U.S. relationships “will evolve, not lapse,” says Lennox
TORONTO – If it feels like Bell Media's 2019 Upfront presentation unleashed an avalanche of new content and viewing options for Canadians, just as more Hollywood studios get set to launch more Netflix-killer streaming services, it's no coincidence.
The way Bell Media president Randy Lennox (pictured Thursday with the company’s latest home-grown star, Mary Berg of Mary’s Kitchen Crush) tells Cartt.ca, he's moving chess pieces in a larger game of redefining long-standing relationships with Hollywood content suppliers while the major studios sort out whether to continue licensing popular American…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has updated its dispute resolution practices and procedures for disagreements that fall under either the Broadcasting Act or the Telecommunications Act.
The May 28 information bulletin says that the move reflects changes in the broadcasting regulatory environment as a result of its Let’s Talk TV policy and to its Wholesale Code that governs the commercial arrangements between broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), programmers and exempt digital media undertakings.
Specifically, the bulletin sets out various Commission practices plus procedural steps and time limitations that will apply to each of the following five dispute resolution mechanisms: staff-assisted mediation, final offer arbitration, expedited hearings,…
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Tosses “incoherent” barb back at the industry
TORONTO – ISED Minister Navdeep Bains was the closer at the 2019 Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday and his comments made on stage – as well as after – should leave wireless industry leaders and observers more certain than ever that a major regulatory shift, especially when it comes to the long held policy bedrock known as “facilities-based competition,” is going to happen.
For three days, the major carriers did their level best to lay out a case against mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs, or wireless resellers) as well as the reasons why it’s…
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TORONTO – There may have been over a dozen topics on the hit list for this year's regulatory blockbuster session at this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit, but the six panelists kept coming back to one: MVNOs, yea or nay.
Moderator Greg O'Brien, editor and publisher of Cartt.ca, set the tone, commenting, "This panel is often fun, always a little prickly, which is part of the fun
“The industry is being transformed from all sides," he went on. "It's being changed from within, from without, and, crucially, from Ottawa."
Key among the events include the broadcast and telecom legislative review panel, a proposed…
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Blames pressure on traditional TV on unfair practices
MONTREAL – Quebecor Media's TVA Group announced Wednesday morning it has eliminated 68 jobs in its television group.
“The decision was made necessary by numerous unfair practices that have been undermining the television industry for years. It is the result of government inaction and the failure to modernize the system in order to keep businesses based in Quebec and the rest of Canada competitive,” reads the TVA press release.
"The status quo is crippling our industry, weakening our culture and driving us to the cliff's edge," said France Lauzière, president and CEO, in the…
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MVNOs won't work in Canada
TORONTO – Shaw Communications’ Paul McAleese co-founded and ran a successful MVNO in the United States for a dozen years before coming back to Canada to head up Freedom Mobile.
While he’s still a satisfied investor in i-wireless, which runs the mobile offering of the Kroger chain of grocery stores, he said comparing that company and the U.S. wireless market in general to Canada’s is a mug’s game. First, the American market is just so much bigger, where MVNOs can carve out a living with low margins there thanks to American market scale in a way…
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TORONTO – Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) president and CEO Robert Ghiz used his keynote Tuesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit to drive home a singular message to Canadian policy makers: any changes to Canadian wireless policy must continue to feature facilities-based investments as the bedrock.
Canadian networks are world-leading, he noted in his speech."Not only are Canada’s mobile wireless networks ranked 2nd in the world in terms of download speeds, they are 152% faster than the global average, and 91% faster than the United States. And while speed is important, consistency of speed is equally important. It is little…
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TORONTO – Telecommunications companies had better drop their deceptive and bullying consumer sales practices before they gets smacked by Ottawa, the head of a consumer group warned industry leaders.
"This will continue to be a political issue for you and it may trip up your other businesses because it resonates with the public," John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), said Monday during a panel discussion on improving customer experience at the annual Canadian Telecom Summit.
"You guys are too big and too important now to think that what you do for business is your only consideration."
His…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today launched its first call for applications for the Broadband Fund.
CRTC chair Ian Scott made the announcement at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Monday, saying the Commission is now accepting applications for projects in the the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as satellite-dependent communities in the territories, northern parts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and in parts of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
The Broadband Fund will provide up to $750 million over five years to support projects in regions where there is a great need for improved broadband Internet and…
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TORONTO –Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains is expected to reveal the proposed structure of the 3500 MHz spectrum auction on Wednesday and, tapping into his inner Raptor, Scotiabank telecom analyst Jeff Fan said in a report this week he expects Bains to “deliver its version of ‘The Klaw’.”
Using Toronto Raptors’ star Kawhi Leonard’s nickname as a fun hook, Fan set out what he believes will happen to the 3500 MHz spectrum currently co-owned by Rogers Communications and Bell Canada. Like Leonard stripping an opponent of the basketball, ISED will be stripping a lot of that spectrum…
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