OTTAWA – Following the British Columbia government’s Part 1 application filed last month requesting the CRTC mandate a testing environment for Canada’s next-generation 911 (NG911) networks, a group of representatives of Canadian public safety answering points (PSAPs) has filed its own Part 1 asking for a commission decision in support of a pre-production NG911 network and quality assurance program.
Signatories to the application — dated Sept. 22, filed with the CRTC on October 4 and posted on the CRTC’s website Tuesday — include representatives from Barrie Fire Dept., BC Emergency Health Services, City…
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Regulator credits Quebecor for lowering prices in market
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor will need to use the rate proposed by Bell for access to the telco’s national wireless network, the CRTC ruled Tuesday.
The regulator selected Bell’s price per gigabyte of data after the two parties could not on their own agree to commercial terms for access by Quebecor’s mobile virtual network operator business to Bell’s national wireless network.
“That rate best meets the evaluation criteria, and will promote competition, affordability, and continued investment by both companies in their networks,” the regulator said in a statement.
“With access to larger networks, regional…
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YELLOWKNIFE – Bell subsidiary Northwestel announced Wednesday it has launched fibre internet in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, making it the northernmost community in Canada to have fibre technology.
Northwestel customers in Tuktoyaktuk can now access high-speed, unlimited fibre internet with speeds up to 50 Mbps, up from 15 Mbps previously, says a press release.
“We’re very proud to bring in-community fibre to the first Arctic Ocean community,” Northwestel president Curtis Shaw said in the release. “Technology like this helps break down barriers to distance education, virtual health care and enables more participation in…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Representatives from the country’s largest independent internet service provider spoke directly with CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides in February about acquisitions that have swept the industry in recent months, according to documents obtained by Cartt.
Andy Kaplan-Myrth, TekSavvy’s vice president of regulatory and carrier affairs, sat down with the head of the regulator to talk about an “overview of market conditions for retail internet services,” including “observed pricing trends,” and a discussion “regarding the recent acquisitions in the market,” according to an outline of the morning meeting held on February 15 and obtained via access to information…
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OTTAWA – The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) announced Tuesday a number of changes to its board of directors that include long-time board member Jim Deane assuming the role of chair.
Until his retirement from Regina-based Access Communications earlier this year, Deane had served as Access CEO since 2000. He has been a CPAC director for more than 20 years “and brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to the role” of board chair, says a press release announcing CPAC’s board changes.
Pam Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory for cable at Rogers Communications, is joining the CPAC…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Telus is accusing the CRTC of deviating from precedent when it argues that spectrum sale and leasing revenues count toward the telecoms’ total operating revenues for the purposes of calculating what fees are owed to the commission.
The Vancouver-based telecom argued in a submission Thursday that those revenues have traditionally not been filed under total operating revenues when using the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for financial reporting, which has been used by the CRTC to calculate contributions owed to the commission.
Telus was backing a point made by mobile satellite and cell services provider TerreStar, which…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has set Friday who will be subject to regulation under the new Broadcasting Act regulations as part of its implementation of the new Online Streaming Act, setting the threshold at $10 million and higher in annual broadcasting revenues in Canada.
The new entities will need to register by November 28, 2023, so that the regulator can keep tabs on them.
Registering requires the entities to provide their basic information like name, phone number, mailing and email addresses, what services they offer and out of where they are incorporated.
The CRTC said it will publish the list…
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Rogers says it is fully compliant with MDU rules
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Fibre service provider Beanfield is asking the CRTC to prohibit Rogers from signing bulk service agreements with residential buildings that it alleges serves to limit competition.
Bulk service agreements are multi-year contracts one service provider has with the developer of a building to provide default internet service to all tenants of the building, meaning the residents pay for a single provider’s internet through their rent or fees.
In a Part 1 application dated September 20, Beanfield argues that while those Rogers agreements don’t prevent other service providers from accessing…
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OTTAWA – British Columbia has filed a Part 1 application to the CRTC requesting that the regulator consider mandating an environment where testing can be done on the next generation 911 networks.
The new emergency networks set up by Bell and Telus, which will be able to carry images and videos from distressed callers, don’t have a pre-live testing environment to iron out any kinks before being operational, BC said.
The implication of that, the province argues, is that complex troubleshooting issues and upgrades will have to be done with multiple service providers live, which could be highly disruptive to critical…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC communicated with Canadian Heritage over months about the information it was going use in its messaging about the Online Streaming Act, but that was not for soliciting comment or approval, the regulator told Cartt.
Earlier this year, Conservative member of Parliament Martin Shields of Bow River, Alberta, tabled a request for the government to provide detailed communications between the regulator and the department about the legislation that requires online streaming services to contribute to Canadian content.
The Conservatives have accused the independent regulator of parroting government talking points about the legislation after…
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