SAINT-HYACINTHE, QC – Former CRTC commissioner Suzanne Lamarre has joined the law firm of Therrien Couture, based in their Saint- Hyacinthe offices.
Lamarre, who is also an engineer and a strategic advisor on regulatory and governmental matters, practices primarily in the areas of telecommunications, radiocommunication and broadcasting, as well as public international law as well as professional conduct and ethics, reads a statement from the firm.
Lamarre was Québec Commissioner at the CRTC from 2008 to 2013. Since December 2007, she has served as a member of the Disciplinary Council of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec and has been a member…
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TORONTO – Rogers Media today told employees it will cease community cable TV production at its Toronto facility at 855 York Mills Road.
A total of 10 positions have been eliminated with the move and all programming produced there has been cancelled.
“While production from our York Mills facilities has stopped, we will continue to meet our CRTC commitments for local and access programming,” Rogers spokeswoman Michelle Lomack told Cartt.ca in an email late Thursday. “Toronto-focused content produced by local independent community producers such as our Mosaic line up, Hogtown Wrestling, Xs Network, Ryerson Rams Sports, and many more will continue…
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REGINA – The CRTC’s decision to overhaul what it means to provide a basic telecommunications service to Canadians has SaskTel CEO Ron Styles worried.
The Commission’s policy announcement, made December 21st, is too vague and leaves open the possibilities of higher telecom rates for rural customers, lower profits and decreased investment, said the CEO. For example, while the Commission has said the existing $100 million subsidy to help serve high cost rural areas will be rolled into a new fund aimed at getting 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream to all Canadians, no matter where…
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REGINA – After taking over a month to digest and study the decision, SaskTel today expressed concerns that the CRTC’s recent policy announcement regarding basic telecommunications services plans will cause it to raise its rates.
The Commission’s decision to phase out the $100 million local service subsidy for rural areas in Canada (to be replaced with other broadband-focused funding formulae) includes the loss of a $16 million subsidy in 2016/17 for rural telephone subscribers in Saskatchewan, said the company in a press release Monday.
The reduction in subsidy could potentially result in rate…
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CHATHAM (Ontario) – L’entreprise indépendante TekSavvy est située dans une de ces villes de classe ouvrière qui a « déjà eu » beaucoup de choses.
Elle a déjà eu une usine de Rockwell International. Elle a déjà eu l’usine de soupe Campbell. Elle a déjà eu autrefois une entreprise de fabrication de fenêtre. TekSavvy, cependant, quoique petite est devenue un énorme succès dans cette ville d’environ 40 000 habitants. Maintenant avec plus de 600 employés (la plupart d'entre eux travaillent dans cette ancienne usine de soupe que TekSavvy a rénové, alors que d’autres œuvrent à Toronto et Montréal), la…
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HALIFAX – While the company continues to invest in a growing media segment, kids content, broadcaster and producer DHX Media saw revenue declines in its fiscal second quarter, ended December 31, 2016.
Q2 2017 revenue of $78.9 million was down 3% compared to Q2 2016, due largely to expected declines in quarterly targets, reads the company’s press release. Besides its production, DHX also owns Family Channel, Family Junior, Telemagino and Family CHRGD.
“At quarter-end, we had invested $31.4 million in ongoing proprietary production, resulting in a robust pipeline with the majority of these productions expected to be delivered in the…
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GATNEAU – Groups representing deaf, hard of hearing, the blind and the deaf-blind communities told the CRTC today the Wireless Code of Conduct needs to be better tailored to their specific needs.
Specifically, the Deaf Wireless Canada Committee (DWCC) suggested videos in both American Sign Language (ASL) and Quebec Sign language (LSQ) be made to explain key contract terms. In its presentation, the association pointed to terms such as prepaid, post paid, data plan, data overages, unlocking devices, CCTS (Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services) and CRTC as examples. One of the problems though is that creating these videos costs…
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SO MANY OF US who are worried about the coming consequences of the “post-truth” age, whether we’re journalists or not, wonder aloud why people don’t trust the hardworking, mainstream media, and are genuinely puzzled when citizens can no longer identify the truth.
What happened this week when it came to the reporting of the ratings for the Super Bowl in Canada revealed there are reasons behind this confusion and mistrust. Slipshod journalism and a rush to be first has left everyone confused how many Canadians watched the game – and on what channels – since the CRTC removed Bell’s simultaneous…
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CHATHAM, Ont. – Independent ISP TekSavvy’s home is one of those working class towns that “used to” have a lot of things.
It used to have a Rockwell International factory. It used to have a Campbell’s Soup plant. There used to be a window manufacturing company. TekSavvy, however, used to be small and has become a huge success story in the city of about 40,000. Now with over 600 employees (most of whom work in that former soup factory that TekSavvy renovated, with others also in Toronto and Montreal), the company is now the second-largest private employer in Chatham, behind…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC heard on Wednesday that it could improve consumers’ wireless service buying experience and result in a more competitive environment if it adopted some minor changes to the Critical Information Summary (CIS).
Tamara Shepherd, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, and Catherine Middleton, professor and Canada Research Chair at Ryerson University, suggested that as a first step the CIS be standardized, simplified and provided to consumers much earlier in the contracting process.
Specifically, Middleton pointed to the confusion around plans as they’re presented on the wireless carriers’ websites. She noted terms such as premium, light, heavy,…
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