GATINEAU – After having been told by CRTC staff on Friday that the Regulator would not consider adding wireless to its look at regulatory symmetry in the telecom world when it comes to the handling of customer cancellations and transfers, Rogers Communications has again pushed the issue back into the lap of the Commission.
In a story on Cartt.ca last week, we told you Rogers wrote the Commission saying it didn’t make any sense to be looking into so-called regulatory symmetry for broadcasting, telecom and Internet while skipping wireless – and that the communications giant wants the notice of…
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TICK, TICK, TICK. There are 407 days left until the end of analog over-the-air television in the major markets the CRTC has identified as must-switches (just look up and to the right to see our countdown clock).
Last week the CRTC, as we reported here, said 857,000 households in major markets will be left without viable TV signals because they use older analog sets fed by rabbit ears or some other sort of antenna because they continue to receive their television off-air.
It also okayed a "Freesat" type of alternative (free service for a small package “local” stations, after…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC will hold a public proceeding in November to review its policies for direct-to-home (DTH) satellite distribution.
Tuesday’s call for comments invited proposals on its regulatory framework for DTH satellite distribution, particularly with respect to the conventional television stations that DTH distributors are required to offer to their subscribers, and the manner in which DTH distributors perform simultaneous substitution.
Comments and interventions are due before September 8, and the hearing is scheduled to begin November 16, 2010 in Gatineau.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – Don’t expect the government to take the lead or to extend the digital transition deadline beyond August 31, 2011.
That appears to be the message behind a short statement issued by Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, hours after the CRTC released its guidelines on the process. Referencing his speech at the annual conference of the Canadian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications in December 2008, Moore said that he “expects industry-led solutions that will ensure a smooth transition for consumers”.
"The transition to digital is inevitable”, Moore said in his speech. “The CRTC has set a deadline of August 31,…
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OTTAWA – While the Commission has been prepared to consider applications for competitive news specialty services since last year, it is unmoved when it comes to considering them as a new category 1 must-carry licenses.
That’s what Quebecor Media was told earlier this month by the CRTC in a letter saying the company’s application for a category 1 cable channel license for Sun TV News will not go forward in Gatineau. As Cartt.ca noted when QMI made the very public announcement of the new news channel it plans to launch in January, the CRTC had already said in March…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – With some 400 or so days to go until Canadian over-the-air broadcasters must transition to digital, the CRTC has weighed in on a few of the many issues.
For starters, the Commission agreed to modify its regulation to allow television distributors to offer “a free alternative” to affected viewers in smaller markets where local stations decide not to convert to digital. These companies will be able to offer a package of local and regional stations at no charge to viewers, however, in order to receive the free local package, the CRTC acknowledged that some of those consumers may have to…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has officially amended the Broadcasting Licence Fee Regulations relating to Part II licence fees.
The Commission said Wednesday that it will calculate licence fees due and payable by December 1, 2010 at the latest, and send out invoices on or about November 1st to undertakings that are licensees on the billing date for which the fee revenues for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2009 exceed the applicable exemption.
After receiving Treasury Board approval, the amended regulations were registered and came into effect on June 23.
Click here for the full list of amendments.
www.crtc.gc.ca
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TORONTO and GATINEAU – Rogers Communications wants to know why the CRTC hasn’t included wireless in its look at regulatory symmetry in the telecom world when it comes to the handling of customer cancellations and transfers.
In a letter dated June 30th, the communications giant told the Commission it didn’t make any sense to be looking into so-called regulatory symmetry for broadcasting, telecom and Internet while skipping wireless – and it wants the notice of consultation amended to include the handling of wireless customer transfer requests, too.
Bell Canada made an application to the Commission in May demanding the same…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is undertaking a review of television program categories.
Monday’s call for comments asks for input in to the Commission’s proposed amendments to the definitions for specific program categories, as well as matters related to program length and advertising.
It is also seeking comments on the appropriate procedure for identifying and updating the specific award shows that will qualify as ‘programs of national interest’. The Commission announced that the current exhibition requirements for priority programming would be replaced by an expenditure requirement for programs of national interest in BRP 2010-167 relating to a group-based approach…
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MONTREAL – If you give it to them, you must give it to us, too.
That’s the gist of the message that Quebecor Media had for the CRTC on Monday when it called for the Commission to “reject the applications by CTV Limited in order to obtain regulatory relief for the ‘A’ stations and for the CTV Network or apply the requested conditions to all Canadian conventional television stations”.
As reported by Cartt.ca, CTV has asked that the Commission extend “interim regulatory flexibility” to its group of ‘A’ channels across the country which it claims have lost nearly $98 million….
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