OTTAWA – The CRTC is directing wireless service providers to engage in “regular consultations” with disabled Canadians and to file annual reports about the outcome of those discussions.
The reports must be filed to the regulator starting June 1, 2023 and must address, among other issues, which disability communities took part in the discussions, the insight gleaned, changes the provider has put in place, the number of subscribers on accessible plans, and the make-up of accessible plans available in the market in the course of the year, including those that were withdrawn.
The legally binding order, released Thursday, is a result…
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By Ahmad Hathout
MONTREAL – Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said on the company’s fourth quarter conference call Thursday that he is “not surprised” by the “little progress” the company has made on negotiating a deal to roam on the large carriers’ wireless networks, but said things may change with the new head at the CRTC.
The company’s Videotron subsidiary was denied last week an arbitration hearing with the regulator about a price for access to Bell’s wireless network, alleging Bell is stalling on negotiations. The CRTC, which asked about the status of those negotiations…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – There have been “dozens” of agreements since 2012 that deviated from the CRTC’s established rate regime for wholesale access to the networks of the larger telecommunications companies, and they are all in-line with the Telecommunications Act, Shaw argued in a submission to the CRTC on Tuesday.
Shaw was responding to a Part 1 application by independent internet service provider TekSavvy, which asked the CRTC last month to examine the legality of these off-tariff agreements (OTA) that provided a competitor with favourable wholesale access rates not available to other providers. TekSavvy alleged that Rogers…
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By Len St-Aubin, pictured above, an independent internet and telecoms consultant whose clients have included streamers, carriers, government, and not-for-profits. Formerly he was director general of telecommunications policy at Industry Canada and a member of the policy teams that developed both the 1991 Broadcasting Act and the 1993 Telecommunications Act. The opinions expressed in the following are his alone.
On February 14, Quebec’s National Assembly unanimously passed a motion demanding 11th hour amendments to bill C-11, the federal government’s proposed update of the Broadcasting Act, called the Online Streaming Act. Yet in May 2021, the assembly had unanimously passed a…
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TORONTO – The Writers Guild of Canada announced Tuesday that Victoria Shen will become the association’s executive director starting February 27, the first person of colour to assume the role.
“Shen is an accomplished labour and human-rights lawyer, and a respected advocate for change in the entertainment industry,” said a press release. “Notably, she was the Director of National Industrial Relations and Counsel at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA).
“A skilled negotiator and a thoughtful and collaborative leader, Shen has worked with unions and guilds, producers and studios, government and industry organizations across Canada,” the release added.
Shen was the special…
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TORONTO – Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor have once again agreed Friday to delay the date of their respective transactions, as the previous deadline has come and after the innovation minister said this week he isn’t close to making a decision on the transfers.
The outside closing date has been pushed back several times for the deals involving the transfer of Freedom to Videotron and then Shaw to Rogers. It was previously January 31, then it was pushed to February 17, and now the parties are hoping that the minister makes a decision by March 31, which is the date…
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By Connie Thiessen
Quebecor Media has announced it’s cutting 240 jobs, including 140 positions across TVA Group’s broadcasting, publishing and film production divisions.
The restructuring was announced Thursday as Montreal-headquartered TVA Group reported its fiscal 2022 year-end results showing a drop in revenue across all of its business segments. The corporation’s consolidated adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $19,385,000, compared to $80,283,000 the previous year. Consolidated revenues were down 4.6% overall with the corporation recording a net loss of $0.21 per share, compared to earnings per share of $0.71 for 2021. Q4 revenues of $171.9 million marked a slight year-over-year increase…
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OTTAWA — The Canada Media Fund is later this month launching its national survey to get perspectives from the audiovisual sector on how the current definition of Canadian content should evolve in light of bill C-11, the legislation that will empower the CRTC to force foreign streamers to contribute to domestic content.
The 10-minute survey, which will be open on February 27, was designed in collaboration with firms La Societe des demains and Humain Humain and was “informed by input from the CMF’s annual industry consultations and preliminary in-depth interviews with dozens of individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives,” the…
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OTTAWA – CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides announced Wednesday the appointment of lawyer Leila Wright as the commission’s executive director of telecommunications.
Wright, like Eatrides, has done work at the Competition Bureau and will replace Fiona Gilfillan, who was appointed to the position in November 2021 but is now retiring.
“I’m pleased that Leila has accepted this senior leadership position at the CRTC,” said Eatrides in a press release. “Her deep experience in competition and telecommunications will be a tremendous asset as we work to deliver tangible results for Canadians.
Wright, who has a law degree from the University of Toronto, is currently…
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By Konrad von Finckenstein, pictured above, former CRTC chairman from 2007 to 2012
Bill C-18 was passed by the House of Commons and is now in the Senate. Except for a few minor changes, it was passed as originally presented.
In the interim a new chair of the CRTC was appointed. The congratulatory appointment letter of Ministers Pablo Rodriguez and Francois-Philippe Champagne (in fact, a thinly disguised mandate letter) states, inter alia:
“Unfortunately, our sense is that public confidence and trust in the CRTC has waned in recent years. Over the course of our mandates, we have spoken and…
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