CRTC also announced more money allocation from third call
The CRTC has formally denied an application by Bell that requested the regulator change the way it collected money for the $750-million Broadband Fund.
Bell requested last December that the regulator stop collecting money from the internet service providers until it has disbursed the money it has collected and to return the money it hasn’t given out. Part of the reasoning is that there have been many more funding programs available since the Broadband Fund was launched and that the unused money held by the CRTC and not distributed could be…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The Governor in Council has rejected an application to force the CRTC to relook at a decision it made that automatically renewed the broadcasting licences of major broadcasters that have been clamouring for changes to their regulatory obligations due to worsening financial conditions.
The Governor in Council said in the decision dated December 8 that it “is not satisfied that the decision derogates from the attainment of the objectives of the broadcasting policy for Canada set out in subsection 3(1) of that Act,” and that it, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, “declines to refer…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The country’s highest court has granted Thursday Telus’s request to hear its case that the CRTC has jurisdiction over wireless access to municipal infrastructure.
The Vancouver-based telecom is appealing from the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision that determined that Parliament did not intend for “transmission line” under section 43 of the CRTC-administered Telecommunications Act to include wireless technologies. Telus has argued that the wireless signals must route back to hard wires anyway.
“By focusing on the point that small cell antennas send and receive wireless signals, the court below failed to appreciate the importance of the physical connections between…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC said it will not need additional financial resources to maintain a database of online services because the $10 million threshold to register for possible mandatory contributions to Canadian content will limit the number of services that need to sign up.
The regulator said in response to questions from Regina Conservative MP Andrew Scheer that it is expecting approximately 50 to 100 services to register basic information with it, including name, phone number, mailing and email addresses, what services they offer and out of where they are incorporated.
Scheer requested information related to the expected…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The long-distance rates Bell has charged for collect telephone calls originating from Ontario correctional facilities is the subject of a new Part 1 application to the CRTC, posted on the telecom regulator’s website last Friday.
The application dated Oct. 27 is from two Ontario residents, who previously began a proposed class action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Bell and the Ontario government. They alleged the long-distance rates charged by Bell “were contrary to provincial consumer protection legislation and unconscionable, amongst other allegations, and sought to recover damages against Bell,” reads their…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has filed Thursday a challenge to the CRTC’s decision to force it to negotiate access to its last mile fibre network, saying it will cause “irreparable harm through the loss of customers and revenues.”
The claim in the Federal Court of Appeal asks for an immediate stay on the CRTC’s decision until the court decides on the case. Bell said it meets the three-part legal test for a stay, including that this is a serious issue to be tried, that this will cause irreparable harm to it, and the balance of convenience leans in its favour over…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced Tuesday the appointment of former Videotron executive Stephanie Paquette to the seat of regional commissioner of Quebec for the CRTC.
The lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience in the media industry will begin a five-year term starting November 23 — in the middle of the first week of the commission’s three-week hearing on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
Paquette has been Videotron’s senior director of content and strategic partnerships for the past six years and director of that area for seven years before that. That means she was responsible for acquisition…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage has on Tuesday finalized its policy direction to the CRTC on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
The final version doesn’t deviate on major goals from the proposal the department put out in June, specifically outlining that social media creators and certain single transactional media, such as video games, will not be regulated.
The CRTC, which already set a $10-million threshold for broadcasters to register basic information with the regulator, said it still would like social media and other media forms, including podcasts, to register so it can monitor their…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC approved via letters Wednesday separate applications from the Indigenous Screen Office and the Black Screen Office’s fund, The Black Screen Fund, for certification as independent production funds.
Both newly certified funds are subject to the fulfilment of specific conditions of approval, some of which require amendments to the by-laws of the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and the Black Screen Fund, to ensure the funds operate in accordance with the commission’s policy framework for certified independent production funds (the CIPF Policy).
In the letter to the ISO, the CRTC…
Continue Reading
TekSavvy says it is currently not for sale
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell announced Monday evening that it is cutting its fibre investments by over $1 billion in 2024-25 after the CRTC said it must negotiate access with competitors on that network.
The telco said that plan will also include a minimum cut of $500 to $600 million in 2024.
“Bell’s fibre network is now available to over seven million homes and businesses,” Bell said in a press release. “Prior to the CRTC’s decision, Bell’s near-term plan was to build high-speed fibre to nine million locations by the end of 2025. Bell will now…
Continue Reading
