OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is warning customers of Téliphone Navigata Westel Communications (TNW) that they may lose phone and Internet service in November as a result of a commercial dispute between TNW and Telus.
The Commission issued a public consumer alert Thursday, after determining that Telus may initiate service disconnection beginning November 21, 2016. Telus, which provides underlying carrier service to TNW, advised the CRTC in June that it had given notice to terminate services as a result of payment issues with TNW.
Headquartered in Vancouver, the independent facilities-based CLEC provides Internet, phone and television services to customers across Canada. According…
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HALIFAX – Eastlink is throwing its support behind Nova Scotia's TV production industry with a $690,000 contribution to the local certified independent production fund administered by the Nova Scotia Independent Production Fund.
Eastlink said that it has contributed $3.9 million over the last six years to an independent production fund in the province, providing local opportunities for producers and filmmakers.
"As a company proudly rooted in Nova Scotia, we look for ways that we can make meaningful investments back into the local economy and encourage continued growth in our home province," said Eastlink CEO Lee Bragg, in the news release. "We were…
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GATINEAU – Canadians may now use an interactive map to find out which TV service providers plus radio and TV stations distribute emergency alert messages.
The CRTC unveiled the interactive map Thursday, noting that “the vast majority” of Canadians are able to receive the alerts due to the participation of broadcasters and television service providers in the National Public Alerting System (NPAS).
Emergency alert messages are issued by emergency management officials such as fire marshals, police officers and government departments like Environment Canada to warn the public of imminent threats like severe weather, water contamination, forest fires and Amber…
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OTTAWA – The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has issued an updated annotation of the Wireless Code of Conduct to help both consumers and wireless providers better understand the way the Code is administered.
Included in the revised Guide is an explanation of CCTS’ role as Code administrator, updated annotations, and additional case summaries. Readers will also be able to more easily identify case summaries with confirmed breaches and those without, CCTS said Thursday.
The updated annotation may be viewed here. CCTS added that it will continue to update the annotation from time to time to ensure that current…
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MONTREAL – Canada’s French and English-language media producers have agreed to work in tandem to address the changes that are taking place within the screen-based production sector.
Board members from the l’Association québecoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) staged a joint meeting Wednesday to discuss matters such as the pending consultations in to Canada’s cultural and creative industries, the upcoming CRTC Group Licence Renewal hearings, federal tax credit issues, and the regulation of Over-The-Top services and the participation of Internet providers to the CMF. The outcome was an agreement to work…
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GATINEAU – Consumers’ associations say the CRTC must ensure broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) do a better job of promoting the availability of a small entry level package as well as explaining it more clearly to interested customers.
In final submissions filed last week, the Consumers’ Association of Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (CAC-PIAC) and the Union des consommateurs tell the Commission certain information on entry level packages is lacking or unclear and that BDUs should put skinny basic at the forefront of their promotional activities.
CAC-PIAC believe the rules around the promotion of the skinny basic package should be…
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OTTAWA – Rogers Communications and Videotron must go back to the drawing board for parts of their respective disaggregated wholesale broadband offerings after the CRTC said Wednesday that while some of their head-ends meet the criteria, others do not.
Telecom Decision 2016-379 comes after a proceeding to determine if Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable, Rogers and Videotron's proposed network configurations comprise of access facilities as laid out Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-326 (the wholesale broadband ruling). That ruling determined that while wholesale broadband access would still be mandated, it would only be available in a disaggregated model going forward, meaning that no…
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MONTREAL – The fifth generation mobile network is still in the testing phase, and the Internet of Things is still in its infancy. We’re a few years away from gigabit speeds on wireless or a non-trivial number of people having to program their toaster with their Wi-Fi password.
But Manon Brouillette (right), CEO of Vidéotron, thinks we need to be preparing for the future rather than reacting to it. And that’s the message she sent when speaking to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal on Tuesday. “If we’re going to be part of this in the future, now is…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC will use social news aggregation site Reddit to involve more Canadians in its upcoming review into differential pricing practices related to Internet and wireless data plans.
The Commission said Monday that it will post the topic of differential pricing practices related to Internet data plans on the /r/Canada subreddit discussion forum “to encourage individuals who might not otherwise participate in this proceeding to share their points of view”.
The official /r/Canada subreddit discussion forum on this topic will run from 9:00 AM ET on September 26 to 8:00 PM ET on September 30, 2016. …
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MONTREAL – Videotron’s community channel MAtv is promising a fall programming schedule that doubles down on its commitment to focus on local ideas and distinctive content proposed by Montrealers.
The channel, which last year came under fire for violating the CRTC’s local and access programming requirements, said that over 50% of its new fall programming is comprised of projects from the community.
That content, scheduled to debut September 26, includes three new English-language series, two new French-language programs, three new hosts, and the return of popular series such as shows Mise À Jour and Continue Reading
