GATINEAU – In the continuing saga of the skinny (a.k.a. lower-cost data only) wireless, the CRTC must be wondering if it would not have just been easier to mandate MVNO.
In the latest request for information, Cartt.ca had noted the tone of the letter and the volume of information requested. The three incumbent national wireless players seem to heed the message and proposed to double the amount of data originally offered.
But what we had missed was the questions asked to the three incumbent national wireless players were also asked of the Competition Bureau.
The Questions
Indicate whether lower-cost data only…
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ST ANDREWS, N.B. – Atlantic region and Nunavut CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald said Monday the structure and governance of its new $750 million broadband fund established with the Commission’s 2016 Universal Service Objective policy will be announced soon, with a call for funding applications to come in 2019.
Back in 2016, the Commission set targets for basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy:
speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services. In 2015, 82% of Canadians already had access to speeds of 50 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload for…
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RADIO RATINGS ANALYSIS is a complex task, as we noted last week. For radio station promotion departments getting their quarterly analysis in Canada's five largest markets, it's about toying with the numbers — age, gender, time of day, relative growth — until your station becomes number one, or at least number one in categories advertisers like.
But what about longer-term trends? We took Numeris top-line ratings data over the past seven years to capture portraits of stations in those five major markets who made changes to their programming, and what happened to their audience as a result.
For the sake of…
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MONTREAL — "Brand-friendly."
That's how Quebec's independent conventional TV network described its new image on Wednesday, making its biggest change since it changed its name from TQS to V nine years ago.
It's still called V, but now with a new logo — a blocky white V in an orange square designed by Studio FEED, replacing a stylized one in a yellow circle (Ed note: which always just reminded us of Vidéotron anyway) — and a new design and motion graphics by Troïka.
"This more modern visual identity completes V’s major transformation," Dimitri Gourdin, executive vice president, strategy and communications of…
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GATINEAU – After many public complaints and a Commission letter which all but threatened wireless rate regulation, Telus, Rogers and Bell responded to the CRTC’s request for a better skinny wireless package by doubling the amount of data originally offered.
Earlier this year, in a multi-faceted wireless decision, the CRTC demanded each of Rogers, Bell and Telus come up with low-cost data-only wireless plans for the Canadian market. The plans can not be tied to customer income; must be made available on the latest network (4G), must be nationwide, and be available on post- and pre-paid plans. Those plans, said…
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KITCHENER – Independent ISP Cloudwifi Inc. is asking the CRTC to step in and help “prevent companies like Bell Canada from interfering with consumer freedom to choose internet providers.”
Cloudwifi, a facilities-based ISP offering low-cost bulk internet and network services to multi-tenant dwelling units (MDUs), has filed a Part 1 application with the Commission alleging that Bell has disconnected its customers from the inside wire at two Ontario properties, one in North York and the other in Kitchener.
The company, which says it has hired veteran communications lawyer Ken Engelhart, asserts that existing terms in both the Broadcasting Act and…
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OTTAWA — The Commissioner of Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has terminated the participation of AllCore Communications Inc. (AllCore) after determining that the Hamilton-based telecom service provider failed to comply with a number of mandatory elements of participation in the CCTS.
According to a CCTS statement, AllCore failed to honour a binding recommendation issued by the CCTS following the investigation of an AllCore customer complaint. In another case, after a customer complained to the CCTS, AllCore agreed to compensate the customer for a billing problem, but then failed to do so. The company also failed to cooperate with the…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadians now have all weekend to tell the CRTC about their experiences with the sales practices of the country’s large telecommunications service providers (TSPs).
The Commission said Thursday that it is extending the deadline to complete its online survey from September 7 to September 9 at midnight PDT.
The survey, launched August 27, is part of the CRTC’s consultation which will result in its report to the government on whether misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are used by Canada’s TSPs. The process will also a public hearing, scheduled to start on October 22, as well as focus…
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VANCOUVER and TORONTO – Wow Unlimited Networks has wrapped up its purchase of specialty channel Comedy Gold from Bell Media.
The deal, valued at $6.87 million, received CRTC approval in July, as Cartt.ca reported.
Wow said that it plans to relaunch Comedy Gold as a new kids and youth channel.
Based in Vancouver and helmed by Nelvana founder Michael Hirsch, Wow’s key assets include digital animation network Frederator Networks, which consists of an animation production company Frederator Studios, as well as VoD channels on digital platforms, plus animation production studios Mainframe Studios.
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APTN, TV5/UNIS TV and Weather Networks all renewed
GATINEAU – On the day before the expiry of their licences, the CRTC renewed the must-carry status of the Aboriginal People Television Network (APTN), TV5/UNIS TV and Pelmorex’s The Weather Network/MétéoMédia (TWN/MM) channels.
APTN had requested to lower the obligation of Canadian content from 75% to 70% to showcase more non-Canadian aboriginal content and lowering obligation to purchase less content from independent producers from 80% to 75%, in line with other broadcasters but was denied by the CRTC. However, the Commission granted it a four-cent monthly rate increase to bring it to $0.35…
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