OTTAWA – Registration is now open for the ‘New Developments in Communications Law and Policy’ presented by the Canadian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications.
Scheduled for November 14 -15 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa, the event promises to bring together communications lawyers, academics, regulators and other stakeholders to discuss key developments in Canadian and international communications law and policy.
New CRTC chair Ian Scott will speak at the conference and FCC Commissioner (and former General Counsel) Brendan Carr will provide an update on the FCC's policies under the Trump administration.
In addition, research papers will be presented on, and…
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Best practices made must-practices
GATINEAU – As of Friday, the CRTC’s Television Service Provider Code will come into effect, the Commission reminds in a press release issued this morning.
“The Code was created to help Canadians make informed choices about their television service provider and resolve disputes in a fair and effective manner,” says the release.
Starting September 1st, television service providers must:
• Provide customers with a Critical Information Summary and a copy of the agreement which includes a list of channels or packages they subscribe to, their monthly charges for services, the commitment period and how to file complaints.
• Clearly set…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has decided to push forward with a launch of wholesale fibre access for independent ISPs using interim rates it has laid out for the disaggregated wholesale high-speed access (HAS) services that Bell, Rogers, Cogeco and Videotron may charge competitors in Ontario and Quebec.
The Commission said Tuesday that Telecom Decision 2017-312 will allow providers in those provinces access to services based on a new architecture that will foster competition in the broadband Internet market, despite the Regulator’s ongoing review to establish final rates for these services.
“The availability of disaggregated wholesale HSA services will enable competitors…
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OTTAWA – Despite not being able to reach the Native radio station CKBK-FM Thamesville, the CRTC still renewed its broadcasting licence for another two years.
Lenape Community Radio Society filed an application to renew the licence for CKBK-FM which is set to expire on August 31, 2017. The Commission said that it found the licensee in non-compliance with certain sections of the Radio Regulations after noting that it had failed to provide annual returns for the 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 broadcast years, or confirmation that it had implemented a public alerting system by the March 31, 2016 deadline.
“Moreover, the licensee did…
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RECENT MOVES BY GLOBAL MEDIA PLAYERS to go over-the-top (OTT) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) mark a tipping point for the media industry and could have profound, long-term implications for the Canadian media landscape, says a Bay St. analyst.
A research report by BMO Capital Markets telecom/media/cable financial analyst Tim Casey notes that Canada’s traditional television broadcasters, (whose business models rely on “reselling” content from Hollywood), are at a greater risk than television distributors (BDUs) who offer broadband service, which he describes as “a natural business hedge against changing viewing habits”.
“Television distribution is a lower-margin business compared with broadband given roughly half the revenue…
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Videotron to launch independent channel on September 1st
MONTREAL — Earlier this year, Sylvain Gagné said he was ready to give up on his dream.
“That was my last shot", the Callisto Television Corp. president told Cartt.ca in a recent interview. “I was saying to myself if I don’t get any attention or any agreement I will give up. For me, that was really frustrating. I spent the past four years trying to get that off the ground. If I don’t succeed, that will be four years wasted.”
His dream is Terror TV, a specialty channel devoted to horror…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a request by Northwestel to review and vary an earlier decision detailing costing assumptions that impact the rates that the company can charge for its fibre backbone service known as Wholesale Connect.
Wholesale Connect provides for the transport of telecommunications traffic across communities served by Northwestel’s fibre or high-capacity microwave radio transport links. The service, available at different bandwidth levels in 30 communities in the company’s operating territory, allows competitors to connect their points of presence in those communities for the purpose of providing telecommunications services to their own end-users.
In November 2016, the Commission undertook…
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OTTAWA – The Alberta/Saskatchewan city of Lloydminster 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 market.
The Commission said Wednesday that it issued the call after receiving an application from Vista Radio for a commercial radio station to serve the area.
Interventions are due by September 15 and the deadline to file replies is September 25, 2017. Following receipt of comments, the CRTC said that it will conduct an assessment of the market’s capacity to support an additional station, taking into account…
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WHILE CANADA’S CREATIVE COMMUNITY was quick to applaud Monday’s decision referring back the CRTC’s group licence renewal (GLR) decisions for Canada’s large private television broadcasters, some members are hoping that the review will encompass more than Programs of National Interest (PNI).
In a joint press release, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) noted that other challenges to the GLR decisions that formed the basis of their joint petition were not addressed in Monday’s announcement. These include the removal of independent production obligations on…
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Feds underscore support for CanCon ahead of fall’s ‘Canadian Content in a Digital World’ announcement
GATINEAU – Heeding the outcry from Canada’s creative community, the Governor in Council has ordered the CRTC to reconsider its group licence renewal decisions for large television broadcasters that, among other changes, lowered the amount that major broadcasters must spend on Programs of National Interest (PNI).
The rare move came late Monday, followed by a statement by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly who said that the federal government wants the Commission to review its May decisions to renew the licenses for the television services of…
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