Bell says it ‘competes in fair manner and follows all regulations’
By Ahmad Hathout
Videotron has filed two complaints to the Competition Bureau Tuesday alleging Bell is using anticompetitive pricing tactics to push competitors out of markets in which it is the dominant provider, according to the applications seen by Cartt.
In the first complaint already raised to the CRTC in March last year, the regional competitor alleges Bell is forcing Videotron’s Fibrenoire subsidiary, which provides fibre services to businesses, to take up long-term contracts to use its traffic transport fibre network or face higher monthly costs in areas…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telus’s proposal to ride on its competitors’ internet networks outside of its home territory would be destructive to facilities-based competition and would create an existential crisis for regional wholesalers, two prominent cable companies told the CRTC on Thursday.
Representatives from Telus said Wednesday that the Vancouver-based telecom should be able to wholesale internet capacity from competitor networks to drive diversity of choice and competition, or the regime would be “useless.” The telco also pushed back against claims that it is a national incumbent, instead saying that its preferred status would be a regional player that’s a new…
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Bell says market has ‘never been more competitive’
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus said Wednesday that it should be allowed to use the wholesale internet regime outside of its operating territory, but noted that an unfettered framework without limits will create a disincentive to invest in networks.
Telus took issue Wednesday with being labelled a national “incumbent” because it mainly operates in the west and has few facilities east of its home court, including some in Quebec.
The telco argued that it be given access to the wholesale regime in areas outside of its operating territory because that would boost competition. In contrast, it…
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Bell cutting investments does not constitute irreparable harm, court said
By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal will hear Bell’s arguments challenging a decision by the CRTC to allow competitors to ride on its last mile fibre network, but stopped short of immediately suspending that decision until it deliberates on the matter because it is not convinced that the telco will suffer irreparable harm if a stay is not granted.
The CRTC ordered in November that Bell and Telus provide on a temporary basis access within six months to their last mile fibre facilities in Ontario and Quebec on an aggregated…
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CRTC said it is ‘concerned’ about job losses
By Ahmad Hathout
Citing regulatory concerns, Bell announced Thursday another round of job cuts and radio station sales.
The telecom is cutting 4,800 positions across the company, representing 9 per cent of its workforce – its largest in nearly 30 years – while also divesting 45 of its 103 radio stations in regional markets to seven buyers.
Vista Radio is buying 16 FM and five AM stations in British Columbia, Arsenal Media is buying seven FM stations in Quebec, Maritime Broadcasting System Ltd. Is buying five FM stations in Atlantic Canada, and Whiteoaks Communications…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Independent internet service provider CIK Telecom filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC earlier this month requesting that it reduce the interim rates for aggregated last mile fibre access and to clarify that the large telecoms cannot access the regime.
The telecom claims that the rates set by the regulator for interim access to Bell and Telus facilities going to the premises in Ontario and Quebec are still higher than what those telcos charge in the market, meaning third parties cannot be competitive.
It’s an argument that has been made by other telecoms, including those under Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC accepted late last month a request by Quebecor for the regulator to determine a rate for its access to Telus’s wireless network.
The carriers had tried to come to a commercial agreement and a commission-staff-assisted mediation on the rate for access through the mobile virtual network operator framework but could not come to amicable terms.
The regulator will now choose which rate – Quebecor’s or Telus’s – is most appropriate for that access, which will allow the Montreal-based telecom to further expand into new territory.
Telus had opposed going to final offer arbitration (FOA) because the parties were…
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The Opportunity
Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s Public Broadcaster is seeking a Director of Broadcast Engineering & Information Technology to lead the technical design, management and execution of our broadcast television channel, our corporate IT infrastructure and to provide support for the operation of our streaming platforms.
Knowledge Network provides a distinct television and streaming service for British Columbians. The Knowledge brand is unique – we are not selling a product but providing a service that embodies the values of community, curiosity and understanding. Our broadcast engineering and IT team provides the technological leadership and management for a linear television channel, two…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell has filed a petition to cabinet asking for it to rescind a decision by the CRTC that mandated, on an interim basis, access to its last mile fibre facilities on an aggregated basis.
The CRTC mandated in November that Bell and Telus provide access in Ontario and Quebec to their last mile fibre network within a six-month period under the aggregated regime, which allows competitors to bundle the telcos’ traffic transport mile. The decision is interim until the CRTC makes a final decision on that regime at the conclusion of its wholesale internet review.
Bell, which is already…
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By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA — Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge expects that a “growing sector” will emerge from the regulatory broadcasting framework the CRTC plans to release later this year in implementing the federal Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11.
“The reason why we created the CRTC and legislation around the Broadcasting Act was to make sure that Canadian content was easily found and accessible to Canadians, so could tell and watch their own stories,” she said Thursday at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) annual conference in Ottawa.
“The other part was making sure that…
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