OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Two home-improvement companies have paid a total of $170,000 as part of settlements over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, the CRTC said Monday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Canadian Choice Home Improvements Inc. and Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. for presumed violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The investigations established that Canadian Choice Home Improvements Inc. was registered but failed to subscribe to the national do not call list (DNCL), and that Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. had not registered nor subscribed to the list during specific timeframes. Both companies contacted consumers who are registered on the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC has wrapped up a fact-finding exercise with Canada’s wireless service providers as part of its review of next-generation 9-1-1 services.
In a letter to the country’s WSP’s dated October 23, 2015, the Commission acknowledged that the companies have “proactively deployed hybrid location determination technologies that combine handset capabilities with network capabilities to offer the most accurate caller-location information possible to PSAPs”. This includes assisted-GPS and network-based technologies such as tower location, Round-trip time, and Advanced Forward Link Trilateration.
The CRTC said in the letter that it expects WSPs to continue to invest in the best-available wireless location…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – All Canadian telecom service providers must continue to be members of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS), at least for now, says the CRTC.
The Commission issued the interim decision Friday, as it continues to review the structure and mandate of the CCTS. The CCTS is an independent organization designed to resolve complaints between consumers and their telecommunications service provider.
With the current membership requirement set to expire on December 20, 2015, before the Commission has made its determinations related to the review, the CRTC said that this decision “will provide regulatory certainty”.
www.crtc.gc.cawww.ccts-cprst.ca
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Late Thursday, Bell Canada applied to the Federal Court of Appeal for leave to appeal the CRTC’s recently announced Wholesale Code of conduct which it established for the TV industry as part of its Let’s Talk TV policy review process.
The Commission released the Code September 24th.
The CRTC has overstepped its jurisdiction with this Code, says the Bell application to the court. “The purpose of the Wholesale Code is to govern the commercial relationships between Programming and Distribution Undertakings. In doing so, the Wholesale Code conflicts with the Copyright Act and exceeds the CRTC’s…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Ontario CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan says chairman Jean-Pierre Blais has been exceeding his authority by “unilaterally” naming panels of commissioners to hear and decide upon certain applications made to the Regulator and so Shoan has asked the Federal Court of Canada to prohibit the chair from naming such panels on his own.
Shoan’s application to the Court and his affidavit says chairman Blais has convened all commissioner panels for CRTC matters, but also that the chairman is not technically allowed to do that on his own. Instead those decisions are supposed come from a committee, not just the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – For the first time, more Canadians subscribe exclusively to mobile wireless services than to wired landline telephone services, according to the 2015 edition of the CRTC’s Communications Monitoring Report on the state of Canada’s communications system.
The report, released Thursday, provides an overview of the Canadian communication industry for the year ended August 31, 2014. As it did last year, the Commission will release the report in three parts, with data on the telecommunications sector and broadcasting sector still to come.
According to the report, 20.4% of Canadians opted solely for mobile wireless services than their traditional landline telephone…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The radio market of Hamilton and Burlington in Southern Ontario won’t be tuning in to a new station anytime soon after the CRTC determined that the area cannot sustain any additional new commercial radio stations at this time.
The Commission said Wednesday that it will therefore return the application originally filed by Byrnes Communications Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate a commercial radio station in the area, and will not issue a call for new applications.
In a lengthy dissent, Commissioner Raj Shoan said that the decision “does a disservice to the residents of Burlington”, noting that “Burlington…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC tweaked a few details around its upcoming proceeding examining the framework for French-language vocal music (FVM).
The Commission said Wednesday that the public hearing in Quebec City will now begin at 9:30 AM on November 16, 2015 at the TRYP Québec Hôtel PUR; that it is adding an oral reply phase to the hearing; and that following the public hearing, parties may file final written replies on any matter within the proceeding's scope prior to December 10, 2015 at 8:00 PM (Ottawa time). The final written reply, including an executive summary, must not exceed 10 pages.
When the proceeding…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Telelatino Network was quick to applaud Wednesday’s CRTC decision that added three new Spanish-language channels to the list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution in this country.
In Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2015-466, the Commission approved Telelatino’s applications for Televisión Dominicana, Centroamerica TV and WAPA America, which provide news, entertainment and sports programming from the Dominican Republic, Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) and Puerto Rico, respectively.
Telelatino will exclusively represent and manage Canadian marketing and distribution of the channels, and promised to soon announce the national carrier platforms on which the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – There’s not yet a cabinet and he’s not even sworn in as Prime Minister, but Bell Canada is putting Justin Trudeau’s federal government to work, quickly.
Cartt.ca has learned the company filed an appeal to cabinet late Tuesday to overturn the July CRTC decision which grants third party broadband resellers access to newly built fibre to the home or premises (FTTH/FTTP) infrastructure (CRTC 2015-326). Tuesday, October 20th (90 days after the decision) was the final day Bell was eligible to file the appeal, under CRTC rules. A well-placed Bell source with direct knowledge of…
Continue Reading
