OTTAWA – It’s time for the CRTC to set a deadline for Canadian television broadcasters to shut off their analog signals, Industry Canada’s assistant deputy minister Michael Binder told a wireless gathering this morning.
The 700 MHz band, which broadcasters use to send their traditional over-the-air analog signals, is being given back to the U.S. government as of February 17, 2009 and Binder says now is the time to set a deadline in Canada. “We would like to see broadcasters vacate this band and we could use (it) for other applications,” he said during the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has added NASA Television to the list of foreign TV channels eligible for carriage in digital in Canada, despite objections from CTV’s Discovery Channel.
The CRTC noted in Broadcasting Decision 2007-43 that it found “the overlap between NASA TV and The Discovery Channel or Discovery HD is minimal and that NASA TV is sufficiently different in terms of target audience, service orientation, programming genres and programming to be considered neither partially or totally competitive with The Discovery Channel or Discovery HD.”
The request to bring the U.S. channel featuring documentaries, archival programming and coverage of…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications` director and counsel – copyright and broadband law, David Laliberte, will be leaving the company at the end of next month.
He has accepted a job offer as general counsel and head of licensing and compliance at the Information and Communications Technology Authority (ICTA) in the Cayman Islands.
The ICTA performs a similar role in the Caymans as the CRTC in Canada, plus a few other functions such as spectrum allocation and domain name registration.
Based in the capital, Georgetown, the country`s regulatory framework is modelled after the Canadian one and “as a result, there…
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VANCOUVER – Telus announced Monday it has applied for local phone service deregulation in Calgary, Victoria, and Rimouski. These applications follow similar filings for Vancouver and Edmonton last Wednesday. The company intends to file additional applications for deregulation in the near future.
Telus’ application to the CRTC follows the April 4 announcement by Industry Minister Maxime Bernier that telecommunications companies can apply for relaxation of local phone service regulations in communities where significant competition exists.
“Local service deregulation in Calgary, Victoria and Rimouski will bring the full benefits of competition to these cities,” said Janet Yale, Telus executive vice-president…
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GATINEAU – CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein made two appointments today, following up on his promises to begin re-organizing the Commission’s operations.
He named long-time public servant Robert A. Morin as the Commission’s Secretary General, starting April 23. Morin, an executive coach since retiring from his senior post with the Competition Bureau of Canada three years ago, has been given a specific mandate to launch an internal review of CRTC operations and processes.
Von Finckenstein also announced the creation of a new Strategic Communications Branch that will bring together Public Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Internal Communications and the personnel involved…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada has applied to the CRTC to deregulate the most populous regions inside its Ontario and Quebec territories.
The company has asked for forbearance from regulation of local telephone services in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, London, Hamilton and Quebec City.
Bell filed separate forbearance applications for residential services in 139 exchanges and for business services in 103 exchanges in the six cities. These applications are the first made by Bell under the new framework for forbearance announced by the federal government on April 4, 2007.
Additional applications for forbearance in other qualifying areas will follow shortly.
The…
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MONTREAL – While the big news was in Toronto for the company’s acquisition of Standard Radio, Astral Media also released some solid second quarter results on the TV, radio and outdoor sides.
Consolidated net earnings for the first six months of fiscal 2007 increased by 9% over last year to $57.3 million. Consolidated net earnings for the second quarter also jumped by 9% over the same quarter last year, to $24.6 million. Consolidated revenues totalled $315 million for the first half of the year, an increase of 7% over the same period last year. Consolidated revenues for the second…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The CRTC outlined details today of its previously announced formal public review of issues relating to the ownership of Canadian broadcasting companies.
At the same time, it also issued a call for comments on a code prepared by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC), to which member broadcasters will be required to adhere.
CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said the ownership review, whose broad strokes were outlined last month, will focus on media ownership and its impact on the range of voices that the broadcasting system provides to Canadians.
“The goal of this proceeding is…
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HALIFAX and VANCOUVER – Two releases within an hour of each other early Wednesday evening, one from western telco Telus and eastern incumbent Bell Aliant, say the companies have filed for local forbearance in some major metropolitan centres.
While Telus has asked for Vancouver and Edmonton, Aliant has filed for deregulation in Halifax and its surrounding regions of Hubbards, Ketch Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Prospect Road, Sackville, St. Margarets, Waverley and French Village.
Aliant has asked for deregulation in Halifax, where the local cable operator has taken in excess of 35% market share, before, only to be rebuffed by the…
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MONTREAL and TORONTO – The Slaight family sold its company, Standard Radio, to Astral Media today for $1.08 billion.
The combined company will be the largest radio broadcaster in Canada and, says Astral, "achieves No.1 radio market position by number of stations and by weekly hours tuned.
The purchase makes Astral a national radio player, adding brands such as EZ Rock, Mix, The Bear and the CFRB newstalk format to Astral’s popular Quebec brand Radio Energie.
Astral did not purchase the Slaight’s interest in satellite radio company Sirius Canada nor Standard Interactive, which runs assets such as multichannel Internet…
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