Slowed speeds after 10 GB might be against the rules
GATINEAU – Who would have thought a routine process of monitoring Internet pricing to make sure Internet Traffic Management Practices (ITMPs) don’t violate consumer rights would bump up against the much ballyhooed new $75 wireless data pricing plans?
The CRTC has long been concerned about some differential pricing practices that could be viewed as unfair, so it decided two years ago to “closely monitor the retail prices and data caps for both wireless and fixed-line Internet services, which will enable it to assess the degree to which…
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ECG, TLN, urge the federal government to intervene
OTTAWA – A total of four companies which had hoped to win a coveted must-carry licence for a national, multi-ethnic, multi-language TV channel have now asked the federal Cabinet to set aside the CRTC’s decision to grant the license to Rogers Communications, which says the vertically integrated company gets to hang onto OMNI for an additional three years.
On Monday, both Ethnic Channels Group (whose proposal was called Voices) and TLN Media Group (whose joint application with Asian Television Network was called CanadaWorld), joined Corriere…
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OTTAWA – Back in May, Videotron asked the CRTC to amend its conditions of licence so that it would not be forced to share its cable set-top box audience measurement with Numeris, and pending the decision, it abandoned the industry group working to bring to market that data as part of the ratings systems.
CRTC responded June 28th saying that the condition of licence still applies and changed the deadline for providing a measurement system to 15 January 2020.
On July 5th, however, Vidéotron announced it intended to challenge in court that CRTC refusal. The company…
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Lawyer Claire Anderson starts next month
GATINEAU – Yukon lawyer Claire Anderson has been hired as CRTC commissioner for British Columbia and Yukon, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced today.
She is the first Indigenous woman and first Yukon resident to be appointed as a CRTC commissioner and will fill a position which has been vacant since June 2018 when former commissioner Stephen Simpson left. While we don’t know her age, judging from her CV, she is likely one of the youngest ever hired, too. She starts August 26th.
Anderson (pictured in a photo from her LinkedIn profile) is a citizen of…
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HASTINGS COUNTY, Ont. – The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) announced today it will be receiving $71 million from the federal government in order to help pay for a project which will help fill gaps in mobile broadband coverage in the region.
The cash will come from the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Plan.
The funding, combined with the provincial government’s equal commitment of $71 million to the project plus $10 million from the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus, “clears the way for a $213 million public-private partnership to improve both the reach…
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OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez has mostly been silent on the Canadian TV business since being appointed last July.
We know he’s met with a number of stakeholders during his year on the job (the first anniversary is July 18) and he did make a short appearance on stage at the Canadian Media Producers Association Prime Time gathering in February, but Rodriguez has spent his first year well out of the spotlights which seemed constantly on his predecessor Mélanie Joly.
Wednesday however, Rodriguez issued a statement outlining his thoughts far more definitively on the…
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WATERTOWN, N.Y. – Long-time Canadian broadcasting executive (and Cartt.ca correspondent) Bill Roberts has joined the board of directors at U.S. local public broadcaster WPBS-TV, which serves Northern New York State as well as Ontario’s National Capital Region.
Roberts is the former president and CEO of Vision TV, and has served as the secretary general of the North American Broadcasters’ Association, is co-founder of Public Broadcasters International, and past senior vice-president of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. In addition, he has served as a board member of the Banff Television Festival, as an international director with the National Academy of Television…
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Family discounts and easier device payment plans launch, too
VANCOUVER – The day after its three-week, $75/month with no overage charges wireless promotion officially ended, Telus has decided to make the lower price permanent – and to add some new wrinkles.
Today, the company launched what it’s calling “Peace of Mind” rate plans, which begin at $75/month for 10GB of high speed data with any overage delivered at 512 Kbps. There are also plans at $95 for 20GB and $125 for 50GB. Speeds are slowed for users who cross their limits in those plans, too. While Rogers – when it Continue Reading
COO Mirko Bibic to take over
MONTREAL – Bell Canada today announced president and CEO George Cope will retire as of January 5, 2020 and will be replaced in the role by company COO Mirko Bibic.
“The BCE board is pleased to take the next step in our succession plan by confirming Mirko Bibic as our next CEO,” said Gordon Nixon, chair of BCE and Bell Canada, in the company press release. Bibic will be the company’s 14th CEO, dating back to the company’s founding in 1880.
“Mirko is a seasoned Bell executive who has played a critical leadership role in the…
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NEW ROSS, NS – The federal government unveiled Canada’s first rural economic development strategy Thursday that, among other priorities, seeks to boost reliable and affordable high-speed Internet and mobile connectivity.
Rural Opportunity, National Prosperity: An Economic Development Strategy for Rural Canada notes that as of 2018, only 37% of rural households are currently able to access the CRTC’s target high-speed Internet speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, compared to 97% of households in urban areas, and that 14% of major Canadian roads and highways still lacked mobile wireless coverage.
Minister of Rural Economic Development Bernadette Jordan also…
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