OTTAWA – The CRTC on Monday yanked the basic international telecommunications services licences of 37 companies that it says have failed to comply with the conditions of licence.
All entities that provide basic international telecommunications services (BITS) to Canadians are required to be licensed by the Commission. As a condition of licence, licensees are subject to annual reporting requirements.
“Despite Commission requests that licensees comply with these filing requirements, a number of licensees failed to comply”, reads TD CRTC 2019-59. “Consequently, on 19 December 2018, the Commission, in accordance with subsection 16.4(1) of the Act, sent by registered mail a notice of intent to…
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GATINEAU – Two days after the ISED Minister Navdeep Bains issued a proposed policy direction requiring the CRTC to put Canadian consumers at the forefront of all future decisions so that telecommunications policy will ensure Canadians have access to quality services at more affordable prices, the CRTC launched a review of mobile wireless services.
This review, which it said last March would come this year (earlier than planned), will primarily focus on three issues:
Competition in the retail market
Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access
5G deployment
The Commission did state that a review of wholesale roaming won’t happen with…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Amidst a plethora of over-the-top options for video and audio content, Canadian broadcasting services generated total revenues of $17.3 billion in 2017, down 3.3% from 2016, the CRTC said Wednesday.
In the broadcasting portion of its 2018 Communications Monitoring Report (CMR), the Commission said that broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), such as cable, satellite and IPTV distributors, generated almost half (49.4%) of the total revenues, with $8.5 billion reported in 2017. That was followed by television services with $6.9 billion (40.1%) and radio stations with $1.8 billion (10.5%).
The revenues of Internet-based audio and video services (a.k.a. OTT services) are…
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OTTAWA – In something of a surprising move, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Navdeep Bains announced Tuesday during Question Period he planned to issue a Policy direction to the CRTC requiring it to improve the affordability of Internet and cellphone services for Canadians.
If this is truly a shift away from market forces and facilities based competition (hard to tell for sure with the legalese), then this could be the most significant shift in the federal government's thinking on telecom in decades.
Even though the CRTC is independent, the government can, according to the Telecommunications Act “issue directions…
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OTTAWA – On Thursday, February 21st, as just about everybody else in Ottawa was watching the Clerk of the Privy Council defend the Prime Minister in front of the Justice Committee over the SNC Lavalin affair, another meeting just as important was taking place in front of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts.
That hearing was about connectivity in rural and remote areas following up on a Report from the Auditor General tabled in November. The first meeting had been held on December 12th but was interrupted by a vote after representatives from the Office of the Auditor General,…
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WINDSOR, ON — Brian Masse, MP for Windsor West and NDP Industry Critic, is asking the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Competition Bureau to launch an inquiry into whether Canadians’ privacy or consumer rights were violated by telecom companies whose “misleading and aggressive” sales practices were exposed earlier this week in a CRTC report.
In a letter written on Wednesday and posted to his website on Thursday, Masse requested that the Privacy Commissioner and Competition Bureau launch further investigations into the findings of the CRTC’s report on Misleading or Aggressive Communications Retail Sales Practices, which was…
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OTTAWA — The CRTC is proposing to amend the general authorizations for BDUs to authorize the satellite-to-cable CTV Two Alberta service to be included as part of the basic service in Alberta, but the Commission wants to hear from interested parties first.
In May 2017, the CRTC approved Bell Media’s request to continue to allow CTV Two Alberta to be offered on the basic service in Alberta, as part of its Broadcasting Decision 2017-149. At the same time, the Commission announced it would issue a notice of consultation calling for comments on amendments to the general authorizations applicable to…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU — The CRTC is asking Canadians to share their views about the possible creation of a mandatory code of conduct for Internet service providers, by submitting comments on the Commission’s Facebook page between February 21 and March 4.
The CRTC launched a public consultation regarding a possible Internet code in November 2018. Similar to the purposes of the Wireless Code created in 2013 and the Television Service Provider Code in 2017, the Internet Code would, among other things, establish consumer-friendly business practices, ensure contracts are easy-to-understand, and make it easier for Canadians to switch providers to take…
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QUEBEC CITY — Leclerc Communication tried out its best logical gymnastics on Wednesday as it appeared before a CRTC hearing to justify its requests related to the proposed $19-million acquisition of CHOI-FM (Radio X) in Quebec City and CHLX-FM (91,9 Sports) in Montreal from RNC Media.
Besides the ownership transaction itself, Leclerc is asking for an exception to the common ownership policy to acquire Quebec City's most popular commercial radio station and keep its two others, and is seeking to change CHLX's format from sports talk to music.
(Ed note: For what it’s worth, other radio station owners have argued the…
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GATINEAU – “Having considered the matter in depth, the CRTC finds that it is apparent that misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are present in the telecommunications service provider market in Canada.
“These practices exist in all types of sales channels, including in store, online, over the telephone, and door to door. They occur to an unacceptable degree; they are harming Canadian consumers, in particular vulnerable Canadians; and they are a serious concern for the CRTC.”
So begins the Commission’s report on the sales tactics of the Canadian telecommunications industry, released today. The Regulator hosted a contentious hearing back in…
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