The CRTC has denied a request from Bell to temporarily allow it and other wireless service providers to provide locked cellphones after purchase.
In a letter dated April 22, Bell and its flanker brand Virgin Plus informed the CRTC of their intention to start selling locked cellphones to address an increase in crime at Bell’s points of sale, with the phones to be locked to Bell’s network for up to 60 days after purchase.
Bell’s letter was sent to the CRTC just days before putting its new practice into effect, noted the CRTC in a…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The parties involved in a class action lawsuit over historical long-distance rates charged at Ontario correctional facilities are in “jurisdictional limbo” because the CRTC refuses to definitely state that it has domain over those rates, Bell claims in a new court filing.
Nearly a month after Ontario filed its own leave to appeal application at the Federal Court of Appeal, the telco is similarly asking the high court to find that the regulator failed to address an issue central to the lawsuit: that the CRTC’s forbearance from regulating those rates is itself an exercise in…
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Bell says its ‘Flex Option’ complies with code
By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Bell a series of questions to see if a new plan that gives customers an additional 12 months to pay off the remaining balance owed on their devices is onside of Wireless Code rules.
Bell’s new “Flex Option” provides customers an additional option to pay off their device after the initial two-year service plan period. The appeal is that the customer pays a lower monthly amount for the phone during the service plan period. The customer then has three options for dealing with the…
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By Howard Law, author of MediaPolicy.ca and Canada vs. California: How Ottawa took on Netflix and the streaming giants (Lorimer, 2024)
In October 2022, Netflix appeared at the Senate committee reviewing the proposed Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, when the Conservative senator Fabian Manning pitched a softball question: What was the Hollywood giant’s “main priority” in amending a bill it didn’t welcome?
The Canadian spokesperson for the streamer was succinct in his answer: “If I had to choose just one, it would be the issue of copyright ownership.”
Last week, Netflix got what it wanted.
The CRTC’s Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
Stingray Radio has entered into an agreement to acquire CHUP-FM, currently branded as Hot AC format C97.7, in Calgary from Rawlco Radio, subject to approval from the CRTC.
CHUP-FM would join Stingray stations 90.3 AMP Radio (CKMP-FM) and XL 103 (CFXL-FM) in the Calgary market, which are among the 33 radio licenses the company operates in Alberta. It would bring Stingray Radio’s roster of stations to 97 across the country.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the vibrant Calgary market,” said Steve Jones, President of Stingray Radio, in a company announcement. “C97.7 has built a strong connection with listeners and the community, and we are committed to continuing the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco is alleging the CRTC did not adequately weigh the impact of Quebecor’s influence on editorial voices in Montreal when it allowed its internet station QUB Radio to continue operating on the FM airwaves.
Cogeco claims in a leave application to the Federal Court of Appeal on Monday that the regulator made an incomplete analysis when it determined last month that QUB Radio could continue operating on Leclerc Communication’s FM station, CJPX-FM (99.5 FM), through a simple agreement between the two companies.
The CRTC ruled that the arrangement, announced in the summer of…
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Geoff White has resigned from his executive director position at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), according to an article in The Logic last week.
The article states White alleged PIAC owes him tens of thousands of dollars in back pay, as he has not been paid since April. According to the article, White said he voluntarily went without pay to help PIAC stay afloat during what he thought would be a short-term financial crunch while an organizational overhaul plan was executed. He alleged he resigned after several months of the board not supporting him…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Ontario government is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to review whether the CRTC again abrogated on its alleged duties to clarify whether it has jurisdiction over long-distance calls in correctional facilities.
In late September, the CRTC rejected applications filed by Ontario and Bell that requested that the regulator explicitly state that its power to forebear from regulation is itself a form of regulation, which would place these call rates squarely in its domain and have the ultimate effect, the applicants believe, of avoiding courts making conflicting determinations on what those…
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The CRTC last week approved separate applications by Lakeside Radio Broadcasting Corp. and FAB Broadcasting Corp. — both owned by London Publishing Corp. — to change the ownership and effective control of radio stations in Kincardine and Listowel, Ontario, respectively.
With the approval of Lakeside’s application, parent company London Publishing is acquiring Gregory Hetherington’s 47.4-per-cent share of Lakeside, giving Raymond Stanton effective control of classic rock radio station CIYN-FM Kincardine (operating as Shoreline Classics FM) and its transmitters CIYN-FM-1 Goderich and CIYN-FM-2 Port Elgin, Ontario.
Based on a CRTC-revised transaction value of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Friday said it is suspending a trio of applications from channels that are asking for an increase in the monthly wholesale rate to carry them until it resolves some proceedings that may impact those decisions.
By majority decision, the regulator said it is deferring the applications of Cable Public Affairs Channel Inc. (CPAC), TV5 Quebec Canada (TV5), and Vues & Voix until it decides on “whether the existing regulations remain suited to and effective in supporting services of exceptional importance, and is reassessing, among other things,…
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