission initiated a proceeding to review certain elements…
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OTTAWA — The CRTC provided final relief to Videotron on Wednesday in its dispute with Bell over wholesale roaming. The Commission had provided interim relief in June 2019 while it processed Videotron’s Part 1 application.
In its decision Wednesday, the Commission said it approved Videotron’s application for final relief, but it expected the Quebecor-owned company to submit information showing it had resolved a couple of issues that came to light during the proceeding.
In May 2019, Bell had informed Videotron by letter that a number of its customers were allegedly using Bell Mobility’s wholesale roaming service in a manner…
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MONTREAL — Music service provider and broadcaster Stingray Group announced Wednesday its 2020 third quarter revenues increased 14.9% year over year, primarily driven by last year’s acquisition of Newcap Radio.
“Despite lower radio sales related to challenging market conditions in Western Canada, our radio segment continues to perform well in its other key markets such as Toronto and Ottawa,” said Eric Boyko, president, CEO and co-founder of Stingray, in the company’s news release.
The company’s overall revenues increased to $81.3 million in Q3. Looking at results by country, Stingray’s revenues in Canada increased 23.1% to $57.5 million, and in the…
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OTTAWA — The Broadcasting Accessibility Fund has opened its sixth round of funding with a call for letters of intent from interested individuals or groups wanting to apply for a grant from the Fund.
The Fund was created from CRTC benefits packages with the objective of financially supporting initiatives that advance accessibility to broadcasting content for Canadians with disabilities. The grant committee of the Fund’s board of directors will review all letters of intent and will select applicants who will be invited to submit a full grant application to the Fund.
Details on what to include in a letter of intent,…
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TORONTO — As we head into the CRTC’s wireless policy review hearing beginning February 18, where Canada’s Big Three wireless players will be probed, prodded and panned, Rogers Communications issued a press release today reminding Canadians the company deserves praise, too.
In the Tuesday announcement, the company Ted founded says it contributed $14.1 billion directly to the Canadian economy in 2019 alone through investments in Canadian jobs, content, communities and networks.
“As a proud Canadian company, Rogers has a deep history and legacy of investing in Canada,” said Joe Natale, Rogers president and CEO, in the release. “Over the past…
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Panel report targets foreign players, but Murphy urges caution
TORONTO – Doug Murphy said he appreciates the recommendations of the government-appointed panel tasked with reviewing Canada’s communications laws, but the Corus Entertainment president and CEO urged caution about the regulatory pressure it may add to Canadian broadcasters.
“It looks like this report is calling for even more regulation and more regulatory burden,” Murphy said in a phone interview on Friday. “What we cannot have happen here is more regulatory burden on the incumbent actors – that’s not acceptable.”
Murphy, like others, is still sifting through the 235-page report, released Wednesday, which contains…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein
FOR MANY YEARS, THE both the federal government and the CRTC have viewed facilities-based competition (FBC) as the only true means of ensuring Canadians receive high-quality, affordable, mobile wireless services provided over leading-edge wireless networks.
FBC basically means that only companies with their own wired or wireless transmission facilities should be allowed access to aggregated wholesale high-speed access services of large carriers, but attempts by both the CRTC and ISED to foster competition at either the national or regional level in wireless using preferential access to spectrum and wholesale wireless policies have proven unsuccessful.
The Competition Bureau…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review (BTLR) panel report, released last week, has much to say on the creation, production and discoverability of Canadian content amid the realities of an-ever expanding global market where viewers have equally growing choices of accessing content online.
However, the report only referred to “intellectual property” twice in its massive report, and did not address how Canadian creators can better protect that precious commodity while competing internationally. So, it was left to the industry to discuss IP as the “currency of the future” in the final panel on the closing…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – While a determination on an application to amend conditions of licence relating to the set-top box audience measurement system has not yet been announced, Cartt.ca has confirmed Videotron has rejoined the working group trying to turn the viewer data from pay-TV in-home decoders (there aren’t a lot of these things still resting atop TV sets) into ratings currency.
The company rejoined the working group last week without providing an explanation or making comments. When asked, the CRTC referred question to the Working Group itself, led by Shaw, which did not respond to our inquiry.
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