OTTAWA – The federal government has pledged over $200 K towards a new French language radio station in Ottawa called radio communautaire francophone d’Ottawa (RCFO).
In an announcement on Friday, Heritage Minister James Moore said that the $224,531 in funding came from his department’s Strategic Funds of the Community Life component, and will be put towards the station’s startup costs.
"Our Government is a leader in this country in supporting the development of official-language minority communities," Minister Moore said in a statement. "RCFO will contribute to the growth of the Ottawa Francophone community by fostering a sense of identity among its members. The…
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TORONTO – CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein, and CWTA President Bernard Lord will join Industry Minister Tony Clement as speakers at this year’s Canadian Telecom Summit.
Scheduled for June 7 – 9, 2010 at the Toronto Congress Centre, the three day event will also feature leaders from Canada’s top wireless companies and suppliers, all of whom, to varying degrees, will outline their visions for the role that wireless communications can play in the lives of all Canadians.
Now in its ninth year, this year’s theme is ‘New Economic Realities, New Approaches: The Communications Industry in Transition’.
For more information or to…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has approved BCE’s plan to introduce usage-based billing, but only under certain conditions.
Thursday’s decision means that Bell Aliant and Bell Canada can introduce new speed options, usage-based billing rates and levy excessive usage charges (together, UBB) for their wholesale residential gateway access services (GAS).
While the Commission granted interim approval of the plan last October, this decision allows Bell to “implement its economic ITMP (Internet traffic management practices) only once it charges UBB rates to all its retail Internet service customers”.
According to telecom analyst Mark Goldberg, this is not what Bell wanted, and in…
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STRATFORD – Does Canada need a single Communications Act, one that blends the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act and the Radiocommunication Act?
CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein seems to think so.
Speaking Monday at the Canada 3.0 forum, von Finckenstein urged attendees to consider “the policy, legislative and regulatory changes that will be required to deal with the new technologies”.
“I can sum up in three points the changes that I believe are necessary”, he said in the address. “We need a conceptual rethinking of our whole approach to regulation; new comprehensive legislation for the whole field of communications; and an improved institutional…
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OTTAWA – Mobilicity has received CRTC approval to proceed with the launch of its new wireless service.
In its ownership and control review, the Commission determined that, subject to certain modifications to the company’s amended and restated shareholders agreement, Mobilicty meets the requirements of the ownership and control regime making it eligible to operate as a Canadian telecommunications common carrier.
In a statement released that afternoon, chairman John Bitove said that Mobilicity has agreed to implement the changes within the required timeframe.
"We have been given the approval to offer Canadians truly competitive wireless services," Bitove said in the statement. "It has taken four…
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WHY DO THE OLD TV sets in the living rooms, garages, kitchens or at the cottages of millions of Canadians deserve to go digital?
As the transition to digital over-the-air TV deadline grows closer and the industry is awakening to the need to act, the question has been asked in some quarters: Why bother?
We can keep fibbing if we want but as an industry we already know it’s now impossible to update our over-the-air television broadcasting system to digital by the August 31, 2011 deadline set years ago by the CRTC. Not “virtually impossible.” Not “challenging.” It is not…
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WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream saw revenue drop by nearly 6% in its first quarter, which the company blamed on the economic downturn and aggressive price competition in its home province of Manitoba.
Revenues from continuing operations were $442 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, down from $469.8 million in the same period last year. EBITDA dropped 11.4% year-over-year to $132.7 million.
The company said Thursday that its results reflect continuing strong growth in its wireless, converged IP and digital TV lines of business, which were offset by declines in its unified communications, security and monitoring, local access, long distance…
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OTTAWA – Allowing more foreign investment in the telecommunications business, particularly for broadcast distributors, will almost certainly have an impact on the content carried on Canadian airwaves, according to Astral Media Inc.’s chairman of the board, André Bureau.
Speaking to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology for its study on foreign ownership restrictions in telecommunications, Bureau said broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) have an “enormous influence” over the programming offered to Canadian consumers.
“BDUs are not just pipes. BDUs make programming decisions everyday. They control and decide which programming services consumers will have access to….
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THE LEADERS OF SHAW Communications took a look at the media landscape around us and decided that if they’re going to be a player in the new always on, video on demand culture, one which is expanding by the second, they had better own some hit shows. Some good brands.
And Monday it announced a $2 billion deal to purchase the TV assets of Canwest Global outright – a move that will cement it as the leading media and distribution company in Canada. The prior deal Shaw announced earlier this year was to purchase just 20% of the company.
Rogers…
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TORONTO – International news channel Al Jazeera English took to the Canadian airwaves Tuesday on Bell TV, Rogers and Videotron.
Additionally, the channel announced plans to open its first Canadian bureau in Toronto next month, a move that it says “signifies the channel’s commitment to presenting Canadian news and perspective to a global audience”.
"We are extremely pleased that AJE’s groundbreaking news and programming is now available in Canada, one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world”, said AJE managing director Tony Burman, in a statement. “Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to travel throughout…
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