OTTAWA – Fight Media has wrestled control of The Fight Network and Le Réseau des Combats from its former owners. At least for now.
After a public hearing on the matter last month, the CRTC approved an application by current owners Fight Media Inc. to acquire, as part of a corporate reorganization, the assets of the two Category 2 specialty television channels.
As Cartt.ca reported, the Commission originally decided not to review the application after learning of a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court which included, among others, the channel’s founder Mike Garrow.
In an e-mail to Cartt.ca, Garrow vowed…
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THE CAMPAIGN CALLING for a ban on usage-based-billing has caught the attention of Industry Minister Tony Clement, but that’s not enough for the group behind the ‘Stop the Meter’ initiative.
The SaveOurNet coalition called on Minister Clement to support an open Internet, and to request that the CRTC conduct regular audits of Internet service providers (ISPs) in order to prevent traffic shaping practices that discriminate against content or services. After the Twitter version of the petition was directed to his account, an email reply on Clement’s behalf was issued by Pamela Miller, director general of the Telecommunications Policy Branch of the federal government, to those…
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SHERIDAN SCOTT KNOWS she’s going to have to improvise somewhat when she opens her panel session at the International Institute of Communications Canadian chapter conference on November 22.
Her panel is called “taking stock of national digital strategies” and is scheduled to happen about two hours after Industry Minister Tony Clement is scheduled to speak. He is expected to give a progress report on where he and his ministry are in crafting Canada’s national digital strategy – a process the minister kicked off in May (Some are also expecting an update on the federal governments thinking on…
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the global village continues its digital evolution, it is critical that all of its citizens be able to use its products and services, and that includes the disabled and the elderly.
That was the key message in a speech that CRTC secretary general Robert Morin made Tuesday to the Global Forum conference in Washington.
“We live in a world where technology is evolving at such a fast rate that it’s sometimes hard to keep up”, Morin said. “Who would have thought 10 years ago that we would be able to access the Internet from almost anywhere on our cellphones, laptops, netbooks and…
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TORONTO – Glassbox Television has completed its acquisition of the Category 1 specialty channel Travel + Escape from CTV.
Under a transitional services agreement, the physical broadcast operations of the service will continue at CTV through Fall 2011. The CRTC approved the $10 million transaction late last month, as Cartt.ca reported.
www.glassbox.tv
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A GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE designed to stop incumbent ISPs like Bell, Rogers and Shaw from implementing usage-based billing seems to be quietly gaining momentum.
Led by the consumer group OpenMedia.ca, the campaign launched a petition late last week which calls usage-based billing “a blow to consumer choice, to access, and to free expression” and “devastating not only for the user experience, but for all innovation and entrepreneurship online”.
Using an image of a parking meter whose red ‘expired’ tag reads “Too Much Internet”, the petition had over a thousand names in less than 24 hours. This prompted the OpenMedia.ca network to kick off an…
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OTTAWA – Shaw has received another short term renewal of its Class 1 cable licenses in Western Canada to help the CRTC keep tabs on its compliance.
In its decision on Friday, the CRTC said that short-term renewals allow it “to review at an earlier date the licensees’ compliance with the Commission’s regulatory requirements and policy provisions”.
Shaw systems serving various locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are set to expire on November 30, 2010. They have been renewed from December 1, 2010 through August 31, 2015.
www.crtc.gc.cawww.shaw.ca
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REGINA – SaskTel is voicing its firm objection to a proposed 50% increase in local telephone rates in rural Canada, at least without an opportunity for residents in those areas to weigh in.
The Regina-based telco said in a statement that rate proposals made last week by Shaw, Rogers, Telus and Bell during the CRTC’s local telephone service hearing failed to address “the sharp inequalities in employment and incomes across the country”. SaskTel also suggested that the majority of “rural and northern residents do not understand the magnitude of the impact this public hearing could have on them”.
“We believe that these…
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BRACEBRIDGE, Ont. – It’s taken a while to dole out the millions of dollars the federal government set aside to fund broadband expansion to rural areas in Canada.
That has led some telecom industry insiders to tell Cartt.ca Industry Canada, which is in charge of the Broadband Canada fund, is having difficulty finding enough places which remain unserved by Canadian broadband providers upon which to spend the money.
However, after Saturday’s announcement of the third wave of funding, $152 million of the $225 million available has been spoken for and Minister Tony Clement told Cartt.ca in an interview Saturday the…
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BRACEBRIDGE, Ont. – One day after the CRTC wrapped up its hearing into the potential for more obligations, money and higher speeds for rural broadband (among other items), Industry Canada announced 21 new projects to be funded through the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program.
These 21 latest projects will cost $29.1 million and soon connect 30,184 households in four provinces and one territory to broadband Internet networks, announced Industry Minister Tony Clement, who spoke at the Muskoka Bean Cafe in Bracebridge on Saturday morning.
This announcement brings total spending so far from the $225 million Broadband Canada fund to $152…
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