TORONTO – ISED Minister Navdeep Bains opened the 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit with a speech outlining a number of new government initiatives, but there was one overarching message that has to burn the ears of the incumbent network providers in attendance who were listening.
That is, your prices are far too high.
“The bigger barrier is prices, which are especially high for low-usage cellphone plans,” the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister said in his speech to delegates.
“I get letters regularly from Canadians who are concerned that they are being priced out of the market,” he added in the speech.
“Our government…
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TORONTO – Some rural and remote communities with poor Internet connectivity are looking at setting up their own service for residents rather than wait for big carriers to come into their area. but the head of Cogeco’s cable operations has gently warned municipalities and utilities in Ontario and Quebec that the private sector has the money and expertise to do it better.
“We are convinced Internet service providers are better equipped and better positioned to develop these types of networks,” Ken Smithard, president of Cogeco Connexion, told the Canadian Telecom Summit on Monday.
In particular, he said, there are high operational…
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TORONTO – Calling affordable Internet and wireless services “basic tools for all Canadians”, the Federal Government has vowed to take steps to encourage more private sector competition and investment in these services.
Speaking Monday morning at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains (pictured) said that the Feds want current Canadian providers to offer more options at better price points.
He also said that the CRTC has been asked to reconsider a recent decision to exclude Wi-Fi-based service providers from accessing regulated roaming services, noting that their inclusion could potentially open the door to…
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Calls for a new judicial review
TORONTO – Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed an application with the Federal Court seeking a judicial review of his most recent dismissal from his position as Ontario commissioner for the CRTC.
Shoan was relieved of his duties for the second time on May 4th, just four days after returning to the job after his appointment was first rescinded last June. Shoan went back to work after a Federal Court judge set aside the Governor-in-Council’s June 2016 decision to rescind his appointment.
Heritage Minister Melanie Joly terminated…
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OTTAWA – A group of consumer organizations calling themselves the Equitable Internet Coalition (EIC) wants the CRTC to uphold its recent decision ordering Videotron to stop zero-rating its Unlimited Music service by next month.
The coalition, comprised of the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC); Council of Senior Citizens Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO); National Pensioners Federation (NPF); Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre (BCPIAC), said in their intervention that Videotron’s request for a stay of the decision fails to meet the criteria for an interim injunction.
EIC also rejected Videotron’s request to…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadian telephone and mobile wireless companies must update their networks in order to provide next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) services by 2020, the CRTC said Thursday.
According to the new regulatory framework for NG9-1-1 emergency services, the incumbent telephone companies will be responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the NG9-1-1 networks, with CRTC oversight. The networks must be ready to provide NG9-1-1 voice services by June 30, 2020 and NG9-1-1 text messaging services by December 31, 2020. These services will be made available to Canadians as their local 9-1-1 call centres are in a position to offer…
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QUEBEC – Quebec’s culture minister Luc Fortin is calling on the federal government to review, and perhaps override, parts of the CRTC's recent licence renewals for large French language TV groups.
In a statement earlier this week, Fortin said that the Commission’s decision to remove certain conditions of license, citing the example of Corus-owned Series+, allows that broadcaster to opt out of its obligation to spend $1.5 million annually on original French-language dramas.
Fortin added that the new policies may also encourage ownership groups to simply dub English-Canadian programs for their French-language specialty channels, rather than invest in the production of original French-language Canadian…
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OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada raked in more than $58 million after divesting its financial stake in Sirius XM Canada as the satellite radio company prepares to go private.
The public broadcaster said that it sold 13,056,787 class A subordinate voting shares in Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. to 2517835 Ontario Inc., a corporation owned by Slaight Communications Inc., Obelysk Media Inc. and Sirius XM Radio Inc.
CBC/Radio-Canada said that it sold the shares for C$4.50 per share in cash for aggregate gross proceeds of $58,755,541.
www.cbc.radio-canada.ca
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Cable Cable doesn’t own the Raptors…
THERE WAS A TELLING MOMENT during last year’s CRTC review of basic telecommunications services which demonstrated just how differently independent network owners run their businesses compared to the big guys.
During the appearance by the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance, commissioners seemed to struggle to get their heads around CCSA member company Cable Cable’s plan to expand its fibre network.
Based in Fenelon Falls, Ont., Cable Cable was launched in 1983 and serves about 4,000 video and 6,500 broadband customers in the municipality of Kawartha Lakes and is integral to delivering broadband to Canadians in a region…
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GREG O’BRIEN MAKES SEVERAL VERY valid points in his analysis earlier this week: “Why 5% PNI doesn’t matter” but I disagree with his conclusion.
Yes, the world is moving to a more transactional, ‘pick-and-pay media marketplace’ though not quite as quickly as some, including the CRTC, suggest. According to the CRTC’s own Communications Monitoring Report for 2016, the number of hours per week of traditional television watched by Canadians has dropped by only 1.3 hours in the past four years. Traditional television is still a primary source of entertainment and information. Average weekly hours of…
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