Focus on transport, says Shaw
GATINEAU – The Joint Task Force (JTF) of small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs) in Canada offered a rather different option to the CRTC on Tuesday when it comes to ensuring there is broadband to every household in the country.
Rather than a blanket subsidy available for all so-called high cost serving areas, it should only be available in under and unserved communities.
In addition, the subsidy shouldn’t be available on a per exchange basis, but rather on a household or NAS level. If there are two ISPs (i.e. telco and cableco) providing service into a particular…
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Feds must study past report to lead the future, according to Audet
TORONTO – The Canadian financial markets suffer a bias against risk, which has led to an unfortunate under-investment in innovation, Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet told the Canadian Club today at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
In a wide-ranging speech that touched upon a wide number of things, Audet tied them all to the problems he believes are afflicting Canada and its economy. He noted many of the developed economies around the world are now facing stagnant growth rates – but noted that as Canadians, we have the…
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GATINEAU – Three of the country’s smaller, but major, ISPs have told the CRTC’s basic service objective hearing that it shouldn’t micromanage the broadband file by explicitly developing mechanisms to deal with service gaps. SaskTel, Cogeco and MTS all believe that governments are far better positioned to handle infrastructure and affordability issues.
In his opening remarks on Monday, SaskTel president and CEO Ron Stiles argued market forces combined with targeted government funding has worked for the vast majority of communities in Saskatchewan. To encourage additional broadband deployment, the CRTC should stay away from “prescriptive” approaches but rather set new higher…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s commercial radio stations held their own in the face of competition from satellite, online and mobile services, with revenues dipping slightly for the 2015 broadcast year, according to the CRTC’s statistical and financial results for this sector released Monday.
Commercial Radio 2011 – 2015 National Statistics, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Markets said that total revenues for the country’s 704 commercial radio stations decreased 0.7% to hold steady at $1.6 billion for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2015. These revenues enable commercial radio stations to offer a variety of programming to Canadians, to support established and emerging…
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TORONTO – The Pet Network is on its last legs.
Parent-company Stornoway Communications applied to the CRTC on March 29, 2016 to revoke the broadcasting licence for the specialty Category B service, a request the Commission granted on Monday. The channel is scheduled to cease operations on May 2, 2016.
The Pet Network launched in 2001 with programming geared towards animal lovers of all ages.
Stornoway continues to operate public policy-focused iChannel.
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Looks like everything Cancon is on the table
OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Mélanie Joly has instigated public consultations into the feds’ support of Canada’s cultural and creative industries that could result in sweeping changes to Canadian content rules and regulations.
The Department of Canadian Heritage said Saturday that it, along with the help of an expert advisory group, will lead public, stakeholder and online consultations beginning this summer to strengthen Canadian content creation, discovery and export in a digital world. The consultations will encompass information and entertainment content as presented in television, radio, film, digital…
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GATINEAU – Broadband has become, as CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais put it earlier basic service objective hearing, “vital” to Canadians, all Canadians. It’s perhaps even more essential to those with disabilities – those who are blind or vision-impaired or deaf.
For nearly two weeks, the CRTC has heard from a wide range of parties on a number of topics including whether speed targets should be established in a basic broadband offering, how to serve rural and remote communities and the impoverished. The Commission also launched a line of questioning into how a national broadband strategy should be initiated and who…
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MPs wouldn't bite, though
GATINEAU – Rogers Communications told the CRTC Thursday that the National Broadband Task Force and the Information Highway Task Force can serve as models for a new national broadband strategy.
“And, because a strategy needs leadership to get results, we propose a multi-stakeholder advisory council to oversee the strategy’s implementation,” said David Watt, senior vice-president of regulatory at Rogers, on the ninth day of the Commission’s basic service objective hearing.
Under questioning, he added that this advisory council would be jointly led by the CRTC and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED, formerly Industry Canada)….
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Or should we consider broadband like roads or sewers?
GATINEAU – If the CRTC is going to implement a subsidy to support the rollout of broadband in rural and remote area, it already has an established approach, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance told the Commission on Wednesday. It’s called the National Contribution Fund for telephony in high cost service areas.
Chris Edwards, vice-president of regulatory affairs at the CCSA (pictured in a CPAC.ca screen cap), noted that this approach would encourage network investment by smaller providers – the companies that serve rural and remote communities. “Such a subsidy model…
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GATINEAU – Just before the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance made its presentation to the CRTC during the basic service objective hearing, Commission chairman Jean-Pierre Blais looked at another panel of jackets and ties and made a personal observation – one which he has before.
He lamented the fact that there are so few women appearing in front of him representing the companies making presentations and answering questions. The CCSA’s panel was three gentlemen: Cable Cable president Mike Fiorini, CCSA VP regulatory Chris Edwards and consultant John Piercy.
“Where there have been women on the panels in these telecom proceedings, they don’t…
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