OTTAWA – The CRTC has scolded Toronto-area telecom Iristel Inc. and American VoIP provider netTALK for their respective roles in a dispute earlier this year that resulted in approximately 75,000 Canadians losing their full phone services.
In a letter dated June 8, 2016 addressed to Iristel president and CEO Samer Bishay and netTALK COO Nicholas Kyriakides, the Commission said that its investigation in to the matter was “inconclusive as to whether one, or both parties, clearly contravened regulatory obligations”, but added that the service disconnection in this case could, and should, have been avoided.
“It does not seem that the parties…
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Sees no way to add video to Unlimited offer
TORONTO – Despite having spent $2 billion so far on spectrum, plus a network build, then an upgrade to LTE all between 2010 and now, Vidéotron sees more spending on the horizon as 5G approaches. So today its CEO called on the federal government to maintain “spectral balance” when formulating the rules around the next auction of low frequency spectrum in the 600 MHz range.
In a keynote speech to the Canadian Telecom Summit on Wednesday morning, Manon Brouillette noted the sheer pace of technological change in our industry, remembering she spoke…
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Commission should also call Quebec government on the carpet
TORONTO – The CRTC should bring back informal closed door meetings with the industry to improve the regulator's knowledge, cool down temperatures at formal hearings and allow some things to be said that are avoided in open hearings, said Mirko Bibic, Bell Canada’s chief legal and regulatory officer.
He made the suggestion Tuesday during the annual regulatory blockbuster panel at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto, a session where provocative and entertaining arguments are often made.
“The (hearing) process has become ‘overly judicialized’,” Bibic (pictured, right, with PIAC's John Lawford) said. “I think…
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TORONTO – True competition in Canada’s telecommunications industry will require foreign investments and phasing out the CRTC’s role as telecom regulator, according to former Industry Minister and Conservative party leadership hopeful Maxime Bernier.
Speaking Tuesday at a keynote speech at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto, Bernier had harsh words for the CRTC, both past and present, saying that it is “behind the curve” and accusing it of having a “control freak mindset”.
“As the industry evolves, the CRTC finds new reasons to continue to regulate it, in order to justify its existence. In doing so, it is not protecting consumers,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC has extended the deadline for submission of interventions into its highly anticipated review into differential pricing practices related to Internet and wireless data plans.
The Commission said Friday that initial interventions are now due by June 28, rather than the original deadline of June 17, 2016.
The revision comes at the behest of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) which noted in a letter to the CRTC that parties had less than a month to prepare their interventions, while a significant number of other Commission proceedings that they need to prepare for are also ongoing. …
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GATINEAU – The basic service objective (BSO) hearing changed mid-stream when CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais made the unprecedented move of delivering a statement declaring broadband “vital” to Canadians. After that, a National Broadband Strategy (NBS) – what should it look like, how do we get there and the role for the Commission – became a huge part of the discussions.
In his April 18 address to the hearing, he asked parties to think about these and other issues related to an NBS and present potential policies.
When Rogers Communications appeared before the commission in April, it raised the concept of a…
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GATNIEAU – Many broadband Internet providers say the CRTC must refrain from adopting new funding mechanisms for the deployment of high-speed networks to under-served and unserved areas of the country and let the market play it out.
In final submissions to the basic service objective (BSO) proceeding, providers are nearly unanimous in arguing that the current approach of market forces and targeted government funding is working. They say 96% of Canadians already have access to a minimum 5/1 Mbps (downstream/upstream) service and that figure will jump to 98% once the final round of Connecting Canadians funding is spent.
For Bell Canada,…
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MONTREAL – The union representing employees of three of TVA’s smaller-market TV stations sounded the alarm on Wednesday about a move by management that it says will result in pre-taped local newscasts and more regional editorial decisions being made in Montreal.
TVA is beginning the process of converting its local news broadcasts in Trois-Rivières, Rimouski, Sherbrooke and Saguenay to high definition (the latter isn't represented by the union). However, once that’s done, the technical production and directing of the newscasts will be done out of Montreal rather than the regional stations, the SCFP union says.
Trois-Rivières (CHEM-DT) will be the first…
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Newspaper ad targets Heritage Minister
MONTREAL – Avis de recherche, the Quebec TV channel devoted to public safety, is off the air. Its studios are empty, and its staff that reached 20 people at its peak were all laid off after the three major providers in the province, Vidéotron, Cogeco and Bell, dropped it at the end of April.
That hasn't stopped owner Vincent Géracitano from continuing his crusade to find some deus ex machina to bring it back. With appeals to the CRTC and federal court exhausted, he's gone to publicly appealing to Heritage…
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10-digit local dialing coming to New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has launched processes to add new area codes in British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to meet the growing demand for new numbers.
On Tuesday, the Commission announced the establishment of a CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) ad hoc relief planning committee to examine options and make recommendations for providing numbering relief to the regions currently served by:
– 236, 250, 604 and 778 in British Columbia;
– 418 and 581 in Quebec;
– 506 in New Brunswick; and
– 709 in Newfoundland and Labrador
Those interested in participating…
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