OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canada’s television services are back in business. CRTC figures released Thursday in a press release, (based largely on data from individual companies which we actually broke down here and here way back in January), show that the return of the advertising market translated into some, albeit modest, profits at conventional broadcasters, though the country’s specialty and pay broadcasters fared better.
According to the Commission’s count, revenue at the country’s private conventional television climbed 9% to approximately $2.15 billion in 2010 broadcast year, while expenses increased 1.7%. This resulted in profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) rebounding from a deficit of $116.6 million in…
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TORONTO—CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein defended the Commission’s broadband speed targets, consumer complaint resolution process, planned vertical integration hearings and other moves in a 40-minute public fireside chat Wednesday morning.
Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit held at the Toronto Congress Centre, von Finckenstein dismissed criticism by some made at the Summit Tuesday that the CRTC recently set its broadband speed goals for Canadian Internet service providers too low. In early May, the agency announced that it expects all Canadians to have access to broadband speeds of at least 5 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream by 2015, targets…
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Perry Hoffman
OTTAWA – Bell Canada says it’s patently wrong for Rogers Communications to suggest that the CRTC can adopt a competitive bidding process for the rights to roll out broadband networks in Bell’s deferral account communities and not experience any further delays.
In its April 18 comments, Bell highlights where the delays would come from. First, if the CRTC opted for an auction now, it would have to conduct another public consultation to determine the auction framework. “Based on prior experience, this, in and of itself, would be a very lengthy exercise which would involve many parties and competing…
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THE LITANY OF REGULATORY issues facing the Canadian telecom business is long and the stakes are huge. It’s why this year’s Regulatory Blockbuster session held Wednesday at the Canadian Telecom Summit yet again delivered a lively, sometimes heated, discourse among the industry’s key regulatory players.
Moderated by Cartt.ca’s editor and publisher Greg O’Brien, the panel featured senior regulatory experts from Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, Telus, MTS Allstream, Globalive Communications and PIAC (the Public Interest Advocacy Centre) and the issues ranged vertical integration, foreign ownership, usage-based billing, wireless spectrum auction rules, rural broadband initiatives, and so on.
With the CRTC’s public hearing…
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AS THE WAYS IN WHICH consumers can get video content proliferate, traditional media producers and distributors are worried about their future.
They hear tons of anecdotal evidence that Canadians are ending their cable, satellite or telco TV subscriptions in favour of getting their favourite shows online: the so-called cord-cutting phenomena.
Is it real? For some we’ve talked to, it sure is. They’ve abandoned their cable subscriptions in favour of a combination of off-air digital signals from TV broadcasters with a broadband connection where they can go “over-the-top” to find enough TV and movie content (from the likes of YouTube, Netflix, broadcaster…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless industry injected $41.2 billion into the Canadian economy in 2009, according to a new report commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
The report, The Benefit of the Wireless Telecommunications Industry to the Canadian Economy, calculated that the wireless sector contributed more than $17.2 billion in terms of direct contribution to the GDP through the sale of goods and services; an additional $14.98 billion due to the economic flow through to contributing suppliers in the supply chain; and more than $9 billion in consumer surplus – the additional benefit or satisfaction that consumers…
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TORONTO – In its effort to set universal broadband Internet speeds for all of Canada, the CRTC set far too low a target when it announced in early May in its "obligation to serve" proceeding decision it expects all Canadians to have access to 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds by 2015. That was the view expressed by at least two panel speakers at the Canadian Telecom Summit on Tuesday during the “Connecting Canadians” session.
“This is just my opinion, but I do think (the CRTC’s Internet speed target) is too low,” said Daniel O’Connell, president of…
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OTTAWA – With just a few weeks left to go before the CRTC’s widely anticipated hearing on vertical integration, the Commission has provided interveners with a sneak peek into what exactly it plans to focus on.
The Regulator posted its agenda and issued a letter on Monday saying that its panel intends to focus on five key areas:
1. Perceived problems and benefits with respect to the Canadian broadcasting system resulting from vertical integration;
2. Concerns with respect to exclusivity of content distribution, including distribution over mobile and broadband platforms;
3. Requirement for protection of independent broadcasters or independent distributors;
4. Adequacy of current ex…
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OTTAWA – As the country’s biggest broadcasters release their fall programming schedules this week, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) said that it has its collective fingers crossed that those schedules will include a strong slate of quality Canadian drama.
“Broadcasters also have to know in a world where we can watch anything at any time, the only way they will stay relevant is to offer distinctive, Canadian programming,” said national president Ferne Downey, in a statement Monday. “Filling their schedules with just made-in-America product we can get anywhere would be a massive strategic mistake.”
Canadian performers…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has asked for comments as it ponders an exemption order respecting satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs), and on the transport of Canadian pay and specialty services by SRDUs, whether licensed or exempt.
SRDUs are licensed undertakings that generally function as wholesalers by transporting broadcasting services and making those services available to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), which then offer them to subscribers. Canada currently has two licensed SRDUs – Shaw Satellite Services Inc., and Bell ExpressVu.
The Commission said Friday that it would like industry feedback on the following questions:
– Should the Commission exempt SRDUs from licensing…
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