OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless industry is applauding a new report from the Standing Committee on Health’s examination of the potential health impacts of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation that found no evidence of adverse health impacts from the use of wireless technology.
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) said that it is “100% committed to a completely open process in the study of health and safety issues related to wireless technologies”, and commended the Committee “for its comprehensive, science-based review”.
"The overwhelming evidence, as determined and published in studies worldwide by the respected scientific community, continues to support the conclusion that there is…
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OTTAWA – Canadian children’s series Dino Dan has been named the winner of the 2010 Shaw Rocket Prize.
Produced by Toronto-based Sinking Ship Entertainment, the show stars Jason Spevack as Dan Henderson, a 10-year-old boy with an obsession for dinosaurs. It airs in Canada on TVO, Knowledge Network and Access, plus recently debuted in the U.S. on MTV Networks-owned Nick Jr.
Producers J.J. Johnson, Blair Powers and Matt Bishop received their $50,000 prize by from Heritage Minister James Moore at a ceremony in Ottawa earlier this week which celebrated the top five Canadian programs for kids aged 6-12. An international jury of…
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OTTAWA – Even in a weak economic recovery, profits in Canada’s telecommunications have remained strong thanks to cost control and demand for new technologies, says a new report from The Conference Board of Canada.
The report, Canadian Industrial Outlook: Canada’s Telecommunications Industry – Autumn 2010, predicts that industry profits will grow 11.6% to $7.5 billion in 2010, building on a 5.6% increase in 2009.
"The sluggish economic recovery made it harder for telecom providers to attract new clients or convince existing customers to expand their service," said economist and report author, Maxim Armstrong, in a press release. "However, lower costs…
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OTTAWA – All Canadian telecom service providers must join the CRTC’s Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) for a period of five years, the Regulator ruled on Wednesday.
After a hearing this week to review the independence and effectiveness of the CCTS, whose existing membership decision is set to expire later this month, the CRTC issued a rare bench ruling immediately after the hearing ended which dictated that “all residential and small business consumers that obtain forborne telecom services in Canada, including those that receive services from TSPs that do not have more than $10 million in revenues, should…
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OTTAWA – Should there be spectrum caps for incumbents? Set asides for smaller companies? If so, what should they be? Should we align our bandwidth plan with the United States? Should we hold the 2500 MHz auction at the same time as the 700 MHz spectrum auction? How much spectrum should be set aside for public safety agencies? Does there need to be government intervention in rural regions? How will any new foreign investment rules affect the auction?
These are just some of the questions Industry Canada has asked the Canadian wireless industry in the paper it released late Tuesday:…
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TORONTO – Mobile giving has come of age in Canada. A year after Mobile Giving Foundation Canada (MGF Canada) began connecting registered charities and mobile technology, the organization will hold a first-anniversary celebration plus announce its plans for the future.
It’s first birthday party, which is scheduled for December 1st at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre, will recognize the Canadian carriers, application service providers and charities that have made the past year of mobile giving in Canada a “tremendous success”. It will also announce plans to partner with the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy to grow awareness among its delegates.
“With the…
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OTTAWA – Canada’s top two communications industry regulators lamented the fact that they don’t have the appropriate tools to deal with a rapidly changing marketplace.
CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and Helen McDonald, assistant deputy minister at Industry Canada, were speaking on a panel of regulators at the International Institute of Communications annual conference in Ottawa earlier this week (where Cartt.ca was the media sponsor).
McDonald said that for the department to more effectively manage scarce spectrum resources, legislative changes are in order. She pointed to secondary market trading for spectrum as an area that would run much more efficiently…
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TORONTO – Satellite radio competitors XM Canada and Sirius will merge in Canada, just as their American parent companies did over two years ago.
Wednesday’s announcement said that the all-stock merger values the combined company at approximately $520 million, which includes long-term debt of $130 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sirius Canada shareholders will be issued treasury shares of XM Canada parent Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (CSR) representing a 58.0% equity interest in CSR immediately following closing of the transaction. The approximate ownership interest in CSR following closing of the combination transaction will be as follows:
– CSRI Inc., an entity controlled…
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TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) disbursed a record amount of $327 million last year to help produce 4,400 hours of programming, including 932 hours of new broadcast programs. That was just one of the highlights in its 2009-2010 annual report released this week.
“If there were a theme to this year, that theme would be dialogue” said Louis Roquet, chair of the CMF’s board of directors, in a statement. “The dialogue between the various stakeholders of the corporation was strengthened through an extensive year-long consultation”. That consultation process and review of content funding parameters led to the creation…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) is urging the government to protect independent producers from what it calls “the negative impact (of) consolidation” in the broadcasting industry.
Appearing Tuesday before the House of Commons Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage, the CMPA claimed that the three integrated private broadcast corporate groups in English Canada are “using their dominant position to secure unreasonable terms that undermine independent producers’ businesses and put at risk the thousands of high-skilled jobs”.
“I would like to think that independent producers are well positioned to make a significant contribution to Canada’s burgeoning digital economy”, said CMPA…
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