BANFF – I *heart* local cable will be a focal point for the 2014 Canadian Cable Systems Alliance annual conference to be held this year at the Banff Fairmont Springs starting Sunday.
The successful cable community channel awards, now in their second year, will honour not just excellent community channel programming, but excellent television that can stand up to any other professional productions (we’ve seen them).
After 350,000 votes cast from coast to coast for member company programming by viewers, the CCSA announced the award winners in July and they will be lauded by their peers Monday…
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GATINEAU – Independent ISP TekSavvy Solutions told the CRTC Tuesday it would love to become a broadcast distributor because that’s what its customers are asking, but added it can’t enter the game at the moment because the cost of bandwidth is simply too high.
According to a study from Nordicity, the bandwidth costs for the ISP to provide basic service would come to $80 if networked PVR capability was included. “That’s just the bandwidth – before we pay for content or anything else,” said TekSavvy CEO Marc Gaudrault in his opening remarks to the Commission’s Let’s Talk TV policy hearing.
He…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Second hand clothing store chain Thrift Magic has paid $250,000 as part of a settlement over violations to the country’s telemarketing rules, plus agreed to correct its telemarketing practices, the CRTC said Wednesday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Thrift Magic for alleged violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules and found that it made unsolicited telemarketing calls to Canadians whose numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL). Thrift Magic also failed to register with the national DNCL operator and subscribe to the list, plus made calls outside the permitted calling hours.
In addition to paying the…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais and Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien will join representatives from Google, Bell Canada, TekSavvy and more as speakers at this year’s IIC Canada 2014 Conference.
Scheduled for October 21 – 22, 2014 in Ottawa, 'Vision 20/20 – What's next for Canada's communications industries' will bring together business and government leaders in broadcasting, media, telecommunications and technology, with the goal of unpacking the intersection of policy and politics in today's technology-driven communications sector.
Discussion topics include:
– Recent developments in the communications industries;
– Disruptive innovation, consumers and creativity: a look at what makes Canada's video game industry…
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CHATHAM, ON – While advocating for greater competition for Canadian television viewers Tuesday during its appearance at the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV proceeding, TekSavvy Soltuions announced its new partnership with independent cable company Hastings Cable Vision.
Located in eastern Ontario, Hastings Cable Vision has provided cable television in the Madoc area since 1965. In addition to its popular Channel 4 community television channel, the company also offers Internet and phone services.
TekSavvy said that the partnership will create new opportunities for both service providers, noting that Hastings will help TekSavvy learn more about the Canadian television industry, and TekSavvy will…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC was awarded Public Service Awards of Excellence Tuesday at Rideau Hall for its work in the areas of Official Languages, Employment Equity and Diversity, and Policy.
The Public Service Award of Excellence recognizes employees who have demonstrated excellence in achieving results for Canadians and who reflect the priorities of the public service, while demonstrating key leadership competencies.
CRTC employees received the Official Languages Award for the high degree to which the use of English and French was promoted in all aspects of the CBC/Radio-Canada licence renewal proceeding. Throughout the proceeding, the CRTC instituted measures…
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WATERLOO, ON – Sandvine CTO Don Bowman is one of seven industry thought leaders that have been invited to participate in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Roundtable on the Technological Aspects of an Open Internet this week.
The roundtable will consider the technical aspects of open Internet scope, transparency, blocking, mobile networks, and reasonable network management. It will take place this Friday at 1:30 PM ET in Washington, DC and will be streamed live here.
Both Sandvine and Bowman, (pictured), have actively contributed to global initiatives aimed at helping to define and promote an open Internet,…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC briefly changed the channel on Monday. The Let‘s Talk TV policy hearing turned its attention away from the impact that Netflix and over the top (OTT) services could have on the Canadian broadcasting system and instead tuned into the role that set top box (STB) viewership data should play in providing more granular audience measurement and therefore enhance the ability of broadcasters to monetize programs.
Rentrak, a U.S. corporation that provides a service combining both sample and census data, took the stand in the morning to explain how its offering can be of significant value to…
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GATINEAU – Of all the interveners appearing so far at the CRTC’s TV Policy Review, the CBC’s might be the most contentious – and its executives endured a good grilling by the commissioners Friday morning on the fifth day of the Commission’s TV Policy Review.
The Crown Corp, which has had a rough past 24 months as most know, has come to the CRTC asking for a number of new things, but three aspects are drawing the most attention. It wants: to be able to shut off its transmitters and charge subscription TV providers a wholesale fee; for the Commission…
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GATINEAU – The non-vertically integrated cablecos, Cogeco and members of the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) entered the Let’s Talk TV policy hearing discussion fray on Thursday with both arguing the Commission must ensure they can acquire programming rights at reasonable costs without onerous terms.
Keith Stevens, chair of the board at CCSA member Execulink Telecom, noted during the CCSA’s opening remarks that the recent affiliation agreement with Bell Media is a prime example of the harm small cable TV providers face when dealing with VI providers. Under this deal, Execulink was required to maintain packaging requirements as they were…
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