OTTAWA — Ian Scott, the chairman of the CRTC whose five-year term was set to expire this weekend, will stay on as head of the regulator for another four months, a government source confirmed to Cartt.ca.
The extension is intended to allow the Heritage Department to continue its search — which began in May — for a permanent replacement, a process that is still ongoing, the source said.
It will also allow the regulator to maintain some status quo as it deals with a number of big files, including work emanating from bills intended to modernize the CRTC, such as developing…
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OTTAWA – Traditional broadcasting media rebounded closer to pre-pandemic levels for advertising revenues in 2021, but still lagged behind the last complete reporting of pre-pandemic data in 2019, according to data released this month by the CRTC.
While conventional and discretionary television service revenues increased by 6.9% ($91 million) and 0.8% ($30 million) respectively compared to 2020, those numbers are lower when compared to 2019 – whose conventional TV service revenues totaled $1.56 billion compared to 2021’s $1.4 billion, while 2019’s revenue for discretionary was $4.2 billion compared to 2021’s $3.9 billion.
Overall traditional broadcasting revenue saw a…
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OTTAWA – Bell is asking the CRTC to review its May decision that dismissed its complaint that certain Videotron customers were permanently roaming on its wireless network in violation of the parties’ agreement.
The August 19 review and vary request, published Friday, said that the CRTC erred when it dismissed the request to force Videotron to abide by Bell’s wholesale national wireless roaming service tariff – which Bell said dictates that Videotron customers roaming on its network cannot permanently do so on a non-incidental basis.
“The Commission dismissed our application in the face of our un-contradicted evidence, conceded by Videotron, that…
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OTTAWA and GATINEAU — Canada is getting a new 988 mental health crisis and suicide prevention number — but not until Nov. 30, 2023.
The CRTC announced today it will adopt 988 as the three-digit number to call or text for Canadians in need of immediate crisis intervention, however, it will take more than a year for the number to go live.
The United States has already implemented 988 for its national mental health hotline, which launched in mid-July.
What needs to happen before the 988 number can function across Canada is 10-digit dialling must be introduced in areas where seven-digit dialling…
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OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) filed a disclosure request to the CRTC on Friday asking the commission to release information filed by Rogers in confidence about the Canada-wide network outage that occurred last month.
Information requested by the advocacy group include the cost breakdown of the company-promised $261 million to physically separate the wireless and wireline networks and how long it will take; how the new facilities and equipment will be deployed as part of the separation plan; and redacted examples of the network initiatives as part of the company’s promise to invest $10 billion to fund…
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Some will still be waiting until 2023 for FTTH service
By Amanda OYE
QUEBEC CITY – While several provinces across the country have set their own targets for ensuring everyone has access to high-speed Internet before the 2030 federal goal to have the whole country connected, Quebec stands out for its ambitious plan to do so far sooner than the rest – and for actually meeting its target (early no less).
The province has been working towards providing high-speed Internet service (50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, as defined by the CRTC) to everyone in the province by the end…
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Telecom unable to answer MP’s question about economic losses
OTTAWA – Rogers Communications has provided more information to the CRTC about its recent nationwide outage, including that roughly 60% of its average daily volume of 9-1-1 calls were successfully completed by its wireless customers on July 8.
Responding to a second round of questions from the Commission on Aug. 22, Rogers explained why some 9-1-1 calls went through while others did not.
“In cases where customers were not able to successfully complete their 9-1-1 calls through the Rogers wireless networks, their devices should have attempted, as per standard industry specifications, to scan…
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TekSavvy will return its complaint to the federal integrity commissioner
OTTAWA – The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner will not initiate an examination into CRTC chair Ian Scott’s alleged bias related to meetings with telecommunications service providers, according to the commissioner’s report on the matter, which was published online today.
“It was alleged that Mr. Scott had several meetings with large telecommunication providers while they had open and active files before the CRTC, thereby failing to avoid apparent conflicts of interest in breach of the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and CRTC practices,” the…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has asked Northwestel for information about a service outage in Nunavut lasting from Aug. 3 to Aug. 4, 2022.
According to reports, the “outage was caused by an internal network issue, which impacted various services including Internet and cellular services,” says a letter from the Commission to Northwestel dated Aug. 17.
The CRTC has asked for more information about what happened including the cause, timeline of events, services affected, number of customers affected, whether there was an impact on the ability of residents to access emergency services and steps taken to restore service. Northwestel must submit a…
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No set rates means decision will require a lot of work and time to implement, CEO says
By Amanda OYE
OTTAWA – Last week, when renewing independent broadcaster OUTtv’s licence for a five-year term, the CRTC also granted the service dedicated to the LGBTQ2 community, “must-offer” status for three and a half years in the English-language market starting next March.
Noting that with the decision the CRTC has recognized the distinctiveness and vulnerability of the LGBTQ2 community, OUTtv CEO Brad Danks said in an interview with Cartt.ca the decision was also an indication the Commission recognizes that without regulatory support, OUTtv…
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