Better to leave it to various Acts review
GATINEAU – The CRTC announced this morning it has dismissed a proposed website-blocking regime which would address copyright piracy, dubbed FairPlay Canada by its backers.
The Commission ruled it does not have the jurisdiction under the Telecommunications Act and so it did not consider the merits of the proposal, saying in a release this is best considered under the Copyright Act, over which it has no jurisdiction.
The Copyright Act, is under review, on which Cartt.ca has been reporting on Continue Reading
OTTAWA – Former CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais’ ears must have been on fire Monday.
While the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement did away with the CRTC’s 2015 decision to ban the simultaneous substitution of Canadian ads into the broadcast of the Super Bowl here (one of the landmark rulings to come out of Blais’ so-called “Let’s Talk TV” process), the Federal Court of Appeal on Monday sided with Bell saying the Regulator has no right to dive deeply into affiliate contracts between broadcasters and carriers, what the Commission called its Wholesale Code.
The Wholesale Code, said the Regulator…
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OTTAWA – Pakistan-based food products company National Foods Ltd. has been fined $25,000 for violating Canada’s unsolicited telecommunications rules.
Acting on complaints, the CRTC said Monday that an investigation determined that National Foods initiated telemarketing telecommunications to consumers whose telecommunications numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), and for doing so while it was not registered with the National DNCL operator and was not a registered subscriber of the National DNCL, contrary to Canada’s unsolicited telecommunications rules.
The Commission issued a notice of violation to the company on March 30, 2017 for 303 violations at $82.51 per violation,…
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OTTAWA – The northern Ontario cities of Timmins and North Bay could soon have new radio stations after the CRTC issued separate calls for comments on the market capacity and on the appropriateness of calling for radio applications in the two markets.
The Commission said Wednesday that it issued the calls after receiving applications from Vista Radio for new commercial radio stations in both areas. The notice for Timmins is available here, and click here for the notice for North Bay.
Interventions are due by October 29 and the deadline to file replies is November 8, 2018. Following receipt of comments, the CRTC said…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC fleshed out more details on its Broadband Fund Thursday, a $750 million initiative designed to improve broadband Internet access services in underserved areas and help meet its universal service objective first set out in 2016.
The Commission described the criteria that it will use to evaluate applications for funding, adding that it will begin accepting applicants in 2019. TRP CRTC 2018-377 also details the fund’s governance, operating and accountability frameworks, though specifics such as an application guide, application forms and eligibility maps will be released in the coming months.
“For the main component of the Fund, the…
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OTTAWA – The Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications started to examine how the three federal communications statutes (the Telecommunications Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Radiocommunication Act) can be modernized In light of the evolution of the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in the last decades.
Last week they heard from university professors and today, Konrad von Finckenstein, former chair of the CRTC, and the Commissioner of Competition met the committee.
Von Finckenstein submitted six points for the Committee to examine. “First, in the reform of our communication legislation, examine everything from an Internet-centric point of view. To borrow a…
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OTTAWA – Despite issuing over 100 updates and wireless alerts warning of high-risk emergencies, Canadians still have questions about how the national public alerting system works and which devices are compatible, says CRTC chief consumer officer Scott Shortliffe.
Speaking Monday before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, Shortliffe said that the system, publicly branded as Alert Ready, has been used successfully to warn of dangerously high water levels and flooding in Alberta, wildfires in Saskatchewan, Amber Alerts in Ontario and Saskatchewan, and drinking water advisories in several communities. On Friday, it also warned of tornado watches in…
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GATINEAU – In the continuing saga of the skinny (a.k.a. lower-cost data only) wireless, the CRTC must be wondering if it would not have just been easier to mandate MVNO.
In the latest request for information, Cartt.ca had noted the tone of the letter and the volume of information requested. The three incumbent national wireless players seem to heed the message and proposed to double the amount of data originally offered.
But what we had missed was the questions asked to the three incumbent national wireless players were also asked of the Competition Bureau.
The Questions
Indicate whether lower-cost data only…
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ST ANDREWS, N.B. – Atlantic region and Nunavut CRTC commissioner Christopher MacDonald said Monday the structure and governance of its new $750 million broadband fund established with the Commission’s 2016 Universal Service Objective policy will be announced soon, with a call for funding applications to come in 2019.
Back in 2016, the Commission set targets for basic telecommunications services that Canadians need to participate in the digital economy:
speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services. In 2015, 82% of Canadians already had access to speeds of 50 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload for…
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KITCHENER – Independent ISP Cloudwifi Inc. is asking the CRTC to step in and help “prevent companies like Bell Canada from interfering with consumer freedom to choose internet providers.”
Cloudwifi, a facilities-based ISP offering low-cost bulk internet and network services to multi-tenant dwelling units (MDUs), has filed a Part 1 application with the Commission alleging that Bell has disconnected its customers from the inside wire at two Ontario properties, one in North York and the other in Kitchener.
The company, which says it has hired veteran communications lawyer Ken Engelhart, asserts that existing terms in both the Broadcasting Act and…
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