OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC proposed some new tools and regulatory approaches Thursday designed to support the production and promotion of Canadian audio and video content.
The report, Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada, is meant to aid the Feds’ pending overhaul of the Broadcasting and Telecom Acts by offering “important context and policy options”.
“This report does not set out specific timelines or predictions, nor does it attempt to prescribe policy”, reads the introduction. “Rather, it comes to conclusions on the types of change needed to the legislative and regulatory frameworks given the likely market…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC estimates that its total telecommunications regulatory costs for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, defined as April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, are $29.095 million.
The Telecommunications Fees Regulations, 2010 (Fees Regulations) provide for the payment of annual telecommunications fees by certain telecommunications service providers, as set out in sections 2 and 3 of the Fees Regulations.
The annual adjustment amount referred to in subsection 3(5) of the Fees Regulations is $1.552 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
The Commission said Wednesday that the net billing for its telecommunications fees for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, taking into account the adjustment above,…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is tweaking its regulatory framework for next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) services at the behest of the New Brunswick 9-1-1 Bureau, which filed a review and vary request on behalf of a number of public safety answering point organizations.
The Commission said that it has determined that there is “substantial doubt” as to the correctness of its previous decision to exclude secondary public safety answering point (PSAP) connections from next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) network access tariffs, as set out last June in Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-182.
Therefore, the Commission varied that determination on Monday to include NG9-1-1 related…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – On Thursday morning, the CRTC will release its new report into the future distribution models for content in Canada, which it was asked to do by the Governor-in-Council in September 2017.
The report, called “Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada,” is meant to aid an overhaul of the Broadcasting and Telecom Acts by answering the three main questions which were posed by the Order-in-Council from Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly:
the distribution model or models of programming that are likely to exist in the future
how and through whom Canadians…
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GATINEAU – Christianne M. Laizner is the new full-time telecommunications vice-chairperson at the CRTC, a role that she has held on interim basis since last July.
Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced Laizner’s appointment early Thursday. Her five year term will officially begin on July 17, 2018, making her the first female vice-chairperson of telecommunications in the CRTC’s 50-year history.
Laizner (pictured) first joined the CRTC in 2010 as general counsel, telecommunications before being named the Commission’s senior general counsel in 2013, and then executive director of the CRTC legal sector. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1982…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has attached a number of mandatory orders to the license renewals of two French-language radio stations.
French-language ethnic commercial AM radio station CJWI Montréal received a two-year renewal, from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2020, with the Commission noting that the short-term licence renewal will allow for an earlier review of the station’s compliance with regulatory requirements.
The three mandatory orders attached to the station’s new licence pertain to sections 8(1), 8(4), 8(6), 9(2), 9(3)(b) and 9(4) of the Radio Regulations, 1986, which encompass program logs, the annual submission of a statement of accounts, and…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is demanding that the country’s wireless providers and the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination (NAAD) system administrator Pelmorex explain “the issues” around last week’s rocky test of the emergency alert system.
“As reported in the media, the visible tests issued during the 2018 EPW (Emergency Preparedness Week) did not achieve full success, and in some instances, the test alerts were not distributed at all on LTE networks of the Wireless Service Providers”, reads the two letters, both dated May 17.
Both the letter to the wireless providers and Pelmorex's letter, which was addressed to regulatory and strategic SVP…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC will reimburse almost $600,000 to telemarketers after the total amount paid for violations in 2017-18 exceeded its estimated regulatory costs.
The Commission said Wednesday that $3,892,723 was paid under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Fees Regulations last year, $592,723 more than the $3.3 million it estimated in telemarketing regulatory costs. In accordance with the formula set out in subsection 4(2) of the Regulations, the CRTC must refund the overage.
The Regulator also estimated its telemarketing regulatory costs for fiscal year 2018-19 at $3.3 million. Costs to enforce the national Do Not Call List are covered by fees paid by telemarketers…
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Bell and Telus propose 500MB for $30; Rogers 400MB for $25
GATINEAU – Rogers, Bell and Telus have given the CRTC what it asked for – new data only wireless plans meant to fill a gap the Regulator sees in the market.
A multifaceted wireless decision last month included decreases in wholesale wireless rates, a “no” to Wi-Fi first models, and an early review of the wholesale wireless framework that will again reconsider MVNO rules. However, as part of that, the Commission directed the big three to immediately come up new data-only wireless plans which: must not…
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OTTAWA – The federal government has put out the call for a new CRTC commissioner for British Columbia and the Yukon, with current commissioner Stephen Simpson’s term scheduled to expire on June 22.
According to the posting, the full-time position will be based in Vancouver. The incumbents' duties will include participating in processes to establish rules, policies, and guidelines for licences and carriers; participating in public hearings and consultations; developing regulations; and participating in making Commission decisions.
The salary range is $142,800 – $168,000 and the application deadline is May 17th.
Candidates must apply online by May 17, 2018 via the…
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