OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC announced Tuesday it was calling for comments to identify and prioritize the review of various social and other non-economic regulatory measures in telecommunications. The call follows an order from the Governor in Council requiring the regulator to implement non-economic regulatory measures in a symmetrical and competitively neutral manner to achieve the objectives of section 7 of the Telecommunications Act.
The social regulatory measures, which include privacy safeguards and obligations, retail quality of service rate rebate plans and standards and a Consumer Bill of Rights, are being considered subsequent to the establishment of a telecommunications consumer agency….
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Jay Thomson has joined the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) as vice-president of regulatory and policy. He will be responsible for regulatory matters dealing with programming content and social policy issues as they pertain to private broadcasters, including policy development, industry analysis, strategic planning and advocacy with government and industry stakeholders.
Thomas was vice-president of legal and regulatory affairs at the now-defunct Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), where he worked heavily on Internet retransmission issues. After the CCTA folded, he moved to Telus Communications, where he was assistant vice-president of broadband policy. He has also worked as legal counsel…
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TORONTO – An official announcement will come later this week, but Canwest is today implementing further restructuring, informing existing employees and executives of new responsibilities and cutting others loose, Cartt.ca has learned.
Having received the CRTC’s final approval on its purchase of Alliance Atlantis just last week, Canwest is today implementing its new organizational plan for the new combined broadcasting company. The new company will, say sources, retain a number of people from the Alliance Atlantis side of the merger.
Canwest spokesperson Deborah Lewis today confirmed “some reductions, which is always difficult,” and added an official announcement will be…
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OTTAWA – Following a request by the federal government to reconsider a regulatory decision, the CRTC issued Monday a ruling that practically mirrors its first decision.
In Broadcasting Decision 2008-12, the CRTC confirmed that Avis de Recherche (ADR), a digital channel devoted to crime prevention, had to be carried on digital basic by all Class 1 and Class 2 cablecos and satellite TV distributors in Quebec at a monthly wholesale rate of 6 cents per subscriber. These are the same terms as the original decision issued in July 2007.
Mandatory distribution of the French-language channel comes into effect on January 24, according to…
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I’VE NEVER BEEN ONE to fear large corporations. I don’t think big oil is out to get anyone. I don’t think fast food chains want to kill their customers with fat. I don’t think chemical companies sell lawn fertilizer that will blind the neighbour’s cat.
And I don’t think big media companies are out to tell the world what to think. With the level of competition we have, that’s impossible anyway.
I do think that by their very nature, however, big companies, especially publicly traded ones, can be selfish. They can be cutthroat, to be sure, but also a little…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – It’s been nearly two years, a court appeal and many complaints since the original decision, but the CRTC today revealed how the $650 million or so in the so-called deferral accounts will be spent.
The Commission approved several initiatives that will benefit Canadians with disabilities and expand broadband services to rural and remote communities. The major local telephone companies were also directed by the Commission to finalize proposals for the dispersal of the funds in their deferral accounts.
"Today’s decision will not only make telecommunications services more accessible to all Canadians, but also…
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MONTREAL – Two potential buyers signalled enough interest in financially strapped Quebec television network TQS this week to convince a Quebec Superior Court judge to give the network another 45 days of court protection from creditors.
Judge Pierre Journet said the receipt of two letters of intention from the two unnamed suitors was an indication that TQS’s financial situation has not worsened to the detriment of creditors, and that a further delay constitutes a “reasonable and credible” condition to finding a long-term solution.
TQS was granted 30 days’ protection in December. The new delay gives controller RSM Richter…
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KENORA – Bell Aliant will expand further west as Kenora City Council has approved the big telco’s $27 million purchase offer for the Kenora Municipal Telephone System, as reported by Cartt.ca earlier this month.
"Bell Aliant is the right choice for KMTS employees, customers and our community as a whole," said Mayor Len Compton, in a press release. "The City of Kenora has followed a very diligent process and reviewed several options in order to come to this decision. We are confident in the continued success of KMTS in Kenora."
There had been some noise up north made by…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC told Rogers Broadcasting this morning that it doesn’t think Parry Sound can support any more radio stations.
It denied the company’s application for a broadcasting licence to operate an new rock format FM station in the cottage country town of about 5,800 people.
“After considering the positions of the parties in this proceeding, the Commission finds that the primary issue arising from this application relates to the Parry Sound commercial radio market and its ability to sustain an additional radio station,” says the Commission decision.
There’s only one radio station in Parry Sound itself, Haliburton Broadcasting’s…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – For the first time, the CRTC will look at newspaper ownership when considering the diversity of media voices in Canadian markets.
As reported by Cartt.ca earlier this morning, the CRTC released its new policies on diversity of voices in Canadian media.
"With these new policies, we have developed a clear approach to guide us in assessing future transactions in the broadcasting industry," said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, in the Commission’s press release. "It is an approach that will preserve the plurality of editorial voices and the diversity of programming available to…
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