OTTAWA — The Commissioner of Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) has terminated the participation of AllCore Communications Inc. (AllCore) after determining that the Hamilton-based telecom service provider failed to comply with a number of mandatory elements of participation in the CCTS.
According to a CCTS statement, AllCore failed to honour a binding recommendation issued by the CCTS following the investigation of an AllCore customer complaint. In another case, after a customer complained to the CCTS, AllCore agreed to compensate the customer for a billing problem, but then failed to do so. The company also failed to cooperate with the…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadians now have all weekend to tell the CRTC about their experiences with the sales practices of the country’s large telecommunications service providers (TSPs).
The Commission said Thursday that it is extending the deadline to complete its online survey from September 7 to September 9 at midnight PDT.
The survey, launched August 27, is part of the CRTC’s consultation which will result in its report to the government on whether misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are used by Canada’s TSPs. The process will also a public hearing, scheduled to start on October 22, as well as focus…
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OTTAWA – As the end of the broadcast year draws near, the CRTC has finalized a number of broadcast licence renewals.
– From Blue Ant Media, the licences for national, English-language discretionary services A.Side, BBC Earth, Cottage Life, HIFI, Love Nature, Makeful, T + E and Smithsonian Channel from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2023;
– From Canal Évasion, for the French-language discretionary service Évasion from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2023;
– From Ag-Com Productions, for the national, English-language discretionary service The Rural Channel from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2023;
– From Channel Zero, for the national, English-language discretionary service Continue Reading
OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has launched an online survey to help Canadians share their experiences with the sales practices of the country’s large telecommunications service providers.
Canadians have until September 7, 2018, midnight PDT to participate.
The Commission said Monday that the survey is part of its consultation which will result in its report to the government on whether misleading or aggressive retail sales practices are used by Canada’s TSPs. The process will also include public comments that are due this Thursday, a public hearing scheduled to start on October 22, as well as focus groups across the country.
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has renewed the broadcasting licences of AMI-audio, AMI-tv and AMI-télé, as well as their orders for mandatory distribution.
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) filed the applications for the national, English-language audio programming undertaking AMI-audio; the national, English-language specialty Category A service AMI-tv; and the national, French-language specialty Category A service AMI-télé. On Monday, their licences were renewed for five years, from September 1, 2018 through August 31, 2023.
“The Commission is of the view that the licensee has demonstrated that its described video services will continue to give access for people who are blind or partially sighted…
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OTTAWA – The federal government has begun its search for a new CRTC commissioner for Quebec, just under a year to go before current commissioner Yves Dupras’ term expires on August 10, 2019.
It's assumed the current Liberal government wants to replace Dupras (a Conservative appointee) prior to the next federal election, in October 2019. However, an election could be called sooner, if the government so desired.
According to the posting, the full-time position will be based in Quebec and the incumbent's duties will include participating in processes to establish rules, policies, and guidelines for licences and carriers; participating in public…
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OTTAWA — Having received nothing but silence from Calgary-based telecom service provider VOIS Inc. with regard to its non-compliance with the mandatory requirement to participate in the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), the CRTC is imposing an additional $25,000 penalty on VOIS and a $5,000 fine on its company director Harpreet Randhawa.
This is on top of a $15,000 penalty the CRTC imposed on VOIS in April 2017 for violating its obligation to be a participant in CCTS. At the time, the CRTC also ordered VOIS to restore its participation in CCTS, after it was expelled…
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OTTAWA — The City of Hamilton has been denied its application requesting the CRTC review and vary a 2017 telecom decision regarding the city’s municipal access agreement (MAA) with Bell Canada, an ongoing dispute that dates back to 2014.
In its Telecom Decision 2017-388, issued in October 2017, the CRTC revised the wording set out in its original decision of February 2016, in which the Commission had established the provisions of the MAA between the City of Hamilton and Bell. An MAA generally sets out the terms and conditions of a carrier’s access to highways and other public…
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OTTAWA — Canada’s largest, vertically integrated BDUs have a little over a year to start providing set-top box data to a national STB-based audience measurement system — a new condition of licence imposed by the CRTC when it announced August 2 the collective renewal of soon-to-expire licences for various terrestrial BDUs.
As it renews their respective licences for a new term starting September 1, 2018, the CRTC is imposing a condition of licence on Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron that will require them to provide the set-top box (STB) data they collect regarding programming services they distribute to a national…
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Two new applicants for nearby communities
OTTAWA — The CRTC is asking for more comments as it considers whether or not the radio market in and around Quebec City can sustain more stations.
The Commission issued on Wednesday three separate Broadcasting Notices of Consultation, calling for comments regarding the market capacity and appropriateness of issuing a call for radio applications in Quebec City, as well as Sainte-Marie and the Regional County Municipality of Portneuf, Que, both of which are small towns within transmitter range of Quebec City.
The CRTC’s original call for comments regarding the Quebec City radio…
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