GATINEAU — As the first phase of its consultation on the development of a new Indigenous broadcasting policy in Canada, the CRTC released today the results of its early engagement sessions with First Nations, Métis and Inuit broadcasters, content creators and artists during which the Commission gathered input to establish the conduct and scope of the next phase of the policy development.
In June 2019, the CRTC launched a three-phase process to co-develop a new Indigenous broadcasting policy in collaboration with Indigenous peoples. Phase one consisted of 12 engagement sessions — nine in-person and three teleconference sessions — held across…
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TORONTO — In its third report, released today, the C.D. Howe Institute’s new telecommunications policy working group — which includes executives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and Shaw, among others — says cellular phone services have seen a 25% price drop over the past five years, which they say meets Ottawa’s mandated wireless rate cut.
That means, the group says, it’s time to shift the focus of telecom policy debates to other issues, such as the modernization of the CRTC and rate-setting challenges for mandated access.
Citing data from Statistics Canada’s consumer price index, the telecom group says cellular services…
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TORONTO — The Banff World Media Festival today announced Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, will speak in a virtual keynote session on the festival’s opening day, June 14.
“Over the last 10-plus years we have been thrilled to share great stories with Canadians, and work with some of the best creators from across the country,” said Sarandos, in a press release. “As we expand our local presence further, collaborating with partners like the Banff World Media Festival helps us deepen these relationships and bring more Canadian entertainment to our members around the world. Even though we won’t…
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By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Canada’s big telecoms are divided on a CRTC proposal to create a framework that would establish an independent body tasked with creating and maintaining a block list of known malicious software networks, known as botnets.
A botnet is a network of malware-infected devices that are controlled from a central location and used to do things like steal data and/or send an overwhelming number of communications to a server, which causes it to fail (denial-of-service attack). The increasing number of internet-connected devices coming to market, a lot largely with flimsy security measures, are multiplying the risk of…
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By Jay Thomson
THE CCSA WAS FORMED in the early 1990s, around the same time as the current Broadcasting Act came into force. Like the Act back then, our members at the time did not contemplate the growth in size and influence of the “foreign digital giants”.
But also like the Act back then, our members did not contemplate the massive consolidation that would take place in the Canadian broadcasting industry.
Neither the Act nor our members contemplated that just three domestic companies – Bell, Rogers and Quebecor – would come to dominate Canada’s communications marketplace; that, through ownership of most of…
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By Steve Faguy
IS TERRESTRIAL RADIO dead?
Well, no. The Canadian commercial radio industry brought in $1.45 billion in total revenues in 2018-19, according to CRTC data. But that’s a steady decline from $1.6 billion in 2014-15, and even without the effects of Covid-19, it looks like the only way forward is down as both advertisers and audience increasingly migrate toward digital services.
Faced with this decline, broadcasters are taking various strategic approaches to the future. Some are embracing new platforms, launching podcasts and streaming services of their own.
“I think there’s still a place for…
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Telus asks for more subsidies
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – If the CRTC wants to encourage more investment in rural broadband and not have to shell out more subsidies, it should not impose additional regulatory obligations, such as open access to their networks, the big telecoms are arguing.
In final submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on barriers to deploying broadband in rural Canada, launched in late 2019, the big telecoms took the opportunity to reemphasize fewer regulations will mean more private investment in their networks – and then the government can save money on programs, too.
Should “the investment climate worsen due to…
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TORONTO — CTAM Canada will hold its second annual Genie’s Breakfast as a virtual event on March 30 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
The event was created last year in honour of Eugenia “Genie” Loukian, a CTAM Canada member and industry colleague who died in late 2019. Genie’s Breakfast is held in support of Look Good Feel Better, a cancer support program. There is no charge to attend the event, but participants are encouraged to make a donation to Look Good Feel Better.
The topic for this year’s event is “Self-Leading in a Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous (VUCA) World: Failing our…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – On Friday, March 19, during a break week(!), the members of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (INDU) of the House of Commons held a meeting at the request of four of its Conservative members to examine the proposed $26-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications.
The very busy committee – which has already undertaken studies on competitiveness in Canada, Investment Canada Act, development and support of the Aerospace Industry, front-line grocery store workers, affordable telecom, and domestic manufacturing capacity for a Covid-19 vaccine – agreed the Rogers/Shaw transaction must be looked…
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MONTREAL – Bell Canada today launched an exclusive new app available only to customers with a 5G phone – and who are in a Bell 5G coverage area.
The new TSN 5G View/Vision 5G RDS launched Friday night as the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre.
The Bell announcement says 5G tech allows it to use the app to take “fans into the rink on their smartphones, rotating around the action supported by 80-plus in-game cameras broadcast live within the TSN/RDS App.”
This is the first Bell Canada-Bell Media co-production under new Bell Media senior vice-president, product platforms…
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