By Ahmad Hathout
A non-profit tribal council is asking the CRTC to extend the proposed far north retail internet subsidy to remote indigenous communities.
The regulator ruled earlier this year that it will implement a monthly internet subsidy for residents of Canada’s far north, which has some of the most expensive high-speed internet services.
But Matawa First Nations Management (MFNM), which is comprised of nine remote First Nations in northern Ontario with a combined population of over 10,000, says in a Part 1 made public Tuesday that this subsidy should not be exclusive to far north…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Cogeco is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to force the CRTC to make a decision on a joint complaint it made with Bell late last year alleging a Quebecor internet radio station is broadcasting on a commercial FM station illegally.
In August 2024, Quebecor made a deal with Leclerc Communication, the owner of commercial radio station CJPX-FM (99.5 FM) in Montreal, allowing Quebecor’s internet radio station QUB Radio to operate on those airwaves during primetime Monday through Friday.
“In the hyper-competitive world of Montreal radio, the upheavals of recent months in talk radio offer…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC’s vice president of broadcasting said Wednesday that some of the base contribution money collected from online streamers, which is to be delivered to Canadian content funds, has already been released, despite a court-ordered stay of that policy.
Scott Shortliffe told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, in a briefing about the implementation of the Online Streaming Act, that the streamers’ money from the previous broadcast year – which ended on August 31 – has been collected by an independent company and that some of the money has already been delivered.
“We understand that the money has been…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Friday denied applications from Bell and Ontario charging that the commission made an error in a previous decision by failing to clarify that it had exclusive jurisdiction over long-distance calls in correctional facilities.
The commission said Friday that this issue was not central to its 2024 decision – which determined that those call rates were forborne from regulation since 1997 and it did not have authority to retroactively adjust the rates charged by Bell between 2013 and 2021 – and that the Telecommunications Act does not give the CRTC “authorities in exclusive…
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Spoken word on FM, removal of tangible benefits among other recommendations
By Ahmad Hathout
Canadian content quotas on radio have contributed to a competitive imbalance in the market and reducing them will help traditional broadcasters be more adaptable to listener habits, the CRTC heard this week.
Rogers pitched Friday a reduction in the Canadian content quota on English-language radio – from 35 per cent to 25 per cent – that the broadcasting giant said will not only allow it to better manage its operations but also increase the consumption of its products. The company’s director of programming said there’s data to back…
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By Connie Thiessen
Canadian radio cannot continue to be used as a tool to prop up the music industry, Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) President Kevin Desjardins told the CRTC’s hearing on Canadian content on audio services Thursday.
“There has never been a more urgent moment than now for the commission to revise and adjust the regulatory regime for commercial radio in Canada. Simply put, the status quo will not do,” Desjardins asserted.
The CAB, presenting its case on behalf of its 26 members representing over 550 commercial radio stations, argued that the current regulatory burden, particularly “artificially high exhibition requirements” for…
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Sale of infrastructure also not out of the cards
By Ahmad Hathout
Bell’s chief financial officer said Thursday that leasing internet from Telus in western Canada is not out of the cards, but that owning the infrastructure is preferred for cash flow.
“It’s an opportunity for sure,” Curtis Millen said during a conference hosted by CIBC when asked about using Telus’s network in areas Bell doesn’t operate in. “We’ve had plenty of time to think about this.”
Bell, unlike Telus, is opposed to the CRTC policy of allowing the three largest telecoms to use the wholesale internet regime because the…
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The CRTC last Friday denied an August 2024 application for relief from Iristel following the disconnection of its telecommunications services by Northwestel.
The commission had previously denied an Iristel review-and-vary application regarding the CRTC’s June 2024 decision that found Iristel did not provide sufficient evidence showing it was wronged in an interconnection dispute with Bell and its subsidiary Northwestel.
In its latest decision on the matter, the CRTC said the record shows Iristel did not enter into a deferred payment agreement with Northwestel within the prescribed deadline….
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Cogeco urges easing of quotas
By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Stingray Radio said Thursday that overexposing Canadians to domestic music on radio is pushing them toward streaming services.
“Whether it’s a Canadian song they don’t like or an international song they don’t like, we risk driving them to international, foreign-owned, unregulated streamers,” Steve Jones told the commission studying the definition of Canadian content on audio services.
Jones noted that, through the company’s research and through the years, Canadian music has only captured roughly 10 per cent of consumption in Canada.
“So there is historical data that suggests that listeners have a certain threshold…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Thursday confirmed a preliminary view that regional mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) should have access to shared wireless networks even when an agreement is reached with just one of the carriers.
The commission determined Thursday that the network sharing agreements between Bell and Telus make them one national network “that results in both carriers being national wireless carriers that possess market power,” upholding a view on which it asked for comments in October.
To deny regional players access to parts of that contiguous network would, therefore, confer on the large telcos an undue…
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