OTTAWA – Canada’s major telecommunications providers have agreed on an initial five-year term to allow customers to roam on each others’ networks on an emergency basis in the event of a major network outage to ensure Canadians are not left out of essential services, such as 911 access, according to a formal agreement announced Wednesday by the Minister of Innovation.
The companies, including Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Shaw, have also committed to assisting each other in such an event and also “to providing clear and timely communications to keep Canadians and appropriate authorities informed about response and restoration during major…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC said in a letter Friday that it is giving Bell and Videotron until the end of the month to report back on progress in negotiations involving Bell French-language channels that Videotron wants to axe from its rotation — while also moving up dates for intervenors to file comments in the matter.
Bell initially filed a Part 1 application on August 11 asking for the regulator to make a decision on allegations that Videotron is giving itself an undue preference by allowing its own competing channels to stay on while proposing to remove Bell’s Vrak.tv and Z….
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OTTAWA – The operator of the country’s emergency alert system is suggesting possibly developing “protocols and procedures” for distributors to inform it about any disruptions to the delivery of alerts.
In a Wednesday response to the CRTC’s request for more information about the Rogers network outage in July, Pelmorex said such measures could enable it to quickly notify government issuers of the alert about the problem. Pelmorex was asked by the regulator to provide comment earlier this month.
The company also suggested that it could potentially work with trade associations representing the broadcasters of the alert — including Rogers in…
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MONTREAL and TORONTO — Independent internet service provider Distributel has agreed to be acquired by Bell for an undisclosed amount, the companies said in an announcement today.
Distributel will continue to operate independently after close of the deal — which is subject to standard regulatory approval — and Matt Stein, the CEO of the company, will remain at the helm, a press release said.
“With this announcement, Distributel is better positioned to compete and deliver on our decades-long commitment to bringing choice and affordability to Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” Stein said in the release. “We hope Canadians are…
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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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