OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has given Canada's telcos exactly 12 months to implement a universal network-level call blocking system to help cut down on the number of unsolicited and illegitimate calls that Canadians receive.
The Commission said Wednesday that such a system will automatically block calls with caller ID information that either exceeds 15 digits or does not conform to a number that can be dialled, such as 000-000-0000. Telecom service providers who are already offering advanced call-filtering services to their subscribers are not obligated to implement the system.
Noting that no single solution can help Canadians block all unwanted calls, the…
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OTTAWA – Two companies have been fined over $40,000 for making non-compliant telemarketing calls to Canadians, the CRTC said Wednesday.
In the first of two compliance and enforcement decisions, the CRTC fined Toronto Breeze Air Duct Cleaning Services Inc. $18,000 for telemarketing telecommunications initiated on its behalf to consumers whose telecommunications numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), while it was not registered with the National DNCL operator, and while it was not a registered subscriber of the National DNCL, in violation of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.
The company was originally fined last year and was…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has ordered Bell Media to pay over $400,000 in outstanding tangible benefits after denying the broadcaster’s request to overturn an earlier decision.
The Commission notified Bell Media in May 2017 that an audit had turned up issues with several of the expenditures it claimed towards meeting its tangible benefit requirements for the 2013-2014 broadcast year. The broadcaster replied by filing an application that the Commission reverse part of its earlier decision, claiming that it did not have the opportunity to comment on certain evidence upon which the Commission relied to reach its decision.
The CRTC denied…
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New low-cost data only plans to be in market within 90 days
GATINEAU – The CRTC announced today it has accepted the revised low-cost data only mobile wireless plans offered – at the demand of the Commission on the impetus of federal government – by Rogers, Bell and Telus.
Further to a public proceeding launched in March, where the big national players responded by initially offering plans the Commission told them were not good enough and to try again, the wireless providers came back with better offers in September which the CRTC said…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC has set new standards for text-based message relay services to help improve the service for hearing or speech impaired Canadians.
Message relay services (MRS) enable Canadians with a hearing or a speech disability to make and receive telephone calls via text with the assistance of a relay operator. The CRTC has long required that home phone providers offer MRS to customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week, first through teletypewriter (TTY) relay service and then through IP relay services, too.
The Commission said Friday that mobile wireless service providers (WSPs) must begin offering…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC awarded two new FM radio licences to International Harvesters for Christ Evangelistic Association Inc. for English-language Christian music stations in Kelowna and Saskatoon.
Harvesters is a not-for-profit corporation controlled by its board of directors.
The new Kelowna station will operate at 88.1 MHz (channel 201C) with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 4,200 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain (EHAAT) of 500 metres). The station will have a rebroadcasting transmitter in Kamloops that will operate at 99.1 MHz (channel 256B1) with an ERP of 3,000 watts (non-directional antenna with an EHAAT of 148.6 metres).
Despite…
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Ted's right hand man reflects on his life and career
PHIL LIND MAY ALWAYS BE remembered as Ted Rogers’ cajoling consigliere.
Sure, Phil had more appearances before the CRTC – over 100 – than anybody; and he’s put in 40 exciting years co-building the Rogers brand and our country’s second-largest telecommunications and media company – Rogers Communications.
But to caricature Phil Lind as merely Ted’s strategic “Abominable No Man” is to sell this man very short.
His new book Right Hand Man: How Phil Lind Guided the Genius of Ted Rogers, Canada’s Foremost Entrepreneur, written with Bob Brehl, may not be headed for the…
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3,000 have signed up to Connecting Families so far, too
OTTAWA – Following last month’s report from the Auditor General which said the connectivity needs of rural Canadians are too often going unmet, John Knubley, Canada’s Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, today said the ministry accepts the recommendations made in the report and are moving forward with plans to improve rural and remote internet connectivity.
“On strategy, we agree with the report, particularly in light of the CRTC‘s decision in December 2016 declaring broadband as a basic service,” Knubley said. “I believe the declaration has created…
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OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has put out an urgent call for funds.
“We have consistently fought for fair treatment, fair pricing, and your fundamental rights as people, not just customers,” said the group in an email sent out earlier this week by executive director John Lawford.
“Major corporations are more powerful than ever in Canada. But PIAC itself has never been more threatened. We face an acute funding crunch and will be unable to keep going without your urgent help,” he added. “PIAC’s business model has always balanced on a knife-edge. PIAC staff and legal counsel do…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has sided with Frontier Networks in its dispute with Eastlink over reselling its high-speed access (HSA) services.
In April, Frontier requested expedited interim relief and final relief regarding the refusal of Bragg Communications Inc. (carrying on business as Eastlink), to allow it to continue to resell HSA service to its two reseller customers. Interim relief was granted by the CRTC in May.
On Tuesday, the Commission made Frontier’s interim relief final after finding that its interpretation of Eastlink’s Third-Party Internet Access General Tariff is correct. It also directed Eastlink to file revised Tariff pages within 30 …
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