GATINEAU – The fine print shouldn’t be so fine and it should be written using regular words people understand, says the CRTC.
The Commission is putting the interests of consumers front and centre in the new draft wireless code of conduct released Monday by stating that contracts and other policies “the terms or use of the service, such as privacy policies and fair use policies, must be written in clear, easy-to-understand language, and presented in an appropriate font size.”
It’s not only the use of plain language the Commission is insisting wireless carriers adopt. The Regulator is also suggesting a personalized…
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AFTER SIX YEARS, SATELLITE radio produced its first-ever profit in Canada when earlier this month SiriusXM Canada reported it was $3.3 million in the black for the first quarter of fiscal 2013.
For executive chairman John Bitove, that Q1 result is vindication after plugging away just as XM Canada to begin with – in competition with Sirius Canada – and then finally merging with it in 2011 two years after the American satellite radio companies combined themselves. Satellite radio faced numerous launch obstacles, chiefly convincing people to want to pay for radio in the first place,…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Within a year, Canadians with hearing or speech impairments will be able to communicate with 911 call centres via text message says the CRTC. Telephone and wireless companies must upgrade their networks to support the new feature by January 24, 2014.
The CRTC's decision follows a 2012 trial to assess the feasibility of rolling out such a feature on a national basis. The unique Canadian solution was developed by the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG), comprised of members from Emergency Services,…
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AMONG CANADIAN TELEVISION executives, no one is more active on Twitter than Kirstine Stewart. Some feel Twitter is an waste of time and it sure can be if you let it, but for Stewart, EVP of English Services at the CBC and a smart user of the social network, Twitter is a good way for @KStewartCBC to listen to Canadians, get her message out – and even make her personal opinions known, about more than just the CBC.
Of course, her tweets are often back-slapping congratulations for this or that CBC program doing well in the ratings (there have…
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WINNIPEG – Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is calling for public support in its bid to renew its licence with the CRTC. APTN is requesting a 15 cent increase wholesale fee for the next term in order to “sustain a strong and talented Aboriginal production industry and grow opportunities to better serve the needs of Aboriginal communities through a comprehensive strategic plan,” it said in a statement.
Since 2005, APTN has received a nominal fee of 25 cents per Canadian subscriber through monthly subscription fees. This says APTN has fueled a nationwide network of Aboriginal…
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OTTAWA – It’s common these days to see Internet speeds still advertised with “up to” speeds that rarely ever approach the average speeds that subscribers will actually experience in practice. The problem is that most consumers believe they are getting, at least some of the time, the advertised speeds says the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) because they are not being properly informed. It’s calling on the Competition Bureau and CRTC to play a more active role in monitoring the compliance of ISP speed and performance claims in advertising and to develop rules for broadband labelling.
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HALIFAX – Newcap Inc. is exploring the possible sale of its western broadcasting assets which are located primarily in Alberta. The assets consist of 32 radio stations, six repeater licences and two TV stations. The sale of the stations would free up Newcap to consider purchasing some of Astral's assets that Bell will likely have to let go if it receives CRTC approval for its takeover.
In Newcap’s last third quarter financials it recorded an impairment charge of $7.5 million related to its television operations in Lloydminster, Alberta. It said the charge resulted…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC, in response to a request from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), has extended the deadline to March 1, 2013 to file comments with the Inquiry Officer regarding the review of 9-1-1 services in Canada.
In December of 2012 the regulator appointed Commissioner Timothy Denton as Inquiry Officer pursuant to section 70 of the Telecommunications Act. Denton is now conducting research on 9-1-1 services in Canada and will report his findings to the Commission by the end of May 2013.
Denton’s report will focus on three broad areas:
the…
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OTTAWA – More than 85 pay and specialty services will be up for license renewals when the CRTC begins it hearing for license renewal of independent conventional, pay and specialty television services beginning April 23 in Gatineau, Quebec.
The license renewal includes applications of independent pay and specialty programming services as well as the applications of the independent conventional television stations whose licences expire on August 31, 2013. As part of its examination of these applications, the Commission will consider the licensees’ various requests with respect to their regulatory requirements (e.g. conditions of license, local…
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OTTAWA – The latest statistics from the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) indicates the number of complaints regarding telemarketing firms continues to fall.
In the past month of December the DNCL received about 8,000 complaints, compared to more than 10,000 in November and about 11,000 in September. There have been over 645,000 complaints since the launch of the DNCL in 2009.
The number of people registering to be on the list has also dropped from about 62,000 in September down to about 25,000 in December as there are now more than 11.2 million phone…
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