TORONTO – The fact that ARPU is trending downwards and churn is rising among the big three wireless providers shows that facilities-based competition brought by the likes of Videotron, Freedom and Eastlink is working – and mandated MVNOs would be a bad move for Canada.
So says a report published this week by Scotiabank’s telecom analyst Jeff Fan.
“Quebecor has been a wireless facilities-based competitor in Quebec for a decade. Is that not sustainable enough? We estimate the company has now captured approximately 19% market share in the province, and, with its new Fizz brand, the momentum has actually accelerated. We…
Continue Reading
TORONTO — Speaking at last week’s annual OAB Connection conference — where the theme was “Futureproofing Broadcasting” — the CRTC’s Ontario commissioner, Monique Lafontaine, urged attendees to work with the regulator to find innovative and collaborative ways to tackle the complex issues facing the industry and to ensure its future success.
“Indeed, broadcasters and regulators face difficult challenges. Meeting these challenges — to ensure the futureproofing of our system — requires innovation, collaboration and investment in our work force,” Lafontaine (pictured) said. “The CRTC is keen to work with broadcasters and industry stakeholders. I urge all of you and your…
Continue Reading
NORTH BAY, Ont. – The headline you see came about mid-day during the first Bridging the Digital Divide rural broadband conference being held in North Bay this week.
The prescient comment was made by Geoff Gillon, executive director of the Rainy River Business Development Corporation (Fort Frances, Ont.), and those six words sum up the massive challenge of making sure all Canadians can get excellent broadband and wireless service, no matter where they live.
Canadian consumers and businesses need broadband, whether it’s to take a university course where the school is thousands of miles away, to run robotics in a dairy…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Leclerc Communications’ desire to get into Quebec's largest market may cost Montreal listeners their classical music station.
The company announced on Wednesday it has entered into an agreement to purchase Montreal's CJPX-FM (Radio Classique 99.5) from entertainer Gregory Charles. An application published by the CRTC the same day sets the purchase price at $3.88 million.
Charles, who bought CJPX-FM and sister station CJSQ-FM in Quebec City from founder Jean-Pierre Coallier in 2015, will keep CJSQ-FM and the radioclassique.ca website. However, with CJPX being unprofitable, it's hard to imagine how CJSQ could remain so without its big brother.
Before it takes…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – Canada’s major cable carriers (Eastlink, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron) Wednesday made the point to federal cabinet that all the CRTC decision on new third party internet access aggregated wholesale rates does is disincentivize needed investment in high-speed networks, which is contrary to public interest.
November 13th was the deadline to file petitions to Cabinet (technically to the Governor-in-Council with cabinet) on the August CRTC decision to set lower final rates for TPIA – and force the incumbents to pay three years of retroactive overpayments to independent ISP resellers – and as the cable carriers argue, “by reducing…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – A day after getting a month delay to file its Review and Vary application to the CRTC on the final rates it set for aggregated wholesale high-speed access services, Bell Canada filed a an official Petition to Cabinet to overturn the CRTC Decision – as did the incumbent cable providers.
Bell had already filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal, on September 16, too.
In its petition (officially to the Governor-in-Council) Bell is asking Cabinet to: “restore the wholesale rates that were in place immediately prior to the issuance of the Order, with no retroactive effect,” the…
Continue Reading
CRTC Broadband Fund calls for more applications
GATINEAU — The CRTC today issued its second call for applications to the Broadband Fund, widening the eligibility of projects to include those that promise to improve broadband access in geographic areas that do not currently have access to universal service objective-level broadband services, including areas that were eligible in the first call for applications.
The CRTC’s universal service objective for fixed Internet access service is that all Canadians have access to at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload, with an option of unlimited data. For mobile wireless services,…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – When the CRTC issued decision 2019-288 in August 2019, its decision on third party internet access wholesale rates, everyone grasped the complexity of the file but perhaps not all had considered the complexity of concurring applications to different avenues of appeal.
Of course, the same players are involved in the various proceedings but this is why, when the cable carriers and Bell asked for an extension of 60 days to file a Review & Vary application to the Commission, nine days before the end of the 90-day periods to officially file, many were skeptical…
Continue Reading
Will a new ISED minister mean a 3500 MHz auction delay?
OTTAWA – Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Heritage Canada could new ministers when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveils his new cabinet on November 20.
The rumour mill has Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna replacing Navdeep Bains, whose deft handling of complicated telecom and technology files earned him respect from within those industries.
“I think she can do it. She managed to skate through environment without getting her head lopped off, so she must know what she’s doing,” said John Lawford, executive director and general counsel of the…
Continue Reading
“THE STATION APPEARS to be in non-compliance with its regulatory obligations relating to the filing of… If found in non-compliance, this would be the third consecutive licence term in which the station would be in non-compliance.”
“According to our records, it appears the station is in non-compliance with its regulatory obligations relating to… If found in non-compliance, this would be the second consecutive licence term in which the station would be in non-compliance.”
“The station appears to be in non-compliance with its obligations relating to the filing of complete and accurate radio monitoring materials. As well, it appears that it did…
Continue Reading
