YELLOWKNIFE – Northern broadband service provider SSi says the CRTC’s decision to “remedy damage” caused by Northwestel’s practice of overcharging competitors for wholesale terrestrial backbone services will restore telecom competition in the north.
SSi claimed that Northwestel, the only supplier of such services in the North, was charging competitors wholesale rates that were thirteen to thirty times higher than in the south, and several times higher than its own retail pricing.
In January of 2012 the CRTC directed Northwestel to file cost studies to justify its backbone connectivity rates. Northwestel filed…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved Dufferin Communications plan to launch a new English language A/C station in Clarence-Rockland, located about 40 kilometres northeast of Ottawa. The station will operate at 92.5 MHz (channel 223A) with 300 watts and a non-directional antenna of about 60 metres in height.
“The proposed service would introduce a valuable first local service to the community of Clarence-Rockland and would add diversity to this market through its news and information offering, as well as provide significant local reflection,” ruled the CRTC in its decision. It also noted that there is…
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MONTRÉAL – With a promise to spend nearly $170 million over seven years on Canadian programming, TV5 Québec Canada has applied to the CRTC to amend the licence of TV5 to allow it to broadcast two services under the same licence. The two services are: the current TV5, which will continue to present a majority of production originating from the international francophonie; and a new channel, UNIS, whose mission will be to reflect the diversity of the entire Canadian francophonie, and which will devote at least 75% of its programming to Canadian programs that are conceived, created…
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OTTAWA – The Local Programming Improvement Fund, which is to be phased out by September 2014, collected $112.1 million in funding from BDUs in 2012 compared to $106.7 million the previous year. The CBC`s TV stations accounted for more than $47 million paid out from the fund in 2012. The figures come from the latest financial statements released by the CRTC, which includes a listing of all stations that received LPIF support.
Last July the Commission announced that contributions to the Fund will be gradually reduced until it is discontinued. As a result, the…
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WHAT TURNED INTO A banal little experiment happened when I tuned into AMItv last month while guide-surfing. The Bourne Identity caught my eye and I stopped there to give it another look. At first, I didn’t realize I was on Accessible Media’s must-carry TV channel and was momentarily puzzled by the on-air commentary telling me what the characters were doing.
After I clued in, I did something I’m sure many others must have also tried. I closed my eyes. In very short order, I realized that without the described video commentary, anyone without sight would be completely baffled by what…
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OTTAWA – The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, will be the keynote speaker at the Prime Time luncheon on Thursday, March 7th.
CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais will also be taking the podium at Prime Time in Ottawa to update attendees on the regulator’s activities.
Veteran Canadian comic Sean Cullen is hosting an evening of comedy and networking at the conference on Thursday March 7th.
The CMPA’s Prime Time in Ottawa conference is a national networking event for some 700 of Canada’s…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC today pared back some of the rates which large internet service providers can charge independent ISP competitors for using their networks.
This battle has raged on for a number of years as independent ISPs like Teksavvy, Telnet and others attempt to carve out a market for themselves as ISPs serving a small slice of the Canadian populace who’d rather not be subscribers of one of the big telcos or cablecos. In order to do that though, those small ISPs need access to the big networks owned and run by Bell, Telus, Rogers and others just the…
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OTTAWA – Heads up aquarium channel fans. Stingray Digital Group has received CRTC approval to operate The Seasonal Channel, a national, niche, no spoken word specialty Category B service that features still pictures and moving video of nature scenes with appropriate music. The Commission did not receive any interventions in connection with this application.
The channel will be used to “create a soothing video environment that will feature still pictures and moving video of nature scenes (similar in principle to the “Log” and “Aquarium” channels currently available) that will change based upon the season and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC’s annual telecommunications survey for the period ended December 31, 2012 will begin February 19, 2013. A letter and email has been sent to participating entities indicating the filing method available to them.
Entities that are instructed to file electronically must submit their data using the web-based Data Collection system. Applicable data forms will be issued based on last year's filling. Additional data forms may be issued once the Registration form is submitted. The Registration form is due on March 1, 2013 and data forms are due on March 31, 2013.
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GATINEAU – If adopted, the draft wireless code of conduct will likely cause some significant unintended consequences, SaskTel told the CRTC during the last day of the hearing Friday. The provincial Crown corporation pointed to the potential for unsatisfactory experiences, increased use of notifications and mandatory caps on overage fees as ones that could have big negative impacts on Canadians.
The amount of information that consumers will need to know can be considered excessive and will hinder wireless operators’ ability to improve efficiencies, according to SaskTel executives. Under the draft code, consumers would be subjected to a lengthy process involving…
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