The regulator has been urged not to rely on carrier negotiations for roaming rates
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has dismissed an application by Globalive that sought a commission review of wholesale roaming rates in general and a roaming agreement between Rogers and Videotron in particular, citing an existing application before the regulator addressing similar issues.
Globalive filed the Part 1 application late last month, which requested the CRTC make interim the current wholesale roaming rates, require the national carriers to file updated studies supporting new rates, and to open an investigation into Rogers’s proposed roaming agreement…
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WHITEHORSE – Officials from the Northwest Territories government recommended the CRTC adopt two affordability streams to address higher telecommunications prices in the far north.
The officials said Monday the CRTC should consider having both a low-income subsidy and a universal service subsidy to deal with higher prices in the region.
The government officials expressed disappointment that Northwestel, the Bell subsidiary that is the dominant provider in the region, is not participating in the Connecting Families initiative – a service provider effort to get eligible households on discounted internet services.
The officials said the regional government is open for the subsidies to be…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A group of six public interest groups is asking the CRTC to expedite the payment of money owed to the Broadcasting Participation Fund from the commission’s approval of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw’s broadcasting assets.
The group, which includes the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications, filed a Part 1 application Monday urging the commission to amend a stipulation requiring Rogers pay the fund – which bankrolls public interest group participation in broadcast hearings – $725,439 in equal amounts over three years.
The application asks that the commission force Rogers to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The fund that bankrolls consumer interest participation in CRTC hearings is warning that it is at a “critical juncture” with not enough money available to reimburse participants in broadcasting proceedings.
The Broadcasting Participation Fund said in a press release last week that it had less than $330,000 remaining in the fund to begin the year. In a busy year, it said, costs exceed $700,000.
“If the gap between available funds and qualified applications is not addressed, the Fund must cease operations either temporarily or permanently this year,” it said in the release. At the end of 2021,…
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OTTAWA – Cabin Radio, the online news radio station that was denied by the CRTC an FM licence in Yellowknife, has filed an application for the Federal Court of Appeal to hear its case.
The appeal, which was received by the court last month and filed Wednesday, charges that the CRTC’s February decision was “unreasonable, incorrect, and arbitrary due to errors of law, jurisdiction, and fact.”
The regulator’s decision said the addition of another FM station would financially harm the incumbent and only commercial station in Yellowknife, Vista Radio’s CJCD-FM, which has experienced declining revenues in the five years…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Cogeco CEO Philippe Jette said Friday that wireless service providers are in a better position to focus on negotiating mobile virtual network operator deals with the conclusion of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw.
“It provides more predictability throughout the industry now that this transaction is over and we know what to expect of it,” Jette said on the company’s second-quarter conference call Friday morning.
“I think now every player is at a better place with the conclusion of the transaction and getting ready for the next steps negotiating partnerships and rates,” he added.
Earlier this month, Rogers and Videotron Continue Reading
TORONTO – Pure play media company Corus Entertainment announced Thursday dips in revenue and profit in its second quarter financial report, citing the difficult advertising space and a chunk of change it owes to meet its regulatory obligations.
For the three months that ended February 28, the company’s revenues and profit decreased 5 per cent to $343.9 million and 32 per cent to $59.1 million, respectively, compared to the same quarter the year prior. The company blamed a rough advertising market – revenue in that segment was down 7 per cent – due to supply chain disruptions, budget constraints and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Quebec’s Superior Court denied last week an application by Videotron to pause a lawsuit that alleges it has not paid dues owed to Bell for connecting to its transport networking facilities.
Bell brought the lawsuit to the court in December, alleging Videotron has failed to pay $1.3 million for interconnecting to Bell’s traffic transport points. Videotron brought a complaint to the CRTC two months later claiming Bell is violating the Telecommunications Act by forcing it to accept a long-term contract or higher monthly prices in areas it says is dominated by Bell, Continue Reading
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Bell is asking the CRTC to institute an interim pole attachment rate for third parties in Ontario and Quebec until it can update cost studies to determine how it can recover costs it says it will incur after a decision by the commission in February that shifts the cost of corrective work on poles to the pole owner.
Among tariff filings on Monday, the incumbent pole owner in those provinces said the commission’s decision to shift costs onto the pole owner has shone a spotlight on its outdated pole attachment rate that it said is…
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Clarification: A previous version of this story omitted that TekSavvy does indeed have previous experience using Bell’s transport facilities where it is the dominant carrier, just not for regulated wholesale internet access.
By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Quebecor’s Videotron has not presented an adequate case for the commission to re-regulate rates it charges for third parties to connect to its fibre transport facilities, according to Bell’s response to the former’s application asking the CRTC to review those costs.
Videotron filed an application early last month charging that Bell is forcing the company’s subsidiary Fibrenoire to accept either a less expensive long-term contract…
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