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…
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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,…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Canadian wireless service providers are at least partly compliant with the CRTC’s accessibility policy, but gaps in handset accessibility remain. That’s the gist of Assessing the Compliance of Wireless Service Providers with the CRTC Accessibility Policy, conducted by Connectus Consulting Inc. and released Wednesday by the CRTC.
The study was undertaken to accomplish three interrelated objectives: provide the CRTC with a better understanding of the level of compliance by WSPs with the requirements set out at paragraphs 44 and 46 of Broadcasting and Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430 (the Accessibility Policy); identify on-going gaps in the provision of…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC and Access Communications worked together this summer to shut off a deluge of spam messages that were unknowingly being sent from a server owned by a Saskatchewan-based computer reseller.
The Commission got involved after the Spam Reporting Centre received reports of spam messages routed through Access Communications. During its investigation, it was discovered that the spam messages were actually coming from a small business’s server, which used Access Communications as its ISP. This business’s server had become infected with malware, which had caused it to join the botnet ‘Ebury’.
According to spamrankings.net, the Autonomous Systems (AS21804)…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The 13th annual International Institute of Communications Canadian chapter conference gets under way two weeks from today and there is still room to register for this informative gathering.
Speakers include CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, Deloitte Canada’s Duncan Stewart, Google’s Jason Kee, Microsoft’s David Laliberte, Blue Ant’s Asha Daniere, Cartt.ca’s Greg O’Brien, Ubisoft’s Lesley Phord-Toy, FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien, Bell Canada’s Jonathan Daniels, Wind Mobile’s Simon Lockie and many others.
Provocative, interesting conference sessions centre on recent communications industry developments, disruptive innovation in the gaming industry, the desires of Canadian consumers, the democratization of technology, the…
Continue Reading
SOMETIMES A QUESTION can send you back to first principles. Last Wednesday I heard one, and it kept me awake while I pondered it.
The question was asked by a commissioner at the mobile wholesale hearing. It went like this: "The mobile sector has seen the most wonderful progress in the last 20 years. The landline side is in relative decline. Yet you say we should apply more of the approach we adopted for ensuring landline competition worked for mobile. Can you explain why? Is that not a contradiction?"
The question is fiendishly difficult to answer, because it embedded a false…
Continue Reading
