GATINEAU – Some consensus around a Rogers Communications proposal for IP to IP connection emerged during the first day of rebuttals Monday at the CRTC’s interconnection hearing.
Rogers decided that it would be easier to live with the status quo in IP interconnection and pay for the costs of converting IP traffic to TDM (time-division multiplexing) to terminate voice calls on ILECs network as long as ILECs would negotiate IP interconnection where they offer it to either a subsidiary, a division or an unaffiliated carrier. Last week, Rogers requested the commission require the ILECs to pay…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is adding Sun News to its lineup in Ontario starting Tuesday.
For the past six months, Cogeco Ontario customers have been able to watch the channel via the old over-the-air Sun TV signal that is scheduled to cease operation at midnight on October 31. The channel, a joint venture between Quebecor’s TVA Group and Sun Media Corporation, will be available on channel 195 (SD) and 705 (HD), plus be added to Cogeco’s ‘Digital Select’ theme package.
“We always strive to provide the most interesting and relevant offering on the market”, said Ron Perrotta, Cogeco’s VP of marketing…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media is demanding that CBC/Radio-Canada take down the page on its website that, among other allegations, accuses the Montreal-based media giant of using public subsidies for its own gain.
As Cartt.ca reported earlier this week, the ‘pubcaster posted a page entitled ‘What Quebecor won’t tell you about its attacks on the public broadcaster’ that included a document called ‘Examining Quebecor Media's Free Market Message’ on the evening before Quebecor head Pierre-Karl Péladeau appeared in front of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics about the CBC and the Access To Information Act.
In…
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OTTAWA – Quebecor Media’s CEO used an appearance at a Parliamentary committee to slam not only the CBC/Radio-Canada for its lack of accountability to Canadians, but also other media organizations for getting into bed with the public broadcaster and refusing to take the CBC to task over its use of taxpayer money.
Speaking at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, QMI president and CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau portrayed Sun Media as being the only news organization capable of asking CBC the hard questions about how it uses public money. He spoke about access to…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – The CBC has upped the ante in its battle with Quebecor.
Quebecor's media outlets have been unrelenting in their criticism of the CBC, complaining of a lack of transparency at the public broadcaster, which has been forced to deal with hundreds of requests made by Quebecor under the Access To Information regulations. The CBC claims it can protect some competitively sensitive information. Quebecor has taken the position that because it's federally funded, it must divulge just about everything.
However, on the eve of Quebecor Inc. president and CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau’s appearance in front of the House of Commons Standing…
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OTTAWA – There is an easy fix to the ongoing dispute between the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, according to the chair of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein.
In an appearance before the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee, von Finckenstein said Parliament just needs to change the Access to Information Act. The former judge and Competition Bureau chief noted the current dispute hinges on a double exemption contained in section 68.1 of the Act.
This section of the Act says that CBC’s journalistic, programming and creative activities are…
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CHANGE AT THE VERY top of the CRTC may be only the tip of the iceberg.
It’s been an open secret-slash-assumption for a while that the Conservative government was not keen on extending Konrad von Finckenstein’s stay as CRTC chairman. While the chair had made it known in the summer he would like to stay on for a few more years at least (a shorter, three year term was discussed, according to people with knowledge of the situation), Federal Cabinet has decided a new person will take the reins come January 25, when von Finckenstein’s mandate ends.
On Tuesday, he sent…
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WHILE SAYING HIS company has not yet decided on a course of action, Bell Canada’s regulatory chief says thanks to the CRTC’s new vertical integration policy, he wants to start over when it comes to our broadcasting laws and its regulation.
(Explained here, the new policy: prohibits exclusives on linear TV content when it comes to mobile and online platforms; bans tied selling of specialty services ensuring BDUs can buy them from programmers one at a time; calls for consumers to be able to buy more specialties one at a time in a pick-and-pay format; outlines a specific code…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor is one step closer to building its NHL-calibre arena in Quebec City with Wednesday’s adoption of bill 204 by the provincial government.
The bill validates a management contract for the proposed $400 million arena between Quebecor Media and the city of Quebec, and aims to pre-empt any lawsuits challenging the partnership. The 25-year deal, which Quebecor signed in early March, is designed to help attract an NHL team back to Quebec City (the now defunct Nordiques last played in the city in 1995). It would also mean some attractive content for Quebecor’s new sports channel TVA Sports and…
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OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC’s new policy on vertical integration, released late Wednesday, tries hard to balance the wants of Canadian television viewers with the commercial demands of the country’s largest vertically integrated broadcasters and television distributors, and the needs of the smaller and independent ones.
Following a five day long hearing in June, the new policy offers flexibility to the likes of Bell Media, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media, but also includes a number of safeguards and a code of conduct.
Highlights of the new policy include:
– Companies are prohibited from offering television programs on an exclusive basis to…
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