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.
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
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…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Will it be a 9(1)(h) Christmas in April for some Canadian specialty channels? After much delay, the CRTC has set a date to hear applications for the mandatory distribution of specialty channels (some new, some not) on Canadian BDUs.
The hearing will take place April 23 in Gatineau and the deadline for submission of interventions/comments/answers is February 20, 2013. The hearing will also take a look at existing channels that are currently distributed on a mandatory basis (APTN, AMI, etc) and will assess whether these services “should continue to benefit from such distribution,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – It’s clear sailing for Paul Girouard who received CRTC approval for his three new category B national, English-language specialty services that are directed to fans of boating, amateur sports and aviation.
Boating Television is to be dedicated to all aspects of boating and nautical activities including boats, water sports and the people involved in these activities. Flying Television would cover all aspects of flight and aviation including airplanes, pilots and stories about air travel. While World Sports Network would focus on international amateur and professional sports primarily through live coverage, documentaries, instructional programs…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC received a total of 75 complaints in 2012 from consumers claiming that Internet service providers (ISPs) were slowing down certain types of traffic. But more than half of the complaints regarding Internet traffic management practices came during the first three months of 2012 when 39 complaints were submitted to the Commission. Complaints have since fallen to a total of 26 for the past six months, with 13 recorded during the final three months of 2012.
Upon the receipt of a complaint regarding a traffic management practice, CRTC staff forward the complaint…
Continue Reading
WHITEHORSE – Northwestel has submitted to the CRTC its plan to invest $233 million in its telecommunications network that will provide 99% of northerners with access to next-generation wireless and wireless broadband services within the next five years. Northwestel says its communications expansion plans are the most ambitious ever undertaken in Northern Canada and submitted its plan to the Commission on January 16, 2012.
"We have developed a modernization plan that delivers for our communities," said Paul Flaherty, President and Chief Executive Officer at Northwestel. "In addition to supplying more northern communities with enhanced services,…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Rogers Media Inc. has asked the CRTC to amend two conditions of license for The Score to enable it to slightly increase (from 10% to 15% of its schedule) the amount of analysis, interpretation and documentary programming it can provide in order to compete with online services offered by TSN, CBS Sports and ESPN. It also wants to push back mandatory news updates every 15-minutes when its airing live sports events to just once an hour.
Rogers purchased Score Media Inc. this past summer for $171 million and its specialty station The Score currently…
Continue Reading
