OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s 654 commercial radio stations saw 2010 revenues increase by only 2.9%, according to data released Wednesday by the CRTC.
For the broadcast year ending August 31, 2010, FM stations reported higher revenues and profits on the strength of improved local and national advertising sales, but there was little change in the results for AM stations. Total revenues for AM and FM stations increased to $1.55 billion, while expenses rose by 1.5% to $1.21 billion. As a result, profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) climbed from $271.6 million in 2009 to $298.4 million in 2010, and the PBIT margin went…
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GATINEAU – Shaw Communications Inc. says that while it prefers a volume-based billing model for wholesale services, it’s prepared to do the work to implement a peak period approach if directed to do so.
The company noted during its appearance on Day 3 of the CRTC’s usage-based billing hearing that if three specific criteria are met either approach could give the independent ISPs the flexibility they need to compete in the market while also appropriately compensating the wholesale network providers.
“We must be able to recover our investments; we must be able to charge more for higher speeds; and there…
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TORONTO and OTTAWA – Law professor Michael Geist is standing by a blog post he wrote late last week claiming satellite Internet provider Barrett Xplore altered its Internet management policies after a complaint made to the CRTC under the Commission’s guidelines on net neutrality.
Geist, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, also wrote in his blog that Barrett Xplore (now known as Xplornet) “was also the source of the longest running complaint as the company took months to respond to CRTC requests to improve its disclosure practices.” This prompted a tersely…
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EVEN THE VERTICALLY integrated companies know they need a code of conduct to help guide how – as the 800-pound Canadian gorillas – they do business in a country where they own most of the content and distribution channels.
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said repeatedly during last month’s vertical integration hearing that he wants to see some sort of code of business practices for vertically integrated media companies set out in writing in order to try and avoid new regulatory and legal battles when the new BDU regulations come into force this September. So final replies, which were due…
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OTTAWA – As the CRTC continues to sort through the potential impact of vertical integration, it offered a clarification to its original continuation of service notice.
The Commission said Tuesday that it has amended paragraph 2 of Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2011-415 as follows (the changes are in bold):
2. The preceding determinations shall remain in effect until 30 days following the publication of the Commission’s decision in the above-noted proceeding. The Commission clarifies that affected broadcasting distribution undertakings and programming undertakings are not precluded from renegotiating the rates, terms and conditions or any combination thereof of pre-existing distribution agreements during the…
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MARKHAM, ON – Xplornet Communications is disputing allegations made by law professor Michael Geist in an article that he wrote last week about the CRTC’s inability to enforce its net neutrality guidelines.
The satellite Internet provider, which is formerly known as Barrett Xplore, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that Geist’s depiction of its dispute with Ontario-based Internet phone company ExaTEL omitted "material information" and drew "incorrect conclusions regarding Barrett Xplore Inc.’s actions”.
Cartt.ca will have more on the story shortly.
– Lesley Hunter
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GATINEAU – Independent ISPs and some of their supporters came under significant criticism on day two of the CRTC’s wholesale usage-based billing hearing for wanting to profit off the backs of the incumbent providers and not invest in their own networks because the deal is too good.
CRTC vice-chair of broadcasting Tom Pentefountas first took OpenMedia and the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) to task in the morning session wondering whether there is actually an incentive for the independent ISPs to invest in building out networks. “Isn’t part of the issue that the deal is so…
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HALIFAX – The CRTC seems to have a rather unlikely ally in its desire for stronger means to enforce its guidelines on net neutrality.
Responding to an article by Michael Geist questioning the Commission’s record for protecting consumers from Internet management practices, the Liberals suggested that the CRTC conduct “pro-active audits” in order to “measure” such practices.
“Without the threat of sanctions from the CRTC, Internet service providers have little reason to follow the CRTC’s established management framework”, reads a statement from Geoff Regan, Liberal Critic for Industry and Consumer Affairs. “Without pro-active audits by the CRTC to measure internet management practices, there…
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OTTAWA and TORONTO – Wait just a minute: we didn’t mean that the whole licence renewal hearing should be postponed.
That was the message from the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) after learning that the CRTC decided to push back the CBC’s licence renewal process from September to June, 2012. While acknowledging that they both supported a request from the Quebec English-language Production Committee (QEPC) for more detailed financial data from the CBC, the two organizations were quick to issue statements expressing their collective disappointment with the Commission’s decision to delay the…
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GATINEAU – Aggregated volume pricing (AVP) shouldn’t be seen as a penalty on independent ISPs, but as an incentive for them to manage their network congestion, Bell Canada told the CRTC during the first day of the re-hearing of the wholesale usage-based billing issue.
Bell argued its AVP approach is a better economic internet traffic management practice (ITMP) than the 95th percentile method proposed by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) because it provides returns on network investments and incents independent ISPs to reduce congestion in their networks.
“ ensures that incumbents receive an appropriate return on their…
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