GATINEAU – Cartt.ca reporter Perry Hoffman will be in the media lockup this afternoon at 2:30 prior to the CRTC release of its latest decision on wholesale Internet usage-based billing.
Whatever the decision, brace yourselves for waves of misinformation on what the decision means, especially since the decision will likely take time and a lot of number crunching to figure out what it all means. The decision is the result of a re-think of the Commission’s prior wholesale UBB decision, which federal cabinet made many noises about forcing the Regulator to re-visit after enduring a substantial public outcry.
However, in the end, the…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has approved a new disconnection and deposit code for home telephone services where prices are not regulated.
The Commission said Monday that it will accept the recommendations made by a committee of telecom companies and consumer groups that sets out a streamlined code of conduct regarding:
– the grounds for disconnection if a subscriber fails to pay their bill;
– the notice that phone companies must provide before disconnecting a telephone line;
– the hours and days during which companies may disconnect service;
– restoration of service when a telephone line is disconnected in error;
– provisions to avoid disconnection during disputes over billing, and
– the maximum of…
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OTTAWA – Some of the country’s biggest broadcasters must pay out a combined $618 million in tangible public benefits by August 31, 2017 associated with their recent acquisitions of English-language television assets, according to new research by Boon Dog Professional Services Inc.
The Ottawa-based research and consulting firm released a new annual syndicated research study on Monday called the ‘Canadian Television Benefits Monitor: Tracking Spending on English-Language Television Benefits Packages’.
The report, which uses 2010 data, tracks spending for 15 current English-language TV benefits packages using data contained in reports filed with the CRTC. The CRTC generally requires broadcasters to pay…
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READERS MIGHT HAVE sensed with my column Thursday that I am taking the issue of getting broadband to low-income families very seriously. I called the fact that we have nothing in Canada to help the poor get broadband in their homes embarrassing, especially when compared to the ambitious and comprehensive Connect 2 Compete program that was launched in the United States this week by the Federal Communications Commission, numerous cable companies and other firms.
Then, reporter Peter Nowak reports today that Canada is the ONLY country in the G8 with no assistance…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is considering granting an exception to its common ownership policy in the Calgary radio market.
The Commission said Wednesday that it has received a request from Corus Entertainment on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary CKIK-FM Limited, to amend the broadcasting licence for its AM radio station CHQR Calgary in order to add an FM rebroadcasting transmitter in Calgary.
Corus currently owns two FM radio stations in Calgary, CFGQ-FM (through CKIK-FM Limited) and CKRY-FM through Corus Radio Company. According to the CRTC’s common ownership policy, in markets with eight commercial stations or more operating in a given…
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THIS SHOULD BE EMBARASSING. For all of us. The announcement Stateside that the Federal Communications Commission is teaming up with the cable industry and many others down south to offer low-income households access to computers, training and cheaper broadband ($9.95 a month), shows the Americans have it right.
The digital divide is not a rural-urban gap but a cost/knowledge/education chasm, regardless of where you live.
Many Americans can’t afford the $40-or-more per month it costs to get broadband at home, can’t afford a computer in the first place, and without broadband – as we all have come to realize – those families…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is taking its show on the road to Calgary early next year to consider a dozen new radio applications vying to serve that market.
The Commission said Wednesday that it has scheduled a hearing on February 6, 2012 beginning at 9:00 am at The Coast Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre located at 1316-33rd Street N. E. in Calgary. Among the new radio proposals for consideration include applications from the likes of Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, Bell Media and Harvard Broadcasting.
In addition, the CRTC will review applications from GlassBox Television for a new television service to…
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OTTAWA – Parties to telecommunications proceedings may now coordinate and organize interventions in support of their position into a joint supporting intervention.
After changing its practice to allow joint supporting interventions in the context of broadcasting proceedings in January 2010, the Commission said Tuesday that joint submissions should also be allowed in telecommunication proceedings, noting the process’ improved efficiencies.
The joint supporting intervention must include the following:
– the supporting interventions;
– a list setting out the names of persons filing the supporting interventions;
– a statement by the person filing the joint interventions that the persons on the list have requested…
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OTTAWA – With more Canadians than ever connected to all manner of devices in so many ways, complaints about wireless services, Internet access and VoIP providers more than doubled in the past year, according to the 2010-2011 annual report for the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS).
The CCTS said that it received 8,007 complaints, up 114% over last year, which Commissioner Howard Maker noted was the largest year-over-year increase in complaints in the organization’s four year history.
Wireless complaints accounted for 62.3% of all complaints, up from 51.7% last year, which Maker said reflected the increasing availability of…
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OTTAWA – Astral-owned Super Écran will remain alone in the French pay TV genre, at least for the time being.
The CRTC called for new applications for French-language general interest pay television services that would compete with Super Écran back in February, but said Friday that it had not received any applications.
The Commission said that it would stick with its original position to not to open up the French-language general interest pay television service genre to competition, and closed its consideration of this file.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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