OTTAWA — A new report commissioned by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) says its membership contributed $48.2 billion to the Canadian economy in 2018, representing 2.5% of the total Canadian gross domestic product.
The report, developed by consulting firm Nordicity Group, goes on to say the Canadian wireless industry’s GDP contribution has grown at an annual compound rate of 7.1% since 2013 (the contribution was $34.3 billion in 2013). The industry’s GDP contribution in 2018 includes $12.6 billion from productivity improvements enabled by the use of wireless services in other industry sectors, and $4.7 billion as a result of…
Continue Reading
Our information ecosystem is in trouble. Here’s how we can fix it. Part four of four
By Tessa Sproule
WE AS HUMANS have to learn how to communicate with AI. We have to learn what it’s good at helping us with, and what it might mess up if we’re not watching it.
The role of the modern digital citizen of a democracy has become similar to the old-school editor — knowing where a piece of information came from, assessing its credibility and potential biases,…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — The CRTC is asking the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) to tell the Commission how the association and its members plan to combat the issue of unauthorized porting of mobile phone numbers, a fraudulent activity that has been reported with increasing frequency in recent months.
CBC News has reported recently on several instances where mobile phone customers reported falling victim to number porting.
“The Commission has become aware that certain Canadian mobile customers have been subject to fraudulent activity involving unauthorized porting of their mobile phone numbers,” the CRTC wrote January 15 in a letter to the…
Continue Reading
Interveners will have to sign NDA
MONTREAL and OTTAWA — Bell is ready to test an artificial intelligence-based system it has developed for blocking fraudulent phone calls, and says last week’s decision by the CRTC regarding its application brings it a step closer to launching its technology trial.
According to a Bell news release Friday, its AI-based network technology could potentially block an estimated 120 million more scam calls per month than Bell is able to stop using call-blocking methods currently mandated by the CRTC.
“Our industry has made solid progress in combatting these scam calls, and Bell’s innovative new AI…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — The CMPA’s Prime Time 2020 conference at the end of the month will kick off with an opening keynote by Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault, it was announced Monday.
Guilbeault will be joined on stage by CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin for a discussion about the current state of the screen-based industries and Minister Guilbeault’s vision for the future of Canadian content creation. The fireside chat with Minister Guilbeault will take place on the morning of Thursday, January 30.
“We are honoured to welcome Minister Guilbeault to Prime Time at this inflection point for the Canadian screen-based…
Continue Reading
VANCOUVER — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) announced Monday the appointment of Tracey Friesen as the managing vice-president of its BC Producers Branch.
In this role, Friesen will represent BC-based independent producers, lead efforts to engage with government agencies and industry stakeholders across the province, and oversee CMPA-BC operations.
“Tracey has an extraordinary depth of knowledge of our sector, and also brings a demonstrated capacity for effective advocacy in British Columbia,” said Reynolds Mastin, president and CEO of CMPA, in the news release. “We are thrilled to have her join our team.”
Friesen will leverage more than 25 years of…
Continue Reading
By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – When the Competition Bureau filed in November its intervention to the CRTC’s wireless policy review, it was expected that the reactions would be spirited, and they are.
First, some objected because the Bureau (and its specially commissioned Matrix Report) reached conclusions based on confidential information and asked that some information be shared. In that regard, Bell and Rogers got what they wanted while CNOC and Telus are still waiting for word from the Commission when it comes to that data. Telus has warned the Bureau’s intervention should be deleted from the record for…
Continue Reading
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – The new year brings many challenges for Steven Guilbeault less than two months after he was sworn in as minister of Canadian Heritage, which was just a month following his debut as a federal politician, bringing the Liberals a win in Laurier-Sainte-Marie when he was elected MP for the downtown Montreal riding previously held by the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.
Co-founder of Quebec’s largest environmental organization, Équiterre, and a former campaign manager for Greenpeace, Guilbeault is tasked with managing a new ecosystem that calls on him to create new regulations for both social media platforms…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA – NBCUniversal will head to Parliament Hill to lobby on favourable tax measures for the company that has created content in the country, as it prepares to push new products in the new year.
It’s the first time the mega media company out of New York (and of course owned by Comcast Corp.) has registered to lobby the feds after having done so with Alberta and Ontario this past fall. The federal registration, effective January 6, targets Canadian Heritage and seeks to “monitor” and “assist” in the “development of policies that encourage and not hamper the development of film…
Continue Reading
OTTAWA — The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has revealed some of its lineup of speakers scheduled to participant in panel sessions at Prime Time in Ottawa later this month.
With panels focused on production, packaging, partnering and financing, Prime Time 2020 will provide the intel needed to bring projects — and careers — to the next level, organizers say.
Some of the featured panel sessions and their participants include:
Produce Your Career, Not Just Your Content
Jennifer Twiner-McCarron, CEO, Thunderbird Entertainment and Atomic Cartoons
Christina Jennings, founder, chairman and CEO, Shaftesbury
Sophie Ferron, president, founder and executive producer, Media Ranch
Amy…
Continue Reading
