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Search Results for: crtc

Radio / Television News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

Cogeco calls for regulatory safeguards in advance of vertical integration hearing

MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable urged the CRTC to keep close watch over the potential merger between Bell and CTV in order to “preserve competition and protect consumer interests”. Appearing Wednesday morning at the hearing into the transaction in Gatineau, president and CEO Louis Audet stressed the importance of obtaining specific regulatory safeguards as soon as possible, and definitely before the upcoming vertical integration policy hearing in June, to “prevent abuse of the dominant position” that the new conglomerate would have if the transaction is approved. "Ultimately, Canadian consumers risk footing the bill for concentration and vertical integration in the absence of greater oversight”, he… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

Commission lays out new rules for video-on-demand

OTTAWA – The CRTC has released its new rules for video-on-demand (VOD) services, plus exemptions for small VOD undertakings. Highlights from the decision include: – the definition of gross annual revenue for the purpose of calculating a VOD undertaking’s contribution to Canadian independent production funds;– the competition of subscription VOD (SVOD) packages with Canadian linear discretionary services;– the limits on advertising;– the prohibition relating to the acquisition of exclusive program rights;– the introduction of a reverse onus provision;– the obligation to remit to rights holders of Canadian feature films 100% of revenues earned from… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

Industry Committee wants to hear from von Finckenstein on UBB

OTTAWA – The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology wants to talk to CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein about usage-based-billing. Faced with a public furor over the issue, the committee has called a 90-minute meeting Thursday afternoon with von Finckenstein and telecom vice-chair Len Katz as the only ones scheduled to appear. They want the pair to explain the Commission’s stance on the usage based billing Internet Service Providers are allowed to charge their wholesale and retail clients. We expect a lot of political grandstanding as politicians attempt to grapple with an issue they have demonstrated (except for one… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

Richard Stursberg returns

GATINEAU – Seems as though Telus has a thing for former Canadian Cable Television Association presidents… Former CBC executive vice-president Richard Stursberg made his first official industry appearance since he was let go by the Corp in the summer Wednesday in Gatineau. He was appearing for Telus as an expert consultant during the big carrier’s appearance in front of the CRTC during day two of its hearing into the acquisition of CTV by BCE. (Stursberg was president of the now defunct CCTA in the late 1990s and Telus’ SVP regulatory and government affairs, Michael Hennessy was the final CCTA president. The company… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

UBB decision to be reversed

OTTAWA – A number of Wednesday evening published reports suggest that if the CRTC doesn’t alter its recent usage-based billing decision, federal cabinet will act to do it for the Regulator. Click here, here and here to read some very similar stories on the matter. Oh, and then there was this tweet (below) from Industry Minister Tony Clement last night to CBC Parliamentary Reporter Rosie Barton. Seems like it’s quashed. It will be interesting to see how Thursday’s Industry Committee meeting, where CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein will face MPs, unfolds.
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Cable / Telecom News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

COMMENTARY: A way out for usage-based billing

IT IS UNLIKELY THAT WE will see the elimination of usage sensitive pricing for the aggregated wholesale services that many internet services providers use to reach their customers (as I mentioned yesterday afternoon) Usage is an efficient and fair cost allocation system for shared resources, as suggested in the National Post. However, the currently mandated approach of applying charges on a per-user basis may need to give way to some form of aggregation in order to provide ISPs with sufficient flexibility to offer consumer increased choice among price plans. A number of times, I have referred to the all-you-can-eat buffet… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

BCE/CTV: No exclusive content on any platforms: Telus; monitoring for abuses a must: Cogeco

GATINEAU – While producers and others argued how and where the $220-million BCE/CTV benefits package should be spent, the two largest carriers without broadcast or specialty TV divisions warned the CRTC that something must be done to rein in the power a combined BCE/CTV will have. While the Commission has long prohibited content exclusives on the TV side (CTV has to make Comedy Network available to all carriers and can’t sign an exclusive with any one or two), our exploding media world has all experimenting, looking for new business models and lines of revenue on new, unregulated, platforms. Part of that… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

UBB: The heat is on

OTTAWA – It’s pretty safe to say that when the Prime Minister is moved enough by an issue to tweet about it, the country’s big ISPs are going to be feeling some heat. Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, buffeted by the ever-growing digital wind which is howling about the CRTC’s usage-based billing decision of January 25th (and some UBB decisions before that), took to Twitter (well, his people who write that sort of stuff for him, anyway) to say that he has asked for a review of the decision. This came a day after his Minister of Industry, Tony Clement,… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

BCE/CTV: Competition Bureau is keeping its eye on the industry

OTTAWA – When Shaw Communications purchased Canwest Global’s TV assets last year, the Competition Bureau gave the transaction its blessing. The Bureau’s statement on that deal said: “this transaction would not likely give rise to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition,” and rubber-stamped it. No such simple approval was forthcoming from the Bureau today when it commented on the acquisition of CTV by BCE. Instead, it seems worried about the extent of vertical integration among big media companies and distributors in Canada. While the statement from Commissioner of Competition Melanie Aitken said “at this time”, the Bureau doesn’t have… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News February 2, 2011 15 years ago

BCE/CTV: Cope says without benefits funds, Bell won’t go MPEG-4; and other day one bullets

GATINEAU – Tuesday afternoon, BCE president and CEO George Cope (who looked a little grey as he fought through a bad cold) was unequivocal when it came to MPEG-4 video compression technology: Without benefits money, the company won’t do that upgrade. Ever. Bell’s proposed benefits package proposes an MPEG-4 conversion for Bell Satellite TV that would then see it able to carry all local OTA TV stations which are eligible for the local programming improvement fund (LPIF is a fund created by the CRTC in 2009 to assist small local TV broadcasters). Those local ‘casters have long complained that the fact… Continue Reading
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