By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has issued a follow-up decision approving a number of Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs) to receive contributions from online streaming services.
The approvals – which include applications from the Bell Fund, the Independent Production Fund, and the Telus Fund – follows the commission’s 2024 decision on base contributions under the Online Streaming Act, requiring certain audio-visual online undertakings to contribute five per cent of their Canadian revenues as a base contribution to support the Canadian broadcasting system.
That decision outlined that the new funding stream be directed to areas of immediate need, including producers from official language minority communities (OLMCs) and…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The head of Quebecor took a shot at a recent industry trend involving the sale of wireless infrastructure to pay down debt, claiming the company has been able to “maintain the best balance sheet” so it can avoid those kinds of transactions.
Rogers and Telus have recently committed to selling minority stakes in their wireless infrastructure in part to pay down debt. Rogers has spent a boatload of money over the past couple of years acquiring assets to shore up its core businesses, while Telus has been focused on expanding east.
“I’m not…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell said Thursday it has agreed to sell its home security and monitored alarm assets, in a transaction that aligns with its efforts to focus on its core businesses.
The transaction to Toronto-based a.p.i Alarm Inc. is part of a strategy of focusing on its telecommunications, enterprise solutions and media businesses, the company said Thursday. Closing is expected in the second half of this year.
The deal, whose top-end value is estimated at $170 million, comes nearly eight years after it purchased Alarm Force for $166 million – a move that it said would boost its…
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Eastlink says it is suspending planned upgrades
By Ahmad Hathout
The federal government will not send back the CRTC’s decision to allow the three largest telecommunications companies to ride on the internet networks of others, pointing to competition and lower costs.
“Canada’s new government has a strong mandate to bring costs down and to build one, strong, Canadian economy – one that aligns with our core values as a nation,” Industry Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement late Wednesday.
“According to the policy direction, the CRTC is responsible for considering how its decisions affect all forms of competition and investment, as well…
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The CRTC wants answers from Bell and Rogers about recently reported incidents of misrouted calls and overheard conversations of phone customers in the Niagara Region.
An August 5 letter from the CRTC to the two telecom providers is in response to incidents reported in late July by organizations such as the City of Niagara Falls, which posted on X July 25 that phone lines at its city hall were experiencing issues that, in its case, appeared to be affecting Niagara Regional Broadband Network (NRBN) enterprise voice customers making or receiving…
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In a decision dated July 23, the Canada Industrial Relations Board has given final approval to an application by the Metro Cable TV Maintenance and Service Employees’ Association to expand its existing bargaining unit for Rogers technicians in Ontario to include additional or renamed job positions at several locations.
Now included in the bargaining unit description are full-time fibre technicians, construction technicians and fibre/construction technicians working at or from Rogers’s Richmond Hill locations at 234 and 244 Newkirk Road, in addition to several other locations including 853, 855 and 857 York Mills Road and 10…
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Bell announced last week it has completed its acquisition of Ziply Fiber, a fibre internet provider in the U.S.’s Pacific Northwest region, for $5 billion in cash and the assumption of approximately $2.6 billion of debt.
The acquisition expands Bell’s fibre footprint into the U.S. by 1.4 million locations, according to a Bell press release, which said it also strengthens the Canadian telecom’s position as the third-largest fibre internet provider in North America.
To accelerate its expansion into the U.S. market, Bell and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board in…
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Telco previously hinted at a minority sale in its cell tower portfolio
By Ahmad Hathout
Telus announced Friday that it has agreed to sell to a pension fund a minority stake in a separate entity that will carry its wireless infrastructure.
La Caisse, one of the largest pension funds in the country, will spend $1.26 billion on the 49.9 per cent interest in Terrion, a newly created cell tower operator headquartered in Montreal and headed by long-time Telus executive Eros Spadotto.
Terrion will manage about 3,000 tower sites across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec and will generate money through wholesale rental. Telus…
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By Ahmad Hathout
WildBrain has lost another undue preference case against a broadcaster it alleged was giving a leg up to its main competitor in the children’s programming space.
The CRTC on Thursday denied the Toronto-based media company’s September application to find Rogers was preferencing Corus’s services – Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Nickelodeon – and those from Disney+ over its own by the way it marketed the services.
“Rogers as a BDU is carrying services from companies, including companies it competes with in other ways (such as Corus),” the CRTC said in its decision. “BDUs are permitted to make business…
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Rogers announced Wednesday it is rolling out WiFi 7 to customers in Quebec with Rogers 5G Home Internet.
“This launch brings next generation connectivity and reliable WiFi on Canada’s largest and most reliable 5G network,” Rogers said in a press release.
This follows its introduction of WiFi 7 to Rogers Xfinity customers in Calgary in June and in Atlantic Canada last week. The Toronto-headquartered cable giant has previously said Rogers Xfinity will roll out WiFi 7 to the rest of Canada this year.
“Canadians deserve the best connectivity…
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