OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for comments on new draft regulations to replace its current broadcasting and telecom rules.
Due to increasing convergence in the broadcasting and telecommunications services and industries, the Commission said that the time has come to harmonize the rules, which will be known as the ‘CRTC Rules of Practice and Procedure’ when they come into force.
The exercise will also allow the Commission to eliminate repetition and outdated regulations while establishing uniform rules for proceedings wherever possible, the CRTC said in Broadcasting and Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2009-602 on Wednesday.
It has also called for…
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OTTAWA – The geographical territory served by the 613 area code will get an additional area code starting next spring.
Beginning May 17, 2010, area code 343 will be introduced in eastern Ontario, including the areas of Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, Brockville, Cornwall and Bancroft.
The CRTC made the decision in response to high demand for new telephone numbers in the area. The 343 code will come into use gradually after May 2010. Until then, numbers with 613 will continue to be issued until they run out.
www.region613.comwww.crtc.gc.ca
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OTTAWA – Four more telemarketers have been charged by the CRTC for violating the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) rules.
The Commission has fined Best Price Movers Ltd. $2,500; McTavish Logistics Ltd. $5,000; and YYZ Logistics Ltd. $5,000 for unsolicited telemarketing telecommunications to consumers who were registered on the DNCL, in violation of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. All three companies were represented by an individual named Ilya Nikitine.
The Commission also charged Mouldaway Canada Inc., carrying on business under the name Canadian Home Comfort, a fine of $4,500 for initiating nine telemarketing telecommunications to consumers registered on the DNCL, and…
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MONTREAL – The new area code 579 will be introduced in the territory served by the 450 code in Quebec beginning next August.
The CRTC made the decision to respond to high demand for new telephone numbers resulting from the growing popularity of communications tools such as wireless services, the Internet and IP telephony among consumers and businesses.
The 579 code will come into use gradually after August 2010, throughout the entire region served by the 450 code. Until then, numbers with 450 will continue to be issued until they run out.
The 450 area code, introduced in June 1998, covers a broad…
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GATINEAU – Thanks to the recent edict from the federal government telling the CRTC it must hold a public hearing into the fee for carriage issue (even though the Regulator has long had a public process in the works), the Commission is now mulling what it’s going to do with two hearings on the exact same issue now scheduled a month apart.
As readers will have followed, the CRTC scheduled a fall hearing (BNC 2009-411) earlier this year to consider group licensing for broadcasters and fee for carriage for local conventional TV stations. While the hearing was amended from…
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THE BIG BROADCASTERS and BDUs fought this, but by September 14th, those companies had to file their aggregate financial data from their 2008 fiscal years with the Commission.
On the weekend, the CRTC posted the figures on its web site and since the industry it currently roiling over the continuing fee-for-carriage debate, we looked at the numbers largely through that prism.
After spending several hours examining a lot of the data, I can tell you the most lucrative place to work is Bell TV – which paid its 1,398 employees an average salary of $90,136 – or CTV, whose average…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has sided with Videotron in a complaint made by Bell TV regarding advertising opportunities.
Bell TV alleged in a complaint dated April 9, 2009, that “certain practices” between TVA Group and Videotron, both owned by Quebecor, conferred an undue preference on Videotron and subjected Bell TV to an undue disadvantage.
In particular, Bell TV argued that TVA’s refusal to allow it to buy ads on certain of its highest rated programs, and Videotron’s refusal to provide any of its allocated advertising spots on these programs, was contrary to the Canadian broadcasting policy objectives set out in section…
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OTTAWA – The Campaign for Competitive Broadband is setting its sites on Canadian consumers in its quest to overturn a CRTC decision that it claims will stifle competition in broadband Internet, Ethernet and other next generation communications services in Canada.
The group has launched the website www.consumersforinternetcompetition.com to educate consumers on the issue, as well as provide them with links to share their opinions with Industry Minister Tony Clement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, and their local MP.
The business-oriented site www.competitivebroadband.com, which debuted on September 10, has already generated more than 7,000 emails…
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Greg O’Brien
MONTREAL – There will be more consolidation in our industry, Corus Entertainment CEO John Cassaday told a group of investors on Wednesday at CIBC’s Annual Eastern Institutional Investor Conference.
When asked about the potential for more merger and acquisition activity, Cassaday said it’s just a matter of when. “We think there’s going to be considerably more consolidation in Canada on the distribution and programming side,” he explained.
However, this is a small market – complete with foreign ownership restrictions – that largely tie M&A moves to the funds that can (or can’t) be raised in Canada. So, the Corus CEO…
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MONTREAL – The International Institute of Communications (IICOM) has chosen ‘Trends in global communications: wrestling with unpredictability’ as the theme of its 2009 annual conference.
Held October 26 – 27, 2009 at the Centre Mont-Royal in Montreal, the 40th anniversary conference will facilitate the sharing and exchange of empirical data, specialist knowledge and accumulated insights, and help to identify future trends.
Key speakers, who include Heritage Minister James Moore and CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein, will address issues such as:
– The relative weight of technology and user choice in shaping content-creation and distribution, and the communications sector at large;
– The imprint the global financial and…
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