The CRTC has asked the Canadian Telecommunications Contribution Consortium (CTCC) — which oversees the operations of the commission’s National Contribution Fund (NCF) — to provide information on whether or not the proposed changes to the NCF’s collection practices put forward by Rogers in a Part 1 application are administratively viable.
In its June application, Rogers asked that the CRTC direct the Central Fund Administrator (CFA) to suspend requests for new contributions that support the commission’s $750-million Broadband Fund while instead drawing down contributors’ uncalled funds — amounts telecommunication service providers (TSPs) must be ready…
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The CRTC via an Aug. 12 letter is asking telecommunication service providers (TSPs), as well as intervenors, for their input on a potential increase to the $10-million revenue threshold for participation in the commission’s National Contribution Fund (NCF) and payment of annual telecom fees.
An April 2024 application by the Independent Telecommunications Providers Association (ITPA) had requested the revenue threshold be increased from $10 million to $25 million. Large telecoms, including Bell, Quebecor, Telus and Rogers, have argued against the increase, while the Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) and the…
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The CRTC is looking to hire a contractor to gather data about telecom and TV retail sales practices using secret shoppers as part of the regulator’s ongoing assessment of misleading or aggressive sales practices in the communications services sector.
This new secret shopper project is to continue the work already undertaken on behalf of the CRTC in 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. The commission’s primary research objective is to gain a better understanding of how front-line employees of service providers sell communications services and how consumers experience the sales process.
The CRTC’s…
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By Monica Auer, executive director of the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC)
Parliament established the CRTC in 1968 to implement a new Broadcasting Policy for Canada and added telecommunications to its responsibilities in 1975. The CRTC must follow this and other legislation, such as the Accessible Canada Act and other requirements of other federal departments. In 2024, for example, the Treasury Board issued a Trust and Transparency Strategy setting out three strategic objectives for government departments and agencies such as the commission: transparency, accountability and public participation.
The Treasury Board describes “transparency” as the availability…
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The CRTC has approved the change in ownership of two AM radio stations in Montreal — French-language CFNV (AM940) and English-language CFQR (CFQR 600).
The stations are being sold by 7954689 Canada Inc., a privately owned radio broadcasting company controlled by Nicholas Tétrault, Rajiv Pancholy and Paul Tietolman, to Ronald Richards Realty Inc. (RRRI), which is wholly owned by Ronald Richards. RRRI is in fact acquiring all of the shares of 7954689 through the transaction and, as the sole shareholder, Richards will exercise effective control of the two radio stations.
After the CRTC’s…
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By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has issued a follow-up decision approving a number of Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs) to receive contributions from online streaming services.
The approvals – which include applications from the Bell Fund, the Independent Production Fund, and the Telus Fund – follows the commission’s 2024 decision on base contributions under the Online Streaming Act, requiring certain audio-visual online undertakings to contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues as a base contribution to support the Canadian broadcasting system.
That decision outlined that the new funding stream be directed to areas of immediate need, including producers from official language minority communities (OLMCs) and…
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The CRTC wants answers from Bell and Rogers about recently reported incidents of misrouted calls and overheard conversations of phone customers in the Niagara Region.
An August 5 letter from the CRTC to the two telecom providers is in response to incidents reported in late July by organizations such as the City of Niagara Falls, which posted on X July 25 that phone lines at its city hall were experiencing issues that, in its case, appeared to be affecting Niagara Regional Broadband Network (NRBN) enterprise voice customers making or receiving…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has put out a contract for a supplier to provide it with broad audience measurement data for radio, television and online services.
The roughly $3-million, four-year contract, published Monday, asks for data on online services, including program and ad-break measurements to the minute (including 15-second granularity); national, provincial and market coverage; daily, weekly and monthly reporting; in- and out-of-home measurement; and comprehensive video/audio consumption for all devices and audiences ages two and up.
The CRTC is currently in the midst of implementing the new Broadcasting Act, which requires the commission regulate online platforms.
It is also asking for…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC conditionally approved Friday a plan of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) to administer a new temporary fund for the production of radio news in smaller markets.
The commission told the CAB – which pitched the plan at the request of the CRTC to fill a void in that space – that the Commercial Radio News Fund (CRNF) must be operational by August 31. The target markets for the fund are those outside of Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa-Gatineau.
To qualify, the CRTC has set the definition of news as outlined in a Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC has found that OneSoccer is owned, operated and controlled by Canadians, turning away a claim by Rogers that the cable giant was effectively negotiating a carry agreement with Spain’s Mediapro.
Rogers filed the complaint with the CRTC last summer, disputing an earlier finding by commission staff that said the OneSoccer service was operated by Canadians. Before that, in March 2023, the commission found that Rogers was giving itself an undue preference by refusing to carry the service in competition with its Sportsnet and Bell’s equivalent channels. Rogers had argued that…
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