New hearing in the fall
GATINEAU – The CRTC is calling for comments into differential pricing practices related to Internet and wireless data plans in a review that will include a public hearing starting on October 31, 2016.
Differential pricing occurs when the same or a similar product or service is offered to customers at different prices, such as when an ISP exempts a music or video streaming service from data charges.
The Commission said Wednesday that it was prompted to examine the issue in light of complaints over Videotron’s Unlimited Music service, which exempts music streaming services like Google…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is refunding more than $300,000 to telemarketers after the total amount paid for violations in 2015-16 exceeded its estimated regulatory costs.
The Commission said Tuesday that $3,677,716 was paid under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Fees Regulations last year, $377,716 more than the $3.3 million it estimated in telemarketing regulatory costs. In accordance with the formula set out in subsection 4(2) of the Regulations, the CRTC must refund the overage.
The Regulator also estimated its telemarketing regulatory costs for fiscal year 2016-17 at $3.3 million. Costs to enforce the national Do Not Call List are covered by fees paid…
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VANCOUVER – The CRTC kicked off a review this morning of several applications for new AM and FM ethic radio stations in the Vancouver and Surrey markets. The Commission will also be exploring three cases of potential non-compliance.
South Fraser Broadcasting (SBF) and Spice Media Group are two of those appearing as part of the first phase of the hearing. SBF, which has a licence for an English language radio station in Surrey, proposes to launch a new FM station at 91.5 MHz.
The company describes its proposed station as “an ethic station with a difference” aiming to serve “the second,…
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Independent operators say minimum should be 10 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up
We are at the end of the CRTC’s proceeding reviewing the basic telecommunications needs of Canadians. Launched close to a year ago, the CRTC has received widely diverse proposals in response to the fundamental questions of: Which services do Canadians need to participate meaningfully in the digital economy; and what is the CRTC’s role in ensuring the availability of affordable basic telecommunications services to Canadians? The CRTC has also reached out to Canadians under the banner of “Let’s Talk Broadband Internet!” with a survey on various topics. When…
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VANCOUVER – The CRTC is planning to cover a lot of ground at its Vancouver radio hearing that kicked off Monday at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
In addition to considering applications to operate new ethnic commercial AM and FM radio stations in the Greater Vancouver market, including the City of Surrey, the Commission will address three entities that it says appear to be operating radio stations without a licence or pursuant to an exemption in contravention of the Broadcasting Act.
Surrey Myfm Inc. and 89.3 Surrey City FM Limited operate stations in the Surrey market that claim to be low-power…
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THE PUSH TO ACTIVATE the FM chips on Canadian smartphones has gained some traction thanks to a new website aptly called Free Radio On My Phone.
The site says its led by the National Campus and Community Radio Association and a “collection of public, commercial and industry related radio organizations”, but it appears as though U.S. software developer NextRadio, who helped launch the American website freeradioonmyphone.org, is also heavily involved. The site lists the contact information for nine Canadian wireless carriers and urges consumers to contact them to demand that the FM receivers be turned on.
“Listening to radio on…
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TORONTO – Sirius XM Canada’s parent has agreed to recapitalize the company by way of a go-private transaction, the satellite radio service said Friday.
U.S. partner Sirius XM Holdings is offering $4.50 per share cash, Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) shares or Canadian shares exchangeable into SIRI shares. The total transaction consideration is approximately $351 million, and represents a premium of 22.3% to SiriusXM Canada's unaffected closing share price on February 11, 2016.
SiriusXM Canada's largest Canadian shareholders, CBC, Slaight Communications, and Obelysk Media, are supportive of the recapitalization, says the news release. CBC is planning to sell its stake in…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will be at the at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver on Monday morning to consider a number of new radio applications vying to serve the Vancouver and Surrey markets.
Among the new radio proposals for consideration include applications from the likes of Radio India, South Fraser Broadcasting and Spice Media Group.
A live audio feed will be available on the Commission’s website.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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No easy answers
TORONTO – Yes, there were a ton of regulatory lawyers and policy wonks there and probably not as many newfangled content creators and distributors as organizers hoped, but the two-day Discoverability Summit, which wrapped up Wednesday in Toronto, seemed to us a worthwhile exercise even if the problem of discoverability remains unsolved and looks to be a challenge for some time.
The summit will definitely have helped flesh out ideas for the federal government’s just-started review of all things Canadian content.
1. What goes viral? No one really can predict. During the Youth Summit portion held last week in…
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OTTAWA – The Governor in Council has denied Bell Canada's petition to appeal the CRTC’s wholesale wireline decision granting third party broadband resellers access to newly built fibre-to-the-home or premises (FTTH/FTTP) infrastructure.
In a statement Wednesday, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains stressed the government’s commitment to competition, choice, and increasing higher-speed broadband coverage, calling wholesale broadband “a proven regulatory tool for enabling retail competition in the Internet service market.”
"The CRTC's decision to extend wholesale broadband regulation to fibre to the home means the CRTC has updated its regulatory approach to keep pace with changing technology…
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