OTTAWA – Innovation, investment and infrastructure will be the key themes at the 11th Annual International Institute of Communications (IIC) 2012 Canada Conference at the Ottawa Convention Centre, October 29-30.
The conference will explore the questions around where network pressure will emerge, what engineering or other 'physics' solutions exist to stay ahead of that demand curve, where the financing will come from to maintain infrastructure at a necessary level to meet those pressures, and what the corollary impact will be on the ability of government to achieve policy goals.
Pre-registration is mandatory and space is limited. Registrations will be…
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MONTREAL – It's not flying cars and holographic displays (at least not yet), but Rogers Communications CEO Nadir Mohamed set a more attainable, near-term vision for a technological future in a speech to the Canadian Club in Montreal on Monday. It's a vision in which mobile service providers like Rogers play a key role.
Mohamed (pictured below) laid out three technological innovations during a 20-minute speech, in which he noted how odd it was that he was standing in front of a large Bell logo (Bell is the principal sponsor of the Canadian Club's CEO speech program):
1. Digital wallets
"There is…
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BANFF – The Banff Centre has applied to the CRTC for permission to acquire the assets and licences for the only two local radio stations in Banff.
“Operating these stations on a self-sustaining basis will ensure continued local community service to Banff,” said Jeff Melanson, president of The Banff Centre. “We also want to strengthen that service with more content about and from Banff.”
The Banff Centre says its entry into radio is a natural evolution in its ongoing commitment to expand its horizons and share the artistry of Canada with Canadians and the world.
“One of our goals at The…
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MONTREAL – One wants the Bell deal to purchase Astral stopped, the other doesn’t – but in the end, independent cable group CCSA and Independent Broadcaster Blue Ant both say Bell is big enough to need to be held back.
Up first on Friday morning, the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance demonstrated directly how, in its view, the existing market power of Bell Canada (without Astral) negatively impacts the price and availability of choice available to its member companies’ customers. The CCSA represents independent distributors who collectively serve about 750,000 Canadians and is worried the addition of Astral Media to Bell…
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TORONTO – Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) has announced that telecom expert Gregory Kane will provide counsel for the firm’s Communications Law and Public Policy, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Practice Groups.
Based in FMC’s Ottawa office, Kane brings more than 30 years of legal experience advising clients in all areas of domestic and international electronic broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, regulated health care, transportation, federal lobbying, conflicts and ethics. He is a member of the Canadian, American and International Bar Associations, and has appeared before a number of federal and provincial regulatory agencies and tribunals including the CRTC, Copyright Board…
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TORONTO – IPTV service provider VMedia Inc. has charged Bell Media with “outrageous delays” in its attempts to acquire rights to add Bell-owned TV channels and says it has no choice but to take its case to the CRTC.
The Toronto-based company’s complaint claims that Bell Media is in breach of the Specialty Service Regulations, and seeks expedited relief to enable VMedia to launch a broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) which would compete with Bell TV. VMedia said the complaint follows more than a year of “fruitless efforts to negotiate agreements that would allow VMedia to carry certain of Bell Media’s…
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MONTREAL – “If we had realized last year how Bell would behave once it acquired CTV, we would have opposed that application and proposed even stronger safeguards in the Vertical Integration proceeding,” said Rogers vice-president of regulatory affairs Pam Dinsmore in kicking off Rogers Communications’ opposition to the Bell-Astral merger on Wednesday morning.
“However, we know the Commission cannot turn back the clock back on the CTV transaction now. That ship has sailed.”
The RCI presentation told a tale of how CTV has changed since being acquired by Bell Canada, a story where multiplatform rights are routinely held back and that…
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MONTREAL – Telus is another in the line of companies who want the purchase of Astral Media by Bell Canada killed.
But, if it is approved, the industry needs better rules to govern the behaviour of it and other vertically integrated companies (but especially Bell…), Telus told the CRTC Thursday morning in Montreal.
The best example of Bell’s intransigence, said Telus executives, is its dealings on multiplatform content. “It has been mentioned by many parties in this proceeding that Olympic coverage on mobile was only available to Bell Mobility subscribers,” said Telus director of broadcast regulation and corporate affairs, Ann Mainville-Neeson….
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MONTREAL – Sometimes it’s hard to put a finger on the reasons why we decide to pull something out of the tens of thousands of words spoken at CRTC hearings and turn it into a story.
Other times, such as Cogeco Cable CEO Louis Audet’s focused, furious appearance Wednesday, it’s easy to figure out why we cover some submissions instead of others…
We know everyone works hard on their presentations and the job they all do is commendable. However, as I often tell people, we can’t write about everyone. That said, there are frequent portions in every CRTC hearing that stick…
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MONTREAL – It's rare to witness tempers flare in the public forum that is a CRTC hearing, but observers saw Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet at his passionate best Wednesday afternoon, ripping a deal he says should be wholly quashed, whatever the consequences.
A combined Bell-Astral would have too much power in TV, too much power in radio and that level of ownership of concentration must be denied because it is not in the public interest, the CEO said, many times, when he faced the panel of commissioners. “We’ve arrived at a crossroads at this hearing you are holding this…
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