TORONTO — Canada’s major broadcasters are coming together in a show of support for frontline workers fighting the battle against Covid-19 across Canada, with the announcement Monday of the all-Canadian, star-studded special Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble which will air in English and French on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. NT across all markets.
In support of Food Banks Canada’s $150-million campaign to provide immediate support to food banks during Covid-19, the Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble one-hour special will air on CBC, Citytv, CTV, Global and V, as well as select specialty networks, radio stations and streaming platforms…
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TORONTO — The Ontario government announced today it has partnered with Rogers Communications and Apple to help meet the educational needs of students and families in need during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The province announced Friday iPads are being purchased and distributed by Ontario school boards, pre-equipped with free Rogers LTE wireless data, to students in need. Apple is providing on-going support in French and English to teachers, parents and students, with a collection of resources to support learning and working from home, as well.
“This important partnership will enable students to learn while making technology accessible for those that truly…
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By Ahmad Hathout
THE CANADIAN NETWORK OPERATORS Consortium (CNOC) is facing fresh denials from some incumbents to a request by the organization to lift certain network restrictions during the Covid-19 crisis.
The three-part ask from CNOC, which represents smaller third party internet access operators that rent part of the network of the larger providers, includes a lifting of capacity restraints free-of-charge, expedited network augmentations through more physical interconnections, and wholesale payment term flexibility of 60 additional days to help support customers who are unable to pay on time.
The letter was sent over the course of the past couple of weeks to…
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TORONTO – On Saturday, Citytv plans to bring Canadians together and thank those risking their lives to help others in a one-hour live special The Heroes of Covid, airing Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. on Citytv and Citytv.com, right before the global One World: Together At Home concert.
Hosted by Breakfast Television’s Devo Brown and CityNews’ Lindsay Dunn, The Heroes of Covid special offers a heartfelt collection of tributes from real people across Canada and features the profiles of individual efforts of those on the frontlines, reads the Citytv press release.
It will showcase, through local CityNews segments, the…
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By Greg O’Brien
TORONTO – With all pro and amateur sports currently shelved due to the Covid-19 crisis, TSN and Sportsnet programmers have been pulling out all the stops to try and keep fans happy.
They have scrambled and continue to work hard to fill hundreds of hours of airtime with older, or “classic” games, recorded best-of or blooper shows, previously unaired programming like strongman competitions, esports, some experiments in new programming and talk shows and other regular programming now done at hosts homes (Ed note: We enjoyed the 1980 NHL All-Star game – Wayne Gretzky’s first and…
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TORONTO – Corus Entertainment and Rogers Media are joining Bell Media to broadcast the worldwide TV and streaming special One World: Together At Home, in support of the fight against Covid-19.
Airing Saturday, April 18 at 8 p.m. ET, the special will be available on Bell Media channels CTV, CTV2, TSN, CP24, MUCH, MTV, and in French on VRAK; on Corus channels Global, National Geographic, and ABC Spark; and on Rogers Media’s Citytv.
UPDATE: CBC, TLN Media’s Univision and Sirius XM Radio have also announced they will be broadcasting the event, too.
The special will also be streamed live on the…
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Incumbents say claim they disadvantage resellers on tech work is false
By Ahmad Hathout
GATINEAU – Despite an ongoing judicial review of lower wholesale rates the CRTC set last summer, the Regulator’s ability to set new emergency rates is unaffected by the case and the Commission should install new, lower fees for resellers, ISP TekSavvy is arguing.
On Monday, TekSavvy said in a press release the CRTC should consider emergency measures to reimpose lower rates which third party internet access providers like itself pay the incumbents to use network space. The Federal Court of Appeal is currently scheduled to hear…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications announced today it is extending the removal of internet data caps, Canada-wide long distance, free access to content and flexible payment options until June 30th, in response to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Calling the program ForwardTogether, these measures will support Canadians and keep them connected – while ensuring the health and well-being of its customers and employees.
“As this public health situation continues to evolve, we’re focused on keeping our customers connected to what matters most to them,” said Joe Natale, president and CEO. “Whether that’s staying in touch with loved ones, being connected for digital learning,…
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OTTAWA — The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), ACORN Canada and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) jointly called Tuesday for more Covid-19 relief for low-income consumers in the form of unlimited Internet access for at least the next six months and low-income Internet and wireless plans to help all Canadians stay connected while isolating at home during the coronavirus pandemic and possibly beyond.
The consumer groups addressed their demands to not only the federal government and the CRTC but also Canada’s Internet and wireless service providers.
“The Canadian government has told Canadians to stay at home which we are doing,” said…
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GATINEAU — In a procedural letter dated April 3, the CRTC informed Bell and Rogers it was extending the deadline for Bell to comply with the Commission’s December 2019 decision that directed Bell to deploy one-way toll trunks to connect to Rogers switches in the Bell operating territories in which Rogers also provides service, which was supposed to resolve the two companies’ dispute over toll-free call routing.
In the letter, the Commission says it considers the Covid-19 pandemic to be “an unprecedented force majeure situation during which it would not be appropriate for the Commission to expect Bell…
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