TORONTO – The Rogers sports department sure has been keeping its wireless division hopping with all this new hockey business.
Rogers Communications CEO Guy Laurence said yesterday that in just the first two weeks of the hockey season, there have been one million downloads of its new NHL GameCentre app and that 650 Terabytes of data have flowed through the app with an average of 80,000 fans streaming live games and on-demand video content through the application. Big numbers. A good start.
While many are doing this on Wi-Fi to save their data plan, there has been undeniable stress on the…
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GATINEAU – The NHL season was barely under way when Bell Canada filed a complaint with the CRTC over how Rogers is keeping an exclusive lid on some of the content for which it paid $5.2 billion.
In an application filed October 10th and just made public Tuesday on the CRTC web site, Bell says Rogers’ new digital services which extend the NHL experience online and on mobile, GameCentre and GamePlus, violate sections 3 and 5 of the Exemption Order for Digital Media Broadcasting Undertakings by giving the company an “anticompetitive advantage.” Rogers bought the NHL rights for 12 years from…
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TORONTO – Four traditional Canadian telcos which not that long ago had no TV subscribers now represent about 1.3 million Canadian subscription television customers.
A key reason behind that growth has been the offer of much more flexible packaging than what had been available from their cable and satellite competitors. While the telco TV companies’ cable competitors have made strides in that direction of late, it was the availability of smaller theme packs of specialty channels and some a-la-carte offerings that set the IPTV carriers apart from their more mature competition – who stuck with larger tiers for a long…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadian families spent over $190 each month last year on their communications services as the costs for wireless, TV and Internet services all grew at a rate higher than inflation, according to the 2014 edition of the CRTC’s Communications Monitoring Report.
The report, released Thursday, provides an overview of the Canadian communication industry for the year ended August 31, 2013. This year, the CRTC released the report in three parts. The first focused on the country’s broadcasting sector, and the second provided data on the telecommunications sector. With the publication of the third and final part,…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – B.C.-based Radio India Ltd., which is owned and controlled by Baljit Kaur Bains, will be front and centre Wednesday morning at the CRTC’s show cause hearing in Gatineau.
At this hearing, the Commission will inquire into, hear and determine whether Radio India is carrying on in whole or in part in Canada without a licence. Also, Radio India is to show cause why a mandatory order should not be issued to them to cease operating.
According to the CRTC, Radio India is producing programming for broadcast on the radio and over the Internet without licences to carry on…
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OTTAWA – Don't miss the chance to see CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien, Deloitte Canada’s Duncan Stewart and FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn, among others, at next week’s International Institute of Communications Canadian chapter conference.
Scheduled for October 21-22 in Ottawa, the event promises provocative, interesting conference sessions that centre on recent communications industry developments, such as disruptive innovation in the gaming industry, the desires of Canadian consumers, the democratization of technology, the surveillance era, the role of communications networks, and communications policy objectives.
Space is limited and advance registration is required for this two-day event.
www.iic-canada.ca
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GATINEAU – It doesn’t matter what the recently amended Telecommunications Act says regarding rate caps for wholesale roaming, the CRTC still has a duty to forbear from regulation if it determines there is sufficient competition to protect the interests of users, according to Bell Canada.
The company argued in its appearance during the wholesale wireless services proceeding earlier this month and in its undertaking filed last week that the Telecom Act still gives the Commission the authority to forbear from regulation, and it can do so when there is evidence to support it. The Act was amended in…
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OTTAWA – The Wireless Code applies to retail mobile wireless voice and data services provided to both individuals and small businesses, the CRTC reiterated Wednesday.
Responding to an application from Telus, the Commission added that the Wireless Code applies to all contracts between an individual and a wireless service provider where the individual is responsible for some or all charges related to the contract.
Accordingly, the Commission found that both “corporate individual plans” and “employee purchase plans", as described by Telus, are wireless contracts between an individual and a service provider where the individual is responsible for some or all…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has given Bell Canada and Bell Mobility some rather specific instructions on how to use $6.5 million of Bell Canada’s deferral account funds to improve access to telecommunications services for persons with disabilities.
In its decision Wednesday, the Commission:
– approved the use of $3.4 million for the proposed Technology, Product Support, and Lifecycle Management initiatives;
– approved the use of $1.5 million for the Direct Marketing initiative, conditional on the filing of a complete and detailed plan;
– denied the use of $1.6 million for the proposed Remote Device Management, Enhanced Website Upgrade and Comprehensive Accessibility Training,…
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MARKHAM, ON – Building upon the success of last year's inaugural session, the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ fall conference will once again include an industry executive town hall.
This one hour session, moderated by well-known consultant and former CRTC Commissioner Rita Cugini, will include:
– Erica Farber; CEO Radio Advertising Bureau, USA;
– Jim MacLeod; president and CEO, Numeris;
– Geoff Poulton; president, Vista Radio;
– Raj Shoan; Ontario Commissioner, CRTC;
– Paul Ski, CEO, Radio, Rogers Broadcasting; and
– Vanessa Thomas, Head of Canada, Songza – Google.
Covering all aspects of the industry – from content creators, buyers, sellers, research, regulation and ultimately the consumer, this…
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