The CRTC last week approved, by majority decision, a CBC application for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language FM radio station replacing its AM radio station CFFB Iqaluit and to make technical amendments to its existing rebroadcasting transmitter CFFB-FM-3 in Iqaluit.
The commission also approved a related application by the CBC to revoke the broadcasting licence for the existing AM station.
The CBC had indicated any potential failure of CFFB’s current infrastructure could cause the loss of CBC Radio One programming in the region. The purpose of CBC’s applications was to…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
A coalition of independent television stations has submitted an application to the CRTC requesting the regulator compel Meta to come to the bargaining table after alleging the social media giant has been hosting news programming without paying.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it had banned Canadian news on its platforms after the Online News Act, which requires technology platforms to pay to link that content, became law in 2023. Late last year, the CRTC said it acknowledged measures taken by the company to comply with the law Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus and Bell have agreed to end applications to the CRTC that each claimed the other was making it difficult to lease space on their fibre networks.
According to a Friday letter from the CRTC, Telus and Bell submitted letters to the regulator earlier this week to withdraw their applications. The regulator, in turn, voided an interim order that forced Bell to revert system updates that Telus claimed was causing its wholesale access issues in Ontario and Quebec.
“Commission staff expects that any processes and procedures associated with the wholesale provisioning of HSA will apply to all wholesale customers…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has published its updated Strategic Plan: Connecting Canadians through technology and culture on Friday, setting out “to be a modern, inclusive, and timely regulator.”
The commission says it’s continuing to prioritize areas that have the greatest impact, including modernizing Canada’s broadcasting framework.
“Canadians should have access to a wide range of programming, in both official languages, by a diverse range of creators, including those from Indigenous and official language minority communities (OLMCs),” the plan states.
To that end, the commission says it will continue to work toward:
implementing the modernized Broadcasting Act to determine how broadcasters should support the broadcast…
Continue Reading
By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has set a virtual hearing for April 30, at which it will consider a change of ownership for half a dozen radio stations and an application from CBC to convert its AM station in Cornerbrook, NL to FM.
Among the change of ownership applications is Stingray Radio’s bid to acquire CHUP-FM Calgary, currently branded as Hot AC format C97.7, from Rawlco Radio. Stingray would purchase the assets of the station for $5.5 million, with the total value of the transaction estimated at over $6.1 million.
Rawlco is also seeking approval to acquire 92.9 The Bull (CKBL-FM) Saskatoon from Saskatoon Media Group. Rawlco would purchase the assets of…
Continue Reading
New wireless competitors took over half of mobile sub adds in 2024
By Ahmad Hathout
Independent wholesale-based internet service providers lost half of their market share since 2020, according to a report from the CRTC.
The market share dropped from a high of 8.4 per cent in 2020 to 4.2 per cent in 2024, according to the Canadian Telecommunications Market Report, released Tuesday. And it’s been steady in between: falling to 8 per cent in 2021, 6.1 per cent in 2022 and 5 per cent in 2023.
“With shifts in the internet service market and in…
Continue Reading
Freedom Mobile on Tuesday announced it is introducing a refreshed suite of Total Freedom plans offering coast-to-coast coverage across Canada, plus international roaming in 120-plus global destinations included at no additional cost.
“These plans will include monthly recurring Roam Beyond data, expanding the value proposition far beyond Canada-U.S.-Mexico use,” said a Freedom press release. “By embedding international roaming into wireless monthly rate plans, Freedom removes the unpredictability and financial burden typically associated with other international roaming options — a longstanding pain point for consumers.”
The new unlimited talk-and-text Total Freedom…
Continue Reading
Bell, utilities say Community Fibre Company’s equipment not authorized on structures
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Community Fibre Company (CFC), a small internet service provider in the Ottawa Valley, says his company “may not survive 2026” after permit delays and the removal of its unauthorized fibre equipment on poles.
“For a facilities based provider to be denied timely access to provide modern Fibre To The Premises services to more than 240 homes is simply devastating, and resulted in CFC losing out to more than $1.65 million dollars in revenue over the past 8 years (240 homes * 80% take-up with an…
Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
The country’s largest telecoms are challenging a decision by Quebec’s highest court allowing a proposed class of plaintiffs to seek punitive damages for device unlocking fees.
Rogers, Bell, Telus and Quebecor are asking the Supreme Court of Canada this week to review the December decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal, which stems from a Fido (Rogers) customer being charged what she called an “abusive” $50 plus tax to unlock her device before going on an overseas trip in 2016.
The telecoms allege the Quebec Court of Appeal incorrectly interpreted parts of the province’s Consumer Protection…
Continue Reading
The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) announced Thursday the addition of three new members to its board of directors.
Gina Power is a former programming and operations director at The Walt Disney Company in Canada, who currently teaches entertainment law at Yorkville University. She is also the board director for Women in Film and Television, Atlantic Canada.
“Serving on the CRFC Board is a genuine privilege. I look forward to contributing to a future where every community has the resources to tell its own story; a future where local stories are not merely preserved but flourish,” she said in a…
Continue Reading
