Le président de Québecor sent qu’il est le seul pour se battre pour la culture
C’EST UN PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU en grande forme à qui nous avons parlé cette semaine lors d’une conversation téléphonique, mardi après-midi. Il venait de prononcer une conférence au CORIM (Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal) dans le cadre de sa dernière campagne d’information sur l’avenir du système de radiodiffusion canadien.
Cette fois, le président et chef de la direction de Québecor, monte aux barricades pour s’attaquer à Netflix, au système de redevances des canaux spécialisés, au CRTC, à Radio-Canada, à Bell et…
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CEO says he feels alone fighting for our culture
IT WAS A PIERRE KARL PÉLADEAU in fine form with whom we had a phone conversation on Tuesday after a speech he gave at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relation. That speech was part of public relations campaign he is leading on the future of the Canadian broadcasting system.
This time the Quebecor CEO is attacking Netflix, the specialty channel affiliation regime, the CRTC, the CBC, Bell and the apathy he feels from so many. While the system is crumbling nobody is being spared, and not enough Canadians…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC wants the country’s wireless service providers (WSP) to ‘fess up by the end of this month whether or not they are making customers pay for service calls.
In a letter addressed to all WSPs dated April 2nd, the Commission said that it is aware of incidents where some carriers have been charging for certain client service calls, a practice that may run afoul of the Wireless Code.
For the purposes of this request, the Regulator is defining a customer service interaction fee to include any charges to customers when they contact their service provider to discuss or ask…
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OTTAWA – Vancouver may soon have a new radio station after the CRTC issued a call for comments on the market capacity and on the appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications in that city.
The Commission said Thursday that it issued the call after receiving an application from Rogers Media for a commercial radio station to serve that market, operating on the frequency used by its rebroadcasting transmitter CKKS-FM-2 Vancouver, which rebroadcasts the programming of CKKS-FM Chilliwack.
Interventions are due by June 3 and the deadline to file replies is June 18, 2019. Following receipt of comments, the CRTC said that it…
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GATINEAU – A Competition Bureau request for the CRTC to facilitate a big data dump from Canadian wireless service providers has flummoxed the Commission and caused at least one carrier to accuse the Bureau of attempting to “hijack” the CRTC’s recently announced review of Canada’s mobile wireless services market.
On March 8, the Competition Bureau filed a procedural request with the CRTC under the proceeding, saying it planned to conduct three of its own analyses of the Canadian wireless market, but in order to do so, it needs the CRTC to demand Canadian wireless service providers…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC approved three new additions to the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution, on Wednesday.
The new channels include:
– third-language service Mexicanal, sponsored by Lewis Birnberg Hanet LLP, a Spanish-language general interest service that provides regional programming from across the Republic of Mexico. Programming consists of regional news and information programming, live music performances, lifestyle programming focusing on regional culture (e.g., regional cuisine, regional artisans), Mexican cinema, satirical Mexican comedy programs, a small amount of regional sports, and reality television programs. The service’s target audience is a general audience of Spanish-speaking individuals, predominantly those who have…
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44% increase in complaints
OTTAWA – The mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) once again doesn’t look good for Canada’s telecom and TV providers.
The report released this morning shows a 44% increase in the number of complaints it received from Canadian telecom and TV customers between August 1, 2018 and January 31, 2019. This follows a 73% increase for that same period last year, so there has at least been improvement in the rate of growth in complaints at least.
Canadians complained most often about their wireless service, followed in order by…
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OTTAWA – Telus played host to a vital workshop last week called Tomorrow Is Now: A Workshop on 5G Technology, Operations, and Regulation.
Organized by the International Telecommunications Society (ITS) and featuring a strong roster of international speakers providing the perspectives from all angles including operators, regulators, technologists and academics, the workshop set out the current global 5G marketplace.
The race
Michael Murphy, Nokia’s head of technology for North America, provided a local 5G outlook. He reviewed operator launch plans, noting that soft launches began in the U.S. in 2018. He anticipates that all of the U.S. operators will offer 5G mobile…
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CHATHAM, ON – TekSavvy Solutions is aiming to rally public support around the Feds’ recent directive to the CRTC to improve the affordability of Internet and cellphone services for Canadians.
On Friday, the scrappy independent ISP launched a new website entitled Pay Less To Connect that asks consumers to input some personal information to create a form letter addressed to their MP urging them “to support the new Policy Direction and to protect consumer interests.”
“The current system isn't working,” reads the form letter. “The CRTC needs to better serve Canadians, and put our interests first – ahead of…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is calling for comments on a proposal to update its policy on Canadian programming expenditures (CPE) to take into account the digital media broadcasting environment.
Acknowledging the many changes to the broadcasting environment since the CPE requirements were last updated in 1993, the Commission noted that applying regulations designed for traditional television and radio services to digital media poses “significant challenges”, including those relating to requirements to make financial contributions to Canadian production.
BNC CRTC 2019-91 seeks stakeholder feedback on a number of questions and issues relating to updating the CPE policy to incorporate the digital…
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