Rogers agrees to expand distribution of tiny community station
GATINEAU – CRTC hearings feature a lot of what we call “woulda, shoulda, coulda” talk.
Loads of words about what companies would be doing, if only this or that were changed, what they should (or shouldn’t) be doing under existing rules and what they could be doing, regardless. It isn’t often where these issues are solved without the CRTC forcing the matter.
Well, during October’s phase II BDU license renewal hearing, commissioners heard from one small community TV outfit on what Rogers Cable could and should be doing for them in southern New…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – The CRTC’s national video relay service (VRS) has extended its service hours to allow users to make and receive calls any time of the day.
SRV Canada VRS allows its customers to communicate to a sign-language interpreter via an Internet-based video link. The interpreter provides real-time interpretation of conversations, as the system connects to the hearing caller whose words are translated into American Sign Language or Langue des signes québécoise.
Since the launch of SRV Canada VRS in September 2016, over 280,000 calls have been placed by nearly 5,000 Canadian subscribers. Canadians may access SRV Canada VRS…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has pushed back its deadline for comments pertaining to TV channels wishing to renew their places in the basic programming package.
After recently announcing that it would kick off its 9(1)(h) hearing on April 30, the Commission said Wednesday that the deadline to submit interventions, comments and answers is now December 8, 2017, and not November 16 as first announced. The deadline for the applicants to submit their replies is December 18.
The new deadlines comes as a result of a joint procedural request from BCE, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, Cogeco, Quebecor, Rogers, Shaw and…
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OTTAWA – Canadians filed fewer complaints over the National Do Not Call List in 2016-17, despite a 489% jump in the number of telemarketers registered with the National DNCL operator, says the CRTC’s annual report released Monday.
Since the National DNCL began in 2008, Canadians have registered 13,401,407 telecommunications numbers and deregistered 56,042 numbers. In the last fiscal year alone, Canadians registered 214,822 numbers for landlines, mobile phones, and fax machines, an average of more than 588 numbers each day. That’s down from 2015-16 when Canadians registered 294,115 numbers, averaging 805 numbers every day.
The report says that the CRTC received 79,417 complaints filed in FY…
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OTTAWA–GATINEAU – Canadians now have more time to tell the CRTC how they plan to find and consume audio and video content in the coming years and its impact on the Canadian market.
The Commission extended the deadline to file comments from November 25 to December 1, 2017 in response to requests from the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications and the Coalition pour la culture et les médias.
This call for comments, the first phase of the proceeding, comes in response to the Governor-in-Council’s directive for a report by the CRTC on future distribution models for Canadian…
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OTTAWA – New CRTC chair Ian Scott formally returned the welcome that he received last month from the two ministers who oversee the Commission, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains.
In his own letter on Tuesday, Scott said that he looked forward to “fostering an open and transparent relationship” with the duo, and reiterated the CRTC’s focus on ensuring that Canadians have fast, affordable and reliable Internet access and wireless services; high-quality and diverse content; the option to use applications and services on the networks and devices of their choice; and…
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WINNIPEG – First Peoples Radio Inc. (FPR) said that it is “back on track” to launch Type B Native FM radio stations in Toronto and Ottawa by next summer.
A non-profit corporation established by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), FPR was awarded the two broadcasting licences by the CRTC in June as part of the Aboriginal radio licences decision, but that decision was then challenged by Aboriginal broadcaster Wawatay Native Communications Society, as Cartt.ca reported.
FPR will operate a station in Ottawa at 95.7 FM and in Toronto at 106.5 FM which are aiming to launch by June 2018. FPR added that…
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TRANSPARENCY IS AMONG the most controversial topics in the public policy arena. So it’s surprising that few if any pundits latched onto the significance of a recent tweak by the CRTC regarding how it runs its hearings.
Going forward, tweeted @CRTCeng, the names of Commissioners (the people exercising oversight impacting your cable and internet bills) appointed to public panels will be made public two weeks prior to the commencement of the hearing. Many people may understandably shrug at this, but it is a significant step toward creating a more level and accountable playing field.
Here’s why: Companies…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed a constitutional challenge against Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) made by the first company it fined under the country’s anti-spam laws.
As Cartt.ca reported in March 2015, the Quebec-based company Compu-Finder was fined $1.1 million for sending commercial electronic messages without the recipient’s consent, as well as emails in which the unsubscribe mechanisms did not function properly. The violations occurred at various times in 2014.
The company made representations to the Commission in May 2015 seeking a review of the notice of violation and raising a constitutional challenge to CASL on various grounds. It also challenged…
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OTTAWA – A letter signed by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, ISED Minister Navdeep Bains and Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirms there will be no tax applied to Canadian ISPs in order to support Canadian content and journalism.
The October 16th letter – sent in response to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage report entitled “Disruption: Change and Churning in Canada's Media Landscape” – actually seems to kibosh a lot of the committee’s wish list.
(Ed note: The letter reads more like a detailed defense of the current Liberal policies , prior announcements [Creative Canada – within which echoes of…
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