OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected a complaint lodged by some of Canada’s biggest wireless service providers over a deadline date in the CRTC’s Wireless Code of Conduct.
In a decision issued Tuesday, Justice Denis Pelletier dismissed a challenge filed by Bell, Rogers, Telus, MTS and SaskTel over the June 3, 2015 final implementation date of the Code, referred to as “the drop-dead date”, whereby all existing wireless contracts fall subject to the Code.
Noting the high number of three-year wireless contracts that would not yet have matured by that date, the telcos claimed that they would be…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC issued a warning Tuesday about illegal calls from individuals who claim that they are calling on behalf of the national Do Not Call List (DNCL) operator.
The Commission said in a statement that the originators of these calls are falsely displaying (spoofing) the national DNCL toll-free phone number, and are claiming that the call recipient's telephone number is about to expire from the national DNCL and must be re-registered over the phone.
“Neither the CRTC nor the National DNCL operator contact Canadians regarding the status of their telephone numbers on the National DNCL”, reads the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down a demand by Rogers Communications to revise the Wireless Code and exclude certain wireless service contracts for corporate individual plans and employee purchase plans.
The Commission said Friday that it is denying Rogers’ application to review and vary Telecom Decision 2014-528 (referred to as the Corporate Plans decision), as the big media company “failed to demonstrate” that there is substantial doubt as to the correctness of that decision. In that decision, the Regulator (a) reiterated that the Wireless Code applies to retail mobile wireless voice and data services provided to individuals and small…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Some 88% of Canadians living in provinces with little access to French-language television programing say that they want more content in that language, while 56% say that they would watch a French educational television channel if it was offered by their TV service provider, according to an Ipsos Marketing survey for Groupe Média TFO.
The French-language educational media company recently applied to the CRTC to both renew its existing broadcasting licence for its TFO television channel, and to ask for “must-offer status” to make TFO a mandatory offering by TV providers across Canada. (A previous version of this…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – With a reminder that “a broadcasting licence is a privilege”, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais opened a radio hearing Wednesday that will examine whether to renew the licences of three radio stations that appear to be in non-compliance with the CRTC’s regulations, as well as with certain conditions of licence and mandatory orders.
Aboriginal Voices Radio, CFSI-FM Salt Spring Island and CIHS-FM Wetaskiwin were summoned to the two-day public hearing “given the severity and frequency of the instances of apparent non-compliance observed in their current licence terms”, Blais continued.
The broadcasters are expected to show cause why mandatory orders…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is asking Canadians to weigh in and help shape its proposed code of conduct for television service providers.
The Commission said Tuesday that its online discussion forum is open now through May 25, 2015, to allow Canadians to comment on the draft TV code tabled in March compiled from comments received during last year’s TV Policy Review, known as Let's Talk TV.
As it stands, the code proposes that TV service providers would be required to provide easy-to-understand agreements to their customers, notify them of changes to their services, and clarify the terms surrounding issues such as the…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) is again fighting wholesale service rates of the established telecom and cable companies. The group of independent ISPs is now telling the CRTC that it must make interim all usage sensitive rates from these companies until more fulsome analyses are done.
Bell Aliant, Bell Canada, Cogeco Cable, Rogers Communications, SaskTel, Shaw Cablesystems, Telus Communications, and Vidéotron are all party to the application.
In an application filed on April 29, CNOC argues that evidence has now come to light that demonstrates existing usage sensitive rates are too high. It points to a recent…
Continue Reading
EDMONTON – After cancelling its Citytv Breakfast Television show in Edmonton last week, Rogers is inviting viewers in that city to dig in to a new show called Dinner Television.
Billed as a local, entertaining, and interactive prime-time series, Dinner Television will debut May 19 and will air on City Edmonton every day from 5:00 to 7:00 PM MT and live online at Citytv.com/Edmonton It will air in an encore presentation each weekday morning from 5:30 AM to 9:00 AM, with updated local news, traffic, and weather in an L-screen format.
Hosted by NHL veteran Jason Strudwick, Dinner Television…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – IPTV provider VMedia Inc. has received CRTC approval for four regional broadcasting licences, allowing it to offer television services on a national basis.
The Commission said Friday that 2251723 Ontario, wholly owned by VMedia Inc., may operate terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertakings to serve various locations in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia; Quebec; Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan; and British Columbia. The Toronto-based company was previously only able to market its television service in Ontario. It also offers high-speed internet and home phone services.
"We are very grateful to the Commission for its decisions," said CEO Alexei Tchernobrivets,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Citing a huge difference between the cost of newsgathering versus the revenue being earned by its multicultural OMNI stations during those programs, Rogers Media today eliminated all of its third-language newscasts on its various OMNI stations.
That decision, which will see the company’s Citytv and OMNI operations combined as well, came at the cost of 110 jobs, spread across the OMNI stations. Most of the losses came from positions such as editor, shooter, field technicians, ENG crews and producers.
As of Monday, May 11, OMNI’s Punjabi, Cantonese and Mandarin newscasts will be replaced by local current affairs shows in…
Continue Reading
