By Connie Thiessen
Traditional broadcasters will pay, starting April 1, lower regulatory fees under a new structure the CRTC announced Thursday.
Drafted with an eye to striking a fair balance between the regulatory fees paid by traditional broadcasters and online streaming services, the Broadcasting Fees Regulations are calculated and based on broadcasting revenues.
“In making these regulations, the Commission was mindful to minimize the regulatory burden on the Canadian broadcasting system in order to support flexibility and adaptability in its regulatory framework,” the commission stated in a summary. “The Broadcasting Fees Regulations allow traditional broadcasters and online streaming services to continue to benefit from exemption…
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The CRTC said last week that it will accept applications for another FM radio station in Calgary.
The regulator received 75 interventions in support of providing at least one more licence for a station in the market it now says is on the economic rebound with strong population growth and higher average household income despite the downturn caused by the pandemic.
“This is mainly due to a strong energy sector, strong oil prices and significant population growth,” which includes growth in the city’s ethnic and indigenous populations, the regulator said in its reasons, adding in the 2021-2022 broadcast year, the market…
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Groups representing deaf and blind Canadians that took part in the CRTC’s two-and-a-half-year review of video relay service (VRS) are accusing the country’s large telecom players of turning the cost claim process for the proceeding into a barrier to Canadians with disabilities.
On Jan. 14, the Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind (CNSDB), Deaf-Blind Planning Committee (DBPC) and Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee (DWCC) submitted applications for reimbursement of costs associated with their participation in the CRTC’s 2021-102 proceeding, which was launched in March 2021 and closed in October 2023. The CNSDB and DBPC conducted…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri told members of the House of Commons industry committee Monday that the wireless price increases it announced in January affect only a small percentage of legacy customers and that millions of customers switched providers and plans last year against a backdrop of increasingly lower prices.
Members of the committee called a meeting with the heads of the country’s three largest telecoms to address concerns about wireless prices after Rogers announced that month that it would hike prices for certain off-contract customers by an average of $5 and by as much as $9.
Staffieri…
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By Ahmad Hathout
After being denied a licence to operate an FM radio station in Yellowknife, Cabin Radio is getting another shot after the CRTC said it found the market may not be as well served now as when it evaluated its application.
The online news radio station filed an initial licence application in August 2019, but the regulator denied it last year on the basis that the market could not support another as commercial radio revenues across the country saw two years of declines. Cabin Radio then quickly filed another application asking for an exception to the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC wants to know whether news publishers that fail to strike a deal with online platforms to host their content should be required to immediately use CRTC staff for mediation, rather than an external third party.
The concern from the regulator – which launched the consultation period Wednesday on the implementation of the Online News Act – is that much of the allotted 120-day mediation period could be consumed by a search and then agreement on that third party mediator, notwithstanding the cost to smaller news businesses.
“Given that Commission staff already offers mediation services to resolve certain…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Concerned about further delay in the process, the CRTC on Tuesday denied Bell’s application asking it to defer to the courts the question of whether it has jurisdiction over small cell attachment on telco structures or hold a separate proceeding on just that question.
The regulator launched a proceeding on the wireless attachment issue last month, holding the preliminary view that it has simultaneous jurisdiction over those structures with spectrum auction authority Innovation Canada (ISED). It also laid out some other related issues to be determined during the consultation period.
Bell has argued that these attachments on poles it…
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Moses Znaimer, founder and CEO of ZoomerMedia Limited, last Friday announced Serge Blumenfeld has assumed the role of the Toronto-based media company’s chief financial officer following the departure of Terence Chan who has left to pursue family business opportunities.
“The Board thanks Mr. Chan for his dedication and excellent service and wishes him the best in his future endeavors,” a press release says.
With more than 20 years of experience in a variety of finance and technology roles, Blumenfeld has previously held senior positions at a number of Fortune 1000 companies, including Citibank,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Telecommunications carriers will face significant delays and barriers in deploying 5G technology if the CRTC is determined not to have jurisdiction over municipal structures on which small cells are attached, Rogers told the Supreme Court of Canada this month.
The nation’s highest court granted an application by Telus in December to hear its arguments challenging the Federal Court of Appeal’s determination that Parliament did not intend for “transmission line” to include wireless technology under the Telecommunications Act. The appeal stemmed from an April 2021 CRTC decision neglecting to regulate that space because the regulator said it…
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Featured today, in the first extended podcast conversation of her Commission mandate, is Vicky Eatrides, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the CRTC.
Coming to the job with an impressive toolkit of practicing regulatory law in the private sector, a raft of undeniably key assignments with the Competition Board of Canada, and even skills in enforcing criminal provisions and criminal investigations, Eatrides presents a clear and determined vision of what needs to be done… and the sooner the better.
Join Contributing Editor, Bill Roberts, as together they review Eatrides’…
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