TORONTO – Corus Entertainment’s shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed $2.65 billion acquisition of Shaw Media Inc.
A total of 3,259,268 Class A shares and 61,769,406 Class B shares, representing 95.14% of the issued and outstanding Class A Shares and 73.10% of the issued and outstanding Class B Shares, respectively, were represented in person or by proxy at a special meeting of shareholders in Toronto on Wednesday
All of the Class A shares voted in favour of the deal, as did 78.52% of the Class B shares. Class B votes against the deal totaled 21.48%.
"Corus' shareholders have…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has nailed another air duct cleaning company for violating Canada's telemarketing rules.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has imposed $39,000 in administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) to Toronto Breeze Air Duct Cleaning Services Inc. Acting on complaints, the CRTC launched an investigation early last year that determined that the company initiated telemarketing telecommunications on its behalf to consumers whose telecommunications numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), while it was not a registered subscriber of the national DNCL. In addition, it was not registered with the national DNCL operator, had not…
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GATINEAU – A Bell Canada application seeking the forbearance of wireless access service (WAS) has support from network partner Telus, saying there are plenty of alternatives. Rogers Communications, on the other hand, opposes it, noting that it’s not as simple as saying there are alternatives, and that therefore WAS can be forborne.
The CRTC has dealt with WAS on two separate occasions, the most recent being its wholesale services decision 2015-326. A 2012 decision also delved into WAS. Both times, the Commission has chosen not to forbear from regulating it and allowed wireless service providers to continue to…
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MARKHAM, ON – Clearcable Networks president Rob McCann has been awarded Supplier of the Year by the Canadian Independent Telecommunications Association (CITA) at the organization’s Seminar Showcase 2016, held earlier this week in Markham.
CITA said it chose McCann because of his commitment to hard work, customer service and continuous support of the association.
“Rob has demonstrated his commitment to our industry for the last 25+ years working with advanced broadband service deployments and is responsible for building and maintaining technical, network and application intelligence”, reads a statement from CITA. “He has contributed to industry development, participated in CRTC working groups…
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OTTAWA – The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has issued an annotation of the Wireless Code of Conduct in an effort to help both consumers and wireless providers better understand the way it is administered.
CCTS said that the annotated guide is a compilation of the various determinations and interpretations that it has made in the thousands of complaints it has investigated since the Code came into effect in December 2013. The annotation follows the format of the Wireless Code, with a section-by-section discussion, and complaint summaries intended to illustrate the discussion.
“When we apply the Code to resolve a customer…
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GATINEAU – The arrival of skinny basic TV programming packages and pick-and-pay options on Tuesday mark a “new era of choice for Canadian television viewers”, according to the CRTC.
Effective immediately, all licensed television service providers must offer an affordable basic package (a.k.a skinny basic) costing no more than $25 per month, not including equipment. The package must include local and regional television stations such as CBC, CTV and Global, channels of public interest like the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), educational channels, community channels, and services operated by provincial legislatures, where available.
The basic…
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OTTAWA – Shaw Direct has received CRTC approval to modify its ‘skinny basic’ lineup of TV channels, specifically the local television stations that must be included.
The Commission said Monday that it accepts, with modifications, an application by Star Choice Television Network Incorporated for an exception to section 45.1 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations as it relates to its national DTH BDU Shaw Direct.
Star Choice submitted that the CRTC’s proposed basic service was too limiting for Shaw Direct and could not be achieved with its current system, noting that its infrastructure was never designed to deliver the multitude of…
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MONTREAL – Bell has unveiled new products and support services to help make mobile communications more accessible for customers with speech, cognitive, physical, hearing and vision related disabilities.
The products include screen readers and hearing aid compatibility, video conferencing, assisted messaging and voice calling services, all designed to help customers take full advantage of their smart devices. They include:
– Doro 824 and Doro 824C smartphones
Tailored to customers with moderate visual, cognitive and physical needs, the Android powered Doro 824 is a smartphone featuring easy tap targets and icons, large text, bright colours, hearing aid compatibility, and a dedicated emergency button.
The fully…
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GATINEAU – More than five years after the CRTC issued its deferral accounts decision, some 287 rural and remote communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec now have access to broadband Internet services.
Under a plan approved by the Commission in 2010, Bell Canada, MTS Allstream and Telus spent $422 million on broadband expansion to rural and remote communities using technologies such as digital subscriber line, fixed wireless and high-speed packet access. Bell connected 112 communities and MTS connected 16 in 2014. Telus finalized its expansion to 159 communities in December 2015.
“We are pleased that three of Canada’s…
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MP fumes his local anchors are now in Toronto
OTTAWA – The ongoing local television struggles were the topic of the day at the Heritage Committee this week as it kicked off its study on the media and local communities (just three short weeks after the CRTC did the exact same thing).
Officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Competition Bureau and the CRTC were at the inaugural meeting to provide MPs with background on the challenges facing the industry.
The nearly two-hour long session was mainly about giving and receiving information on the struggles of local TV, including…
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