Search Results for: crtc

Radio / Television News

Talk of the town: Montreal English talk-radio station to take on CJAD

MONTREAL – Could an AM talk-radio war be brewing in Montréal? Looks that way with the city’s top-rated English-language radio station CJAD 800 AM now facing a new competitor on the 600 AM dial. The CRTC today approved the application for a new English-language talk radio station from Montreal businessmen Paul Tietolman, Nicolas Tétrault and Rajiv Pancholy. The trio has promised to fill 100% of its schedule with local programming that primarily targets those between the ages of 25 and 54. It will also become the sister station to French-language talk station 940 AM… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Small telcos’ positions on subsidy regime still opposed by larger service providers

GATINEAU – The small telephone companies and their larger competitors are seeing eye-to-eye on some aspects of proposed changes to the regulatory framework for small incumbent local exchange carriers (SILECs). But on others, they remain at loggerheads. When it comes to giving SILECs the same flexibility as the ILECs in market trials and promotions, and the use of rate ranges, there is broad consensus among interveners. The same goes for maintaining the basket of services structure. Telus is an outlier on this issue. It wants the creation of a fifth basket that would group all competitor services – interconnection and… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Wireless carriers to create “blacklist” to fight smartphone theft

OTTAWA – Wireless carriers are taking action to create a national system in Canada that would blacklist lost or stolen smartphones and keep them from being reactivated. Until now when a phone was reported lost or stolen carriers would suspend service to the device. But there were no measures in place to stop the person who stole it, or bought it from the thief, from reactivating the phone under a new account. The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and Canada's wireless carriers are pledging to assist law enforcement agencies with their efforts to combat… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Canada’s wireless carriers to take action to combat smartphone theft

OTTAWA – The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and Canada's wireless carriers will unveil their plan of action to assist law enforcement agencies with their efforts to combat the theft of wireless devices and the valuable data within them. It's something the CRTC has been demanding action on throughout this year, as Cartt.ca has reported — and something Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian says is a must. The plan will be released Thursday, November 8, 2012 during a 10 am  press conference in the Fairmont Château Laurier (Québec Suite) 1… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

OAB’s Connection 2012 reports record attendance

TORONTO – The Connection 2012 conference attracted a record number of attendees reports the Ontario Association of Broadcasters (OAB). “ OAB Connection 2012 hit a new high level for our annual conference. Our six speakers presented a diverse set of perspectives on current trends affecting our industry through the eyes of marketers, programmes, an investment analyst, a sales professional, and a market researcher,” remarked OAB President, Doug Kirk. The conference, at the Westin Bristol Place Hotel, featured an extensive line-up of industry speakers including Scott Cuthbertson, Sean Ross, Donald Cooper, Paul Weyland, and Alastair… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

ISP SUMMIT 2012: Blais wants industry to connect “digital have-nots”

TORONTO – Network service providers must do much more to make sure all Canadians can gain access to the internet, no matter where they are, or what their economic situation said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais on Monday. In his keynote address to the 2012 Canadian ISP Summit, the chair noted that the Internet “defines how Canadians live, work and play. It is part and parcel of almost every aspect of our lives,” he said. Creators can share their work more easily, Canadians can consume that work multiple ways, relationships can be brought closer together, and key services like education and… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Obituary: Cogeco founder Henri Audet dies at 94

MONTREAL – Henri Audet, the elder statesman of the Canadian cable and broadcast pioneers who built Cogeco from a single broadcast TV station, died November 3. He was 94. With an electrical engineering degree from MIT, Audet joined the CBC in 1949 when it was just a radio broadcaster beginning to explore television. He and a few others led the public broadcaster’s push into the new medium, which saw the first station go live in Toronto in 1952 – and two years later the first French-language CBC TV station in Montreal. However, the CBC’s television coverage was very limited then and… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

IIC Canada 2012: Industry Canada getting set to unveil spectrum release plan

OTTAWA – Industry Canada has plans to deal with the mobile spectrum crunch. It involves allocation tweaks, technology innovation and some potential harmonization with the U.S. Just before Industry Minister Christian Paradis spoke about spectrum on Tuesday afternoon, Helen McDonald, senior assistant deputy minister for spectrum, information technologies and telecommunications at the department told the IIC Canada conference that the 270 MHz mobile broadband spectrum currently available could double to nearly 550 MHz of bandwidth by 2014. Much of this could come from allocation changes in the 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz bands as well as… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

IIC Canada 2012: Does a watch-canada.com portal sound like a good idea?

OTTAWA – Does the “Made in Canada” brand matter to Canadians when it comes to their television and film content? Does it matter internationally? If so, how can the industry better promote it to make it matter? Those were some of the questions discussed Monday during the pre-conference symposium on the promotion of Canadian film and TV content held in conjunction with the International Institute of Communications annual Canadian conference here in Ottawa. Sponsored by Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund and the CRTC, the symposium delegates tried to come up with ways of better-promoting Canadian film and TV in… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Q3 profit drops 12% at BCE, wireless revenues jump 7.1%

MONTREAL – BCE Inc. reports profits slipped 12% in the third quarter to $569 million compared with $642 million a year earlier, but is still on track to meet the 2012 financial guidance it issued in August. It attributed the drop “mainly due to lower income tax expense in Q3 2011 from the favourable resolution of tax matters.” Revenue increased 1.8% to $4.3-billion, while operating revenue rose 1.5% to $4.98 billion. Bell EBITDA was up 5.2% in Q3 on growth of 15.2% at Bell Wireless and 92.6% at Bell Media, partly offset by a 6.2% decline at Bell… Continue Reading