IT’S NOT USUAL FOR a reporter to ignore a story on his beat, but it’s happening right now for me.
The issue is text message fees and the decision by Bell Canada and Telus to begin charging customers who aren’t on any sort of texting or data plan 15-cents for each of their incoming text messages.
I’ve been lax in my coverage of this story because I find the stupidity at all levels of this issue is breathtaking. Maddening. Press, consumers, government and the companies themselves; there is more than enough foolishness to go around.
When the story first…
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TORONTO – The Fight Network has undergone a number of changes behind the scenes this summer, including the departure of founder Mike Garrow, Cartt.ca has learned.
The channel terminated the employment of approximately 12 staffers two weeks ago – about a third of its workers – and this week, Garrow was let go, according to sources.
Garrow and some partners launched the channel in 2005 just as the whole mixed martial arts wave began to take off. The channel is widely carried in Canada by most distributors but has yet to reach 500,000 paid subscribers. CRTC figures show that…
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TORONTO – While revenues for Canada’s private broadcasters increased slightly in 2007, they cut their spending on Canadian programming slightly too, pointed out ACTRA, the actors union, in a press release.
The CRTC released its omnibus communications industry report last week which showed revenues for private conventional broadcasters rose 1.3% to $2.2 billion in the 2007 broadcast year (ended August 31, 2007) while spending on Canadian television dropped 1.2% to $616 million. Spending on American programming rose 5% to $722 million.
“The CRTC’s industry report confirms that Canada’s private broadcasters are overspending on U.S. programming while failing to produce…
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MEXICO CITY – Canadian Minister of Health Tony Clement has named Michael Sabia, former CEO of Bell Canada Enterprises, as the chair for the new Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) Implementation Advisory Board today.
The purpose of the CHVI “is to make a significant contribution to the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, whose mission is to accelerate the global development of preventative HIV vaccines,” reads the Health Canada press release.
Addressing a crowd of Canadian delegates at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Minister Clement announced that Sabia will chair the board, made up of Canadian leaders in…
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GATINEAU – In an attempt to reflect the converging industries it regulates, the CRTC today issued its first ever monitoring report that covers the entire telecom, cable and broadcast industry.
The first Communications Monitoring Report shows that the Canadian communications industry posted revenues of $51.1 billion in 2007, an increase of 5.7% over the $48.3 billion reported in 2006.
"The convergence of technologies and industries has dramatically reshaped the communications landscape in recent years," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., chairman of the CRTC. "This year’s monitoring report gives us our first comprehensive look at the state of the overall…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), based at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, has asked the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to open an investigation into targeted web advertising.
Using certain technologies, including deep packet inspection, Canadian ISPs can identify tendencies of its users in order to better target the web ads sent to their computer screens as they search. The idea is to deliver better, more relevant ads to consumers and deliver better, more relevant customers to advertisers.
The practice, known as behavioral targeting, is used in many jurisdictions, such as…
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OTTAWA – The Canadian Association of Broadcasters annual convention will take place in the nation’s capital again this year from November 2-4 at the Westin Hotel Ottawa.
This year’s theme – The World View – “reflects the increasingly global nature of the issues that are affecting the radio and television industries,” says the association.
In addition to plenary and keynote presentations, this year’s 12 concurrent sessions have been divided into four distinct tracks that focus on the latest “hot button” issues. They are, as quoted from the CAB:
Track 1: Trendspotting – Broadcasting 3.0? Technology and market forecasters share…
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TORONTO – IT security breaches are costing publicly traded Canadian companies an average loss of more than $637,000 annually, says a new study released by Telus and the Rotman School of Management.
In government, the cost is $320,000 per organization, while the cost to private companies is $294,000 a year.
Similar studies in the U.S. show the cost of data security breaches more than doubling year over year, rising to an average of US$345,000 in 2007 from US$167,713 in 2006 for public companies. There is no similar benchmark data for Canada, but Rotman business economics professor Dr. Walid Hejazi…
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OTTAWA – Telesat is looking for clients for its newly-approved orbital slots.
The company announced today the award of six satellite approvals-in-principle for development of BSS and FSS frequencies following a public process by Industry Canada.
So, Telesat is now seeking expressions of interest from broadcast, enterprise and government customers and any other entities in Canada interested in developing services from any of these locations.
The six new approvals-in-principle are:
* Four in the 17 GHz BSS band; one at each of the following orbital locations: 72.5 degrees WL, 82 degrees WL, 86.5 degrees WL and 118.7 degrees WL…
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WASHINGTON – While the Sirius-XM merger process officially ended on Friday, the debate continues on whether satellite radio is any closer to becoming mainstream.
After 17 months of deliberation and intense lobbying by broadcasters to halt the merger, the Federal Communications Commission approved the deal in a 3-2 vote after Sirius and XM agreed to pay $19.7 million in fines.
It was Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate’s vote that removed the final hurdle to the merger’s completion. The companies voluntarily agreed to pay a combined $19.7 million in fines to settle FCC rule violations to gain her support. This includes locating towers…
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