WHEN JUSTIN TRUDEAU is sworn in as Prime Minister his Liberal party will face a number of key telecommunications issues in the next 12 months.
These include meeting the challenge of an increasingly digital world, innovation, privacy regulations, wireless competition, dealing with the rural-urban broadband divide and increasing access to our digital future with poor Canadians.
One of the most obvious problems with trying to read how the new government might deal with these issues is that telecom and broadcast policies didn't figure largely in the leaders' debates or their major speeches.
Still, the Liberal platform makes a few promises:
Repeal of "problematic…
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GATINEAU – New digital media offerings certainly have problems fitting into the various interpretations of the well-worn Acts and Regulations which the CRTC must attempt to apply to emerging new services and their packaging plans.
The latest target is Videotron’s Unlimited Music service. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s complaint about the service which launched in August by the Quebecor-owned cable and wireless company has found a number of supporters. Rogers Communications is standing alongside its media arm and other radio broadcasters in calling the streaming music service anti-competitive.
Rogers and its allies argue…
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HAMILTON – Hamilton’s Mohawk College will launch a new course next year which will teach all of its journalism students how to ensure the news they produce is accessible to people with disabilities.
The course, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada, will launch in the fall of 2016 and be mandatory for all students in Mohawk’s three-year journalism program.
The college has been awarded an $80,000 grant from the Broadcast Accessibility Fund to develop the course. The $6 million BAF was established as an independent and impartial funding body supporting innovative projects to increase the…
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CANNES – You know those many reports of the death of Canadian TV you've been hearing about? Ignore them. Canadian TV is alive and well, as evidenced by last week's Canuck contingent in Cannes for the annual MIPCOM TV bazaar.
The dark clouds that hang over Canadian TV were nowhere to be seen on the Rue de Croisette, next to the beach in Cannes, where radiant sunshine reigned after deadly flooding that had turned roads into rivers on the eve of the world's largest TV market.
Canadian heavy-hitters were among the thousands of buyers and sellers streaming to and from the…
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TORONTO – CRTC telecommunications executive director Chris Seidl has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at next month's 2015 Canadian ISP Summit.
His session is entitled ‘Understanding CRTC Telecommunications Decision 2015-326’ (a.k.a. the wholesale wireline services decision). Come find out about the new wholesale wireline services policy and the implications it may have for your business.
Scheduled for November 9 – 11, 2015 at Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre in Toronto, this year’s theme of ‘Business Excellence’ will celebrate successes, achievements and innovations within the ISP and tech space, with particular attention on the changing economic, social and technological landscape. The conference's…
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QUEBEC’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY doesn’t want Canada’s broadcasting regulator to review regulations on broadcasting.
At least that’s the conclusion that one could reach through a literal reading of a motion passed unanimously in the legislature last week.
The motion, presented with less than an hour’s notice by Parti Québécois culture critic Véronique Hivon on Sept. 29, states that the Assembly “denounces the will of the CRTC to review the requirements for French-language music broadcast in Quebec” and reiterates the importance of French-language music quotas on radio stations. It passed 100-0.
The resolution comes two months after Continue Reading
GATINEAU – After 27 years at the CRTC in various roles, secretary-general John Traversy has decided he will retire as of December 11, 2015.
He has held the position since former SG Robert Morin retired in 2011. Prior to that he was executive director, telecom for five years. The secretary general is the top operations job at the Commission, overseeing all of the administration. Every complaint, submission and other filing which telecom and broadcasting companies make to the Regulator have Traversy’s name at the top.
“Over the years, I had the opportunity to work on countless files in both the Broadcasting…
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IT’S THE VERY LAST item in a 600-page budget document and since it was announced in March literally nothing has happened with it, but the Quebec government’s proposal to block illegal gambling websites has disturbed the Internet Society enough that six months later, it sent a letter to the government warning it about the consequences.
The letter, dated Aug. 4 but published on Sept. 24, lays out in simple terms the problem with the yet-to-be-proposed legislation, saying it would cost more to implement than it will gain in additional revenue, that it would…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has released its greatly anticipated Wholesale Code, intended to help simplify, and perhaps smooth the waters, in many aspects of the relationship between television service providers and television channel owners.
The Commission said Thursday that BRP 2015-438 governs certain aspects of the commercial arrangements between broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), programming undertakings, and exempt digital media undertakings.
“It will ensure that subscribers have greater choice and flexibility in the programming services they receive, that programming services are diverse, available and discoverable on multiple platforms, and that negotiations between programming services and BDUs are conducted in a fair…
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HAMILTON – Community television will never be the same in Canada.
Cable 14 Now launched Tuesday in the Steel City allowing Hamiltonians the opportunity to watch live and on-demand HD video of local content on web-connected devices at their convenience. The online service is the product of three local companies working together as Cable 14 partnered with Clearcable networks in Hamilton and Ancaster’s Hifyre, a digital media company.
“This will allow the cross-pollination of community channels across the country,” Rob McCann, president of Clearcable told Cartt.ca at the launch event. “We will be launching another (online service) in Quebec…
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