OTTAWA – While most witnesses have insisted the Broadcasting Act is woefully out of date and the sky is falling on the industry, the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications reviewing that piece of legislation as well as the Telecommunications Act heard last week the Broadcasting Act actually works just fine, and the broadcasting system is relatively healthy.
On Wednesday, October 17, Marc Raboy, Beaverbrook professor emeritus in ethics, media and communications at McGill University and Gregory Taylor, assistant professor at the department of communication, media and film, University of Calgary, told a far different story than the appointed politicians…
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Telecom Act takes precedence when it comes to rights of way, siting, etc.
CALGARY – The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta told the city of Calgary in no uncertain terms that it has no right to regulate where, when, why and how telecom infrastructure can be installed in the city.
In January Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Telus Corp. filed a motion to strike down a bylaw passed by the city to regulate the process for, access and use of municipal rights of way for telecommunications providers.
In a decision released Friday, the court agreed with the four large…
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YOU HAVE TO SYMPATHIZE with the folks who took the time to register their frustration with Canadian telcos and cellcos by filing an intervention to the CRTC’s latest hearing which begins Monday.
They feel lied to. They believe they were told one thing and sold another. That they were never informed how the price they agreed to was just a promotion which ends in six months. That they told sales reps the products and services they wanted and then had other things added onto their bills. That they ended up on a contract they didn’t want.
Having read through quite a…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications met this morning for the fifth time to continue its examination of how the three federal communications statutes (the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Radiocommunication Act) can be modernized to account for the evolution of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in the last decades.
With the testimony of the Privacy Commissioner, Daniel Therrien, it became obvious, to us anyway, that the many consultations undertaken by government lately, including the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review (BTLR) will necessitate significant co-ordination when they will be writing the recommendations leading to…
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TORONTO – Iristel has taken its fight with Telus to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice claiming Telus has breached its wholesale contract and is seeking damages of $135 million.
In the statement of claim filed October 2nd, Iristel and ICE Wireless claim Telus has been not living up to its end of their contract by failing to connect calls to ICE Wireless customers or pay its bill to Iristel. In the filing Iristel says it is owed over $156,000 by Telus, but is claiming damages far higher to that because it is undermining Iristel’s standing in the telecom business…
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GATINEAU – The times, they are-a-tweetin’.
If you want to make your voice heard at the CRTC during one of its public proceedings, there are multiple ways to do so. Most are pretty formal, with deadlines and procedures which people or companies must follow – and if you want to speak right to the commissioners, anyone can come before the Commission in person or via video or teleconference at the hearing as long as they have said so weeks in advance.
On Monday, the CRTC will add another way Canadians can get on the record – in 280-character chunks.
Late Tuesday afternoon…
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OTTAWA – Despite having more than 100 film and television credits to his name, in addition to stage appearances across North America, ACTRA president David Sparrow knows the struggles of an artist’s life all too well.
“That comparatively successful career does not necessarily make me a household name, or financially stable. This is a tough business,” Sparrow said Tuesday morning to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which gathered again in Ottawa to further discuss remuneration models for Canadian artists in the Canadian Copyright Act. Among those presenting were representatives from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Wireless service providers may conduct more public alerting tests as early as next month to iron out any remaining wrinkles in the country’s emergency alert system.
In a letter to WSPs sent earlier this month, the CRTC said that Senior Officials Responsible for Emergency Management (SOREM), which includes Public Safety Canada and provincial and territorial emergency management organizations, have asked for another test to ensure that the earlier kinks have been worked out.
“The Commission recognizes that wireless alerting is a significant component of the national alerting system in terms of its effectiveness in protecting Canadians”, reads the letter. …
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TORONTO – The CRTC’s Ontario Commissioner Monique Lafontaine will be the keynote luncheon speaker next month at the Ontario Association of Broadcasters' (OAB) annual conference and awards gala, known as Connection '18.
Lafontaine (pictured) was appointed to the role on January 2, 2018 for a five-year term. She has approximately 20 years of experience in communications and entertainment law as a lawyer and media executive, and has worked in television and radio broadcasting, digital media, program licensing, distribution as well as anti-spam and privacy legislation.
Connection '18 will take place on Thursday, November 8 at the Marriott Toronto Airport Hotel.
www.oab.ca
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TAGISH, YT – Independent radio company Borealis Broadcasting has grown to five radio stations after the CRTC approved its request for three new transmitters.
The company’s network of community repeaters now includes Tagish and Marsh Lake, YT (CFET 106.7 FM); Haines Junction, YT (CJHJ 99.9 FM); Carcross, YT (CJCC 99.9 FM); Atlin, BC (CHTR 99.9 FM); and Inuvik, NT (CHUG 99.9 FM).
Borealis said these stations run as a centrally managed network using the OpenBroadcaster system, allowing local communities and talent to manage programming and schedules using a common web browser.
“Harnessing the power of AI (Artificial intelligence) and predictive discovery…
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