CALGARY – Shaw Communications announced today that it will close its community cable TV stations in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver and redirect $10 million annually that would normally fund those stations to Corus Entertainment’s Global News.
Beginning September 1, 2017, Global News will use these new resources to sustain and expand its local journalistm.
The CRTC gave vertically integrated companies in large metropolitan centres the option to do this when it re-wrote the rules on funding local programming in 2016. Rogers Communications already has announced it will take advantage of the new regs,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has opened up the public proceeding to decide on the setup, governance, operating, and accountability frameworks, as well as eligibility and assessment criteria, for its new $750 million fund to bring broadband at 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream, everywhere.
The Regulator’s new universal service objective was set out in December in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2016-496, which made providing broadband to everyone a necessity for network operators.
The Commission set the following targets for the basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy:
speeds of 50 megabits per…
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$20/month Pik TV aimed at cord-nevers
VANCOUVER – Telus has soft-launched a new, live, subscription television service to seven communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
Called Pik TV, it provides live TV and on demand content, as well an interface to popular streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, without a contract, starting at $20/month. The new service offers a slimmed-down feature set from Optik TV, giving customers more choice to design an entertainment experience around how they want to watch. It runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV powered box the company is distributing.
The news was…
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Buys CISL 650 from Newcap
VANCOUVER – Rogers announced Tuesday it has purchased CISL 650 from Newfoundland Capital Corporation – and that it will turn the AM station into an all-sports format, under the Sportsnet brand, this fall.
The station currently bills itself as “Vancouver’s Smooth and Easy favourites, along with engaging lifestyle talk radio for baby boomers.” Financial details of the purchase were not released and the purchase is subject to CRTC approval.
“We are excited to build upon our strong radio brands in the Vancouver market. With Vancouver being such a passionate sports town, there is a strong appetite for all-sports radio…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC took a big step towards ensuring that net neutrality reigns in Canada with its decision today to order Vidéotron to no longer zero-rate its Unlimited Music service.
In Telecom Decision 2017-105, the Commission ruled that Videotron violated subsection 27(2) of the Telecommunications Act by providing certain customers with access to Unlimited Music at no charge and not having it count against their data plans. The company has conferred its eligible subscribers and content providers included in the service “an undue and unreasonable preference", says the regulator in its decision.
It went on to say that Vidéotron subjected…
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SAINT JOHN, NB – Voting is now open for for the 2017 Tuned-in Canada awards, the annual nation-wide competition highlighting the efforts of local, independent providers of television and communications services in Canada.
Canadians are invited to visit Tuned-in Canada 2017 now through May 4 at midnight AT to vote for nominees in the categories of best customer service story, best community building story, best community channel programming, and best on-camera community channel personality.
Voting takes place using a Facebook-authenticated voting process and voters can cast one vote per day. The winners will be announced May 12 and each will receive…
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MISSISSAUGA – Globalstar Canada Satellite says that its location-based messaging and a lifesaving products have surpassed the milestone of initiating 5,000 rescues since launching in 2007.
These rescues, utilizing its SPOT family of products, have taken place on six continents and in over 89 countries, reads the news release. Some 30% (or 1,500) of SPOT rescues around the world have been initiated in Canada, primarily involve hiking and mountain sports, boating and water sports, motor vehicle and medical incidents.
SPOT provides location-based messaging and a lifesaving S.O.S. service to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide, including those who enjoy outdoor adventures…
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Vidéotron’s Unlimited Music hangs in the balance
GATINEAU – Is selecting and offering free music services to wireless customers a form of net neutrality-bruising gatekeeping, or an innovative way to win and keep happy customers?
The CRTC will let us know Thursday when its decision from the November hearing into what the Regulator termed “differential pricing practices” (DPP) is announced at 4 p.m. ET.
According to Quebecor Media Inc., Unlimited Music is simply a marketing instrument which helps grow its wireless subscriber base (especially among younger users). Essentially, QMI’s Vidéotron has chosen a number of music services to…
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WATERLOO, ON – Zero-rating fraudsters use 300% more data than the average subscriber if left undetected, according to data from Sandvine.
Sandvine’s new Global Internet Phenomena Spotlight: Zero-Rating Fraud report is based on data collected from an unnamed tier-1 mobile access network and examines how some subscribers on the network are using HTTP header injection to commit fraud and exploit the operator’s decision to zero-rate their website and subscriber portal.
Zero-rating is a data offering that benefits subscribers by enabling unlimited usage of one or many applications, services, or websites, for a fixed (or zero) price. This approach is often…
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New three-year plan
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has released its new three-year plan that includes a review of the CBC, a decision on phasing out the local service subsidy regime, and a potential overhaul of the framework for interconnection between carriers.
Other planned activities include licence renewals for the country’s biggest BDUs, its new broadband funding mechanism, and a concerted effort to improve Canadians with disabilities’ awareness and knowledge of available accessibility products and services.
Those initiatives are among the goals that the Commission has outlined for completion during 2017-2020 under the pillars of ‘create’, ‘connect’, and ‘protect’, that support its…
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