OTTAWA – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) last week refused an application for spectrum licences in Manitoba to be transferred from Xplore Mobile Inc. to Telus Communications.
The application included licences in the Broadband Radio Service (BRS), Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-1) and Mobile Broadband Services (MBS) bands.
“The proposed transfer raised substantial concerns that the resulting concentration of spectrum would impede the ability of future mobile competitors to provide wireless services and effectively compete in Manitoba,” reads the decision, which adds the “proposed transfer is contrary to ISED’s policy objective for spectrum management.”
Xplore Mobile announced this past July…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In another session of the pre-study of Bill C-11 today, the Senate Transport and Communications Committee heard from some of the web giants and their issues with the Online Streaming Act seemed a little clearer.
Representatives from Spotify, The Walt Disney Company and the Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents the interests of Amazon, Apple, Google, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube, made presentations and answered questions from the senators.
Three issues were underlined: discoverability, CanCon and, in a related fashion but more subtly, IP rights.
Don’t touch my algorithms!
While DiMA president and CEO Garrett Levin recognized the act does not…
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Privacy commissioner says there could be privacy concerns, other witnesses claim CRTC does not have capacity to implement bill
By Amanda Oye
OTTAWA – Bill C-11, which aims to update Canada’s broadcasting legislation, is consistent with Canada’s international trade obligations, Darren Smith, Global Affairs Canada executive director, technical barriers and regulations, told the senate’s transport and communications committee during the first of two meetings held today as part of its study on the subject matter of the bill.
This includes its commitments under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, Smith added.
Back in July, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai met with Mary…
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TORONTO – Consolidation on the wholesale front in Canada’s telecom industry is not reducing competition, Bell’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer Glen LeBlanc (above, right) told BMO Capital Markets media and telecom analyst Tim Casey (above, left) at BMO’s 23rd annual Media and Telecom conference yesterday.
“There’s a very large reseller market… I think there’s 950 competitors in Canada,” LeBlanc said. “The barriers to entry are minimal, the largest is still in business – TekSavvy – and appears to have zero intention of selling.”
LeBlanc’s appearance at BMO’s conference comes not long after Bell announced it reached an agreement to…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a tweet yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) announced it would grant leave to the CBC/Radio-Canada (SRC) allowing it to appeal the CRTC’s decision, issued in June, to force the SRC to apologize to a complainant (Ricardo Lamour) for the use of the N-word on air and to outline the measures it will take to avoid such incidents in the future.
Back in August 2020, a SRC commentator on the radio program Le 15-18 used the offensive word four times during the show in reference to a book by Pierre Vallières written…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In the latest development in the list of never-ending disputes between Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) and Québecor concerning their respective sports channels, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) denied BCE a judicial review of a CRTC decision that found Bell was giving RDS, its French-language sports channel, undue preference.
Both Bell and Québecor own programming services as well as distribution ones, which has them competing on many fronts.
In a 2018 decision, the Commission sided in final offer arbitration (FOA) with BCE’s rates for the distribution of Québecor’s sports service TVA Sports on BCE distribution services.
Approximately a…
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TORONTO — Canadian Telecom Summit (CTS) organizers confirmed today CRTC chair and CEO Ian Scott (above) will speak at this year’s conference, being held Nov. 21-23 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont., just west of Toronto.
This will be one of Scott’s last public appearances as head of the CRTC. His five-year term, which was supposed to expire at the beginning of September, was recently extended by four months.
Scott is scheduled to give a keynote speech at CTS on Monday, Nov. 21 at 4:15 p.m. ET.
“As Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Ian Scott supervises and directs the work…
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Says it’s an opportunity for government to support competition and consumer choice
OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) is supporting City Wide’s petition to the Governor in Council, which asks it to vary the CRTC’s decision to deny City Wide’s 2020 application regarding Eastlink’s third-party Internet access (TPIA) point of interconnection (POI) in Nova Scotia.
City Wide wants the CRTC to order Eastlink to move its TPIA POI from the rural community of Pennant Point to a location in the core of Halifax, or alternatively, for the CRTC to regulate the rate the company charges for its…
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TALLCREE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, Alberta — Telus Communications and Tallcree Tribal Government in Alberta announced earlier this month funding from the CRTC’s Broadband Fund will help to bring wireless connectivity to Tallcree First Nation in northern Alberta for the first time.
“With a wireless connection, small businesses can thrive and compete both locally and globally, families can stay connected to loved ones who live out of town, young people can stay in their hometowns longer and participate in distance education, and perhaps most critically, a wireless connection provides a lifeline to call for help in the event of an emergency,” reads…
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OTTAWA – Telus has told the CRTC this week that Timeless Inc.’s complaint that Rogers’s refusal to carry its OneSoccer channel gives it an undue preference should be investigated by the regulator as “timely,” as Rogers pushes to buy Shaw Communications.
Rogers has refused to carry the channel because it said it has limited appeal with its viewers. Timeless, which said it has been trying to get a carriage agreement with Rogers for over a year, has argued in its original complaint last month that there is a “surge in popularity and success for Canadian soccer” and that Rogers…
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