OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC on Thursday renewed the licences of the French-language television services operated by TVA Group, Astral Media, and Canal Évasion, plus maintained the existing conditions of licence for V.
Noting that TVA has invested an average of 45% of its gross annual revenues in the production of Canadian programming over the last three years, the Commission approved its request to remove all requirements related to the type of programming it broadcasts.
The CRTC directed it to continue to provide the same quantity of dramas, musicals and documentaries that it currently broadcasts, plus devote 80% of its programming…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – Wind Mobile’s legal woes appear to be over after the Supreme Court said Thursday that it would not grant Public Mobile’s leave to appeal an earlier court decision confirming Wind’s compliance with the Canadian ownership rules.
Public Mobile’s petition sought to overturn a Government in Council decision to quash the previous CRTC ruling that Wind’s parent, Globalive Wireless, didn’t comply with the Telecom Act’s foreign ownership rules. At that time, Egypt-based wireless company Orascom Telecom owned two thirds of Globalive’s equity and almost all of its debt.
“Wind is interested in fighting in the marketplace to provide Canadians with…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – If you ask anyone on the regulatory side of this industry, they’ll tell you that Bob Buchan and Peter Grant are two of the most admired legal minds in the country.
Together, Buchan, of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and Grant, of McCarthy Tetrault, created and organized the Law Society of Upper Canada’s New Developments in Communications Law and Policy Conference, held every two years in Ottawa. It’s a must-attend for those working the regulatory trenches in Ottawa.
As stewardship of the conference has been handed over to co-chairs Grant Buchanan of McCarthy Tetrault and Laurence Dunbar of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC received 39 new complaints in the first quarter of 2012 about the Internet traffic management practices (ITMPs) used by Internet service providers.
In its latest status report, the Commission noted that the vast majority of the complaints centred on ITMP usage, which are complaints related to the effect of such practices on customers.
At March 31, 2012, the CRTC still had 8 active complaints but had closed 27. Closed complaints include complaints where Commission staff determined that the ISP is compliant with the CRTC’s policies, or the ISP has come into compliance subsequent to the complaint, and…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Small local telephone companies operating in rural regions of Ontario and Quebec have enjoyed special protection from competition for long enough and now is the time to open up their markets to cable competitors, its competitors and potential competitors have told the Governor-in-Council.
The Ontario Telecommunications Association (OTA) and the Association des Compagnies de Téléphone du Québec Inc. (ACTQ) fear that if their markets are fully opened to competition, they will suffer severe financial impacts that could put them out of business (as they have noted on Cartt.ca). They are urging the Governor-in-Council to…
Continue Reading
IT’S BEEN A NUMBER OF months since we last tried to publicly discomfit the Canadian Internet service provider industry over its lack of action on delivering a cohesive, national, inexpensive broadband program to low income urban Canadians.
As we’ve noted, it’s happening south of the border. A program (the creation of private industry done at the urging of the Federal Communications Commission and with zero government money) called Connect 2 Compete allows qualifying low income families to get access to broadband for $9.95 a month as well as to low cost computers and tech support.
In the…
Continue Reading
GATINEAU – The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) and Rogers Communications have told the CRTC that they are prepared to accept an extension of the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) as long as the program is only available to independent broadcasters.
In addition to excluding the vertically integrated companies and CBC/Radio-Canada, (which has campaigned hard to keep it) the CCSA said that LPIF monies should only be made available for new, incremental local programming. Despite this slight change of heart, the small BDUs would prefer a complete and immediate elimination of the fund.
According to Access Communications,…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Broadcasters will now be able to contribute to Telefilm Canada’s new private donation fund which has been recognized by the CRTC as a certified independent production fund.
The fund, announced in early March, will consist of two streams – one that will provide better support to emerging filmmakers, and the other aimed at established filmmakers that will help them achieve their full potential both in Canada and abroad.
Under the CRTC's broadcasting distribution regulations, BDUs are required to contribute to the Canadian broadcasting system by fostering the production of new quality Canadian programming through a financial contribution to be directed…
Continue Reading
Perry Hoffman
GATINEAU – Telcos Telus and MTS Allstream are urging the CRTC to remove vertically integrated broadcasters/distributors from eligibility under the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
While Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor all want the LPIF program eliminated, Bell Media Inc. is neither for or against continuing the program. However, each have local stations who are collectively getting millions from the LPIF fund.
Ann Mainville-Neeson, director of broadcast regulation at Telus, noted during her opening remarks, that of the large vertically integrated providers, only Bell is clinging to LPIF despite the fact that it could save more than $1 million if the…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC knows all its needs to know about over-the-top online and mobile broadcasting, at least for now.
In a letter to industry stakeholders this week, the Commission said that it has scrapped plans to hold another OTT fact-finding exercise this May. Since last year’s investigation and subsequent report, the Regulator said that it has continued to study trends related to over-the-top programming services and their impact on the Canadian system, which has included monitoring consumer behaviour, technology and financial trends, as well as reviewing third-party expert analysis.
“Based on this monitoring and expert analysis, the Commission considers that over-the-top programming services have…
Continue Reading
