By Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv Media Global Inc. (OMG) (pictured above); Monika Ille, CEO APTN; and Luc Perreault, strategic advisor of Stingray Group
The Senate Transport Committee is starting its clause-by-clause review of Bill C-11, an Act to amend the Broadcasting Act. Hours of Committee time have been spent on the scope of the Bill and how it would apply to digital first creators and social media platforms. This is understandable and appropriate.
Far less time has been spent on a weakness in the Bill that will have a much more profound impact on the Canadian broadcasting system and the content Canadians can access….
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – A Conservative amendment that would place monetary thresholds on which companies qualify for CRTC regulation under new legislation would allow those companies to skirt the rules, according to a Liberal MP Tuesday during a House Heritage committee hearing.
In its current form, Bill C-18, the Online News Act, would give the CRTC the ability to determine which companies must compensate news publishers to host on their platforms links to news articles.
But the Conservatives are proposing an amendment that would place limits on the application of this law by the…
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Will the USMCA become an issue for implementation of C-11?
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Officials from Canadian Heritage told the Senate Transportation and Communications Committee Tuesday that they were in regular contact with their American counterparts about legislation that would give the CRTC enhanced authority to regulate online platforms.
Owen Ripley, associate assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs, said the government is navigating the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal and must ensure it is not offside of the trade agreement with bill C-11, the Online Streaming Bill.
As for whether there would be possible retaliation for further regulating American firms, Heritage officials at…
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By Ahmad Hathout
TORONTO – The CRTC should look into the existing agreements and structures in place that deal with network reliability issues before it does anything hasty, according to panelists at the Canadian Telecom Summit, after the chairman said yesterday the commission plans to hold proceedings on the matter.
During his keynote speech on the first day of the conference yesterday, CRTC Chairman Ian Scott said the regulator will be planning proceedings that could examine issues related to reporting of major network outages, including enhancing network resiliency, access to emergency services, consumer communication and compensation, and penalties on providers.
But…
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By Ken Kelley
The president of Bell subsidiary Northwestel said Tuesday that the company is aiming to increase its fiber in the north over the next 12 months, which would improve access to at least the minimum speed objective to an increasing percentage of households in the region.
On the second day of the Canadian Telecom Summit, Northwestel President Curtis Shaw noted that as recently as 2016, not one northern household met the CRTC’s universal service objective of 50 Mbps download with unlimited data. Today, he said more than 22,000 northern homes — over 80% of households — not only have…
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CRTC chair reflects on proceedings and developments as he prepares exit
TORONTO – CRTC Chairman Ian Scott said today that the $750-million Broadband Fund will open a new, third round of applications in the coming weeks.
The chairman said in a speech on the opening day of the Canadian Telecom Summit that despite improvements to internet access in rural and First Nations communities, there is still a lot of work to do.
“That’s why the CRTC is preparing to launch a third call for applications to the Broadband Fund in the coming weeks,” Scott said Monday, adding the call will “highlight the…
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OTTAWA — Former CRTC commissioner and columnist Andrew Cardozo has been appointed senator today by the Governor General, one of three independents to fill vacancies in the upper house from Ontario.
A CRTC commissioner from 1997 to 2003 and an adjunct professor of journalism and communications at Carleton University, Cardozo has written columns on the CRTC, including one this summer in The Hill Times about the regulator taking on increasing important role. He wrote regularly for The Hill Times and was previously a columnist for the Toronto Star and Broadcast Dialogue, Cartt’s sister publication.
Cardozo has also been the president…
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Company believes they will capture those customers with their own offering
OTTAWA — The Competition Tribunal heard evidence today that while Quebecor subsidiary Videotron had the opportunity to purchase Shaw Mobile along with Freedom Mobile, they turned it down because they believe they will be able to capture those customers on their own.
Jean-François Lescadres, Videotron’s vice-president of finances answered questions today before the tribunal, which is currently hearing evidence on an application made by the Commissioner of Competition to block the proposed merger of Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications.
Because of concerns about the impact of the deal…
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GATINEAU — The CRTC today released a new report on its enforcement of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, which shows it received 159,101 complaints to the Spam Reporting Centre from April 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2022.
The report indicated around 5,066 of the complaints were submitted through the online form, while the remainder were submitted by email.
The sources of spam reported through the online form include email (57%), text message (32%) and instant message (2%). The rest (9%) were unspecified. (Please see chart above).
Among the reasons for complaint are lack of consent (47%), identification of sender (21%), deceptive…
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OTTAWA — The Telecommunications Alliance announced today the southwestern Ontario region currently served by the area codes 226, 519 and 548 will get a new area code (382) starting gradually on June 17, 2023.
“The introduction of the new area code 382 is the result of a decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and is intended to meet the continuously growing demand for new telephone numbers,” a press release says.
“The introduction of a new area code creates millions of additional telephone numbers without affecting the existing numbers,” said Kelly T. Walsh, program manager of the…
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