By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC has sent a letter to Rogers and Bell on Thursday asking them to lay out what off-tariff wholesale internet access agreements they have with competitors.
The request for information includes details of a proposed arrangement that would see Rogers give Videotron access to its broadband network at favourable wholesale rates to win over regulators in its pursuit of Shaw.
The request is part of the CRTC’s evaluation of an application filed by TekSavvy, which alleges that Rogers and Bell are engaging in agreements that are disadvantaging competitors who don’t get similar rates…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC ruled Thursday that Rogers gave itself and its own sports channels an unfair preference by refusal to carry for broadcasting Timeless’s OneSoccer.
Timeless first brought the complaint last summer that alleged Rogers refused to carry OneSoccer because it was concerned about competition with its own Sportsnet channels. Rogers said it refused to carry the channel because it allegedly had limited appeal to viewers. Telus, which has carried the channel since 2021, urged the commission to investigate the matter.
The regulator ruled Thursday that OneSoccer is a comparable service to the sports channels of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC is proposing Thursday to open the $750-million Broadband Fund to bankroll the maintenance of networks in remote areas, improvements to network resiliency, and to have a separate funding stream for indigenous-focused projects.
The commission is also proposing that all future projects provide, at a minimum, the basic service objective speeds of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, whereas previously it was at least half of that. It is also asking whether the fund should have an increased emphasis on mobile wireless projects and possibly incorporating mobile wireless into the name.
Since the launch of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The head of the CRTC has confirmed Thursday that the regulator is examining the issue of high international roaming rates charged by the country’s wireless carriers, following a letter this week from the innovation minister asking it to look into the matter.
“We are taking action and have already started comparing the international roaming rates available to us with those available in other countries,” said CRTC head Vicky Eatrides in the Thursday letter to Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Our preliminary results confirm what many Canadians are feeling – that international roaming rates we pay are higher. We…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – A technical working group with members from the country’s major telecommunications companies have this month recommended a bevy of changes to enhance network reliability, including enhanced criminal penalties in cases of negligent damage to critical network infrastructure, subsidizing certain infrastructure in areas with little coverage, and expanding the CRTC’s authority over municipal infrastructure.
The 27-page report from the Canadian Telecommunications Network Resiliency Working Group, released this month, packs a list consisting of general recommendations for network resiliency and asks of the federal government.
“To strengthen efforts to improve the resiliency of Canada’s telecommunications networks, the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Doug French, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Telus, said Tuesday that the company is confident that it could weather increased wholesale-based competition in western Canada in light of a CRTC proceeding launched earlier this month that will look to lower the rates competitors pay for access to incumbent networks.
The CRTC announced it is embarking on establishing a new wholesale framework that it said would address higher broadband prices in the country. A hearing on the matter is likely to be held next year. Meanwhile, the regulator will release a…
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Conservative MP said letters to his office from large ISPs charged bill is ‘unnecessary’
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The commissioner of the communications complaints watchdog told the House Industry committee on Monday that a bill addressing internet speed transparency could benefit from providing specific speeds in consumer contracts, which could aid in enforcing the new law.
Private member’s bill C-288, sponsored by Conservative Manitoba MP Dan Mazier, would require the CRTC to look into requiring internet service providers to clarify language in marketing of internet speeds, effectively doing away with looser language like “up to” and providing for…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said Wednesday it will hold a hearing beginning on June 28 to consider applications by two not-for-profit indigenous television networks to add their channels to the digital basic television packages of the broadcasters.
The regulator received applications from Nunavut Independent Television Network and Inuit TV Network to add Uvagut TV and Inuit TV, respectively, to the $25 packages that consist of channels the broadcasters must carry by regulation.
Uvagut TV, which launched in January 2021, broadcasts Inuit-made children’s shows, movies, documentaries, and informational, cultural, public access and current affairs programming. Its service is currently available in basic…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Internet service provider TekSavvy is warning the CRTC that if it does not address unregulated wholesale access rates in the industry, “there may not be any independent wholesale competitors remaining.”
In January, the ISP filed a Part 1 application asking the CRTC to investigate the legality of the matter in light of Rogers’s proposed deal to provide Videotron access to its network at below CRTC regulated rates as a condition of its acquisition of Shaw. It also accused Bell of self-preferencing by providing its recently purchased affiliate Ebox with preferential rates for access…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has extended by nearly a month the deadline for applications for money from the $750-million Broadband Fund.
A CRTC notice, released Monday, said the third round of applications – to connect underserved communities to high-speed internet – will now be due on May 16, pushing back the April 18 deadline.
“The Commission considers that extending the deadline for the submission of applications would provide potential applicants with sufficient time to effectively participate in the public hearing and submit applications in response to the third call for applications,” the CRTC said.
The decision…
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