By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC is proposing Thursday to open the $750-million Broadband Fund to bankroll the maintenance of networks in remote areas, improvements to network resiliency, and to have a separate funding stream for indigenous-focused projects.
The commission is also proposing that all future projects provide, at a minimum, the basic service objective speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, whereas previously it was at least half of that. It is also asking whether the fund should have an increased emphasis on mobile wireless projects and possibly incorporating mobile wireless into the name.
Since the launch of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The head of the CRTC has confirmed Thursday that the regulator is examining the issue of high international roaming rates charged by the country’s wireless carriers, following a letter this week from the innovation minister asking it to look into the matter.
“We are taking action and have already started comparing the international roaming rates available to us with those available in other countries,” said CRTC head Vicky Eatrides in the Thursday letter to Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Our preliminary results confirm what many Canadians are feeling – that international roaming rates we pay are higher. We…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Doug French, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Telus, said Tuesday that the company is confident that it could weather increased wholesale-based competition in western Canada in light of a CRTC proceeding launched earlier this month that will look to lower the rates competitors pay for access to incumbent networks.
The CRTC announced it is embarking on establishing a new wholesale framework that it said would address higher broadband prices in the country. A hearing on the matter is likely to be held next year. Meanwhile, the regulator will release a…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Wednesday it will hold a hearing beginning on June 28 to consider applications by two not-for-profit indigenous television networks to add their channels to the digital basic television packages of the broadcasters.
The regulator received applications from Nunavut Independent Television Network and Inuit TV Network to add Uvagut TV and Inuit TV, respectively, to the $25 packages that consist of channels the broadcasters must carry by regulation.
Uvagut TV, which launched in January 2021, broadcasts Inuit-made children’s shows, movies, documentaries, and informational, cultural, public access and current affairs programming. Its service is currently available in basic…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended by nearly a month the deadline for applications for money from the $750-million Broadband Fund.
A CRTC notice, released Monday, said the third round of applications – to connect underserved communities to high-speed internet – will now be due on May 16, pushing back the April 18 deadline.
“The Commission considers that extending the deadline for the submission of applications would provide potential applicants with sufficient time to effectively participate in the public hearing and submit applications in response to the third call for applications,” the CRTC said.
The decision…
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Commission will release decision on last mile fibre access before wholesale rate hearing
Note: This story has been updated with comments from the CRTC chair, CNOC, and TekSavvy
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Just three weeks after receiving a new policy direction from Innovation Canada that emphasized broadband rates, the CRTC on Wednesday launched its proceeding to revisit the wholesale internet access framework to correct what it says are increasing prices for Canadians.
The commission is seeking updates from the public on aspects of the wholesale regime, including the state of competition, the importance and the future of the aggregated and disaggregated regime,…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has launched a proceeding on whether the mandated mobile virtual network operator regime should include large business customers and internet of things (IoT) segments.
The regulator said that those markets may be more concentrated and, therefore, is requesting feedback on whether they should be included in the MVNO framework established in April 2021 that allows regional providers with spectrum and infrastructure to force negotiations with the large carriers for customer access to their wireless networks.
In the lead-up to the release of the terms and conditions of the MVNO framework in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – British Columbia’s minister of transportation and infrastructure (MOTI) has filed an application to the CRTC asking it to suspend a November decision that forces it to enter agreements with third party carriers wanting to attach equipment on poles that are being moved by the province.
The November decision was triggered by a Rogers and Shaw application, which asked that they be treated similarly to the incumbent Telus when it comes to compensation to relocate their transmission lines when the province decides to move their poles. In the decision, the CRTC said the province…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has put out a contract notice Thursday for a consultancy firm that will assist in analyzing the network outage at Rogers last summer and improvements the company has committed to going forward.
The July 8 network blackout brought down critical services for millions of Canadians, including government, banking and emergency services in some cases.
This week, the regulator announced the launch of the first of a number of proceedings on telecom network resiliency, the first of which will include mandatory notification requirements on all service providers when outages like these happen. As…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is directing wireless service providers to engage in “regular consultations” with disabled Canadians and to file annual reports about the outcome of those discussions.
The reports must be filed to the regulator starting June 1, 2023 and must address, among other issues, which disability communities took part in the discussions, the insight gleaned, changes the provider has put in place, the number of subscribers on accessible plans, and the make-up of accessible plans available in the market in the course of the year, including those that were withdrawn.
The legally binding order, released Thursday, is a result…
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