OTTAWA – The CRTC told Canadians the rights when it comes to telephone service today.
The Commission issued a edict telling all incumbent local exchange companies (ILECs: Bell, Telus, SaskTel, etc.) that they must include this statement of consumer rights on their web sites and in their printed directories. New local competitors do not have to print the document but the Commission encouraged them to do so.
The 4,700-word Commission document "restates key consumer rights with respect to local home phone service, in a clear and comprehensible manner," says the CRTC press release.
"The CRTC has, in the past,…
Continue Reading
IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR, A&E Networks was the first of the American cable channels to reveal their "upfront" presentation to throngs of media buyers, advertising executives and other assorted folk.
I wasn’t there, of course, but I’m sure it was a slick presentation with some of the stars of all of its cool new – if a bit jarring – programming. (When you’re used to "Biography" and "Murder She Wrote" reruns, shows like Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels and Criss Angel: Mindfreak seem a little out there for A&E.)
What was notable in the Broadcasting & Cable report…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The CRTC called for a TV policy review because of the dramatically shifting nature of the broadcast and distribution industry. But, says Telus, it is this uncertainty created by the ongoing shifts that means conventional broadcasters’ requests for a wholesale fee for carriage should be carved out of the review for consideration separately.
Canadian broadcasters have long lusted after the type of wholesale subscriber fees that grow the bank accounts of Canadian specialty services. The over-the-air broadcasters been consistently refused since they already make hundreds of millions off of advertising, the conventional channels are must-carries…
Continue Reading
WITH THE SALE OF DELTA Cable to Persona Communications, a cable era continues to draw to a close.
The era, of course, is that of the independent, local cable operator. Delta is one of several to be sold (pending CRTC approval) in the past 12 months. Besides Delta, Persona recently purchased Northern Cablevision of Grande Prairie, Alta., and Shaw Cable has been on a bit of a buying spree lately, gobbling up small cablers like Pemberton Cable, Saltspring Cable, Whistler Cable and Norcom Telecommunications.
So, the shock of the Delta announcement (first reported by…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – The Commission hopes that decisions on adding foreign services to the eligible satellite list will get a bit quicker with a recently announced decision.
In calling for comments on adding French channel Planète Thalassa to the lists of eligible satellite services, the CRTC also said that, commencing with this proceeding, it will rely primarily on comments filed to identify the Canadian pay and specialty services with which a sponsored non-Canadian service might compete, and which should therefore be included in its assessment of the competitiveness of the non-Canadian service.
Videotron has asked the CRTC to add Planète…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Shaw Communications has sold its interests in digital specialty services Biography Channel and G4TechTV to Rogers Communications.
The CRTC approved both transactions on Monday. Rogers Broadcasting is already the operator of both Canadian channels.
Rogers paid Shaw $1 million for its 33.3% stake in G4 and now owns two-thirds of the channel along with Comcast, the parent company of the U.S. channel.
Rogers paid $5 million combined for Shaw’s 40% stake in Biography and A&E Television Networks’ 20% ownership, to take 100% of the service. AETN owns Biography Channel, Stateside.
Rogers has agreed to pay out 10%…
Continue Reading
SIGNIFICANT. MARKET. POWER.
Those three words appear all through the Telecom Policy Review Report, which Cartt.ca has covered at length. According to my search of that document, the three words appear together 62 times, and a further 65 as its SMP acronym.
When reading that huge report, it’s easy to see how SMP was and is a very big deal to its authors. The Telecom Policy Review Panel was very conscious of the concept and how the companies with SMP might still have to be watched. It’s a key concept of the report.
But you wouldn’t know it from…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Scott Hutton has accepted to fill the position of associate executive director broadcasting effective 6 September 2006 until 31 March 2007, the CRTC announced today.
"Scott brings many years of experience at the CRTC to this key position, having assumed increasing levels of management responsibility. Although he has worked most recently in the Telecommunications sector, Scott began his career at the CRTC as a Broadcasting analyst," said Len Katz, executive director of broadcasting and telecommunications.
Hutton is acting executive director, policy and consumer affairs on the telecommunications side of the Commission.
"I am confident that his background…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – With its recent round of layoffs and programming cutbacks, CHUM Ltd. is offside when it comes to its conditions of license at its local stations, says one of the unions representing its employees.
"(T)he CRTC should call an inquiry into the issue and require that the broadcaster fulfill its licence obligations and commitments," says a release from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
The union has filed a complaint with the CRTC asking it to declare CHUM Limited in violation of its TV station licenses as a result of recent program cancellations at various stations…
Continue Reading
THE FOOD INDUSTRY WAS never this exciting, says Videotron president and CEO Robert Dépatie.
In the 1990s, he was in charge of the Planters brand in Quebec and prior to that, held positions with Heinz. The sheer volume of food processing technology was nothing then as compared to what his cable company faces today. The acronyms are endless: VOIP, VOD, HDTV, iTV, IPTV, DOCSIS and so on.
Last week, the MSO launched its own branded wireless service, riding on the Rogers Wireless backbone, giving it a fourth valuable service option and allowing a family’s entire telecom bill, beginning to…
Continue Reading
