Bell Media and Corus to lose trademark licensing rights for several channels
By Linda Stuart
Rogers Communications on Monday announced multi-year deals with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery for the licensing rights to several TV channels and content currently held by Bell Media and Corus Entertainment.
Starting this September, Rogers will launch NBCUniversal’s Bravo channel in Canada, and will become the English-language television content rights holder in Canada, featuring unscripted programming that will include new seasons of Bravo’s hit franchise series, a Rogers press release says. The deal also includes content rights to new Bravo series, a Rogers spokesperson…
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By Ahmad Hathout
If the CRTC raises the revenue threshold for contributions to the regulator’s administration of telecom matters, it will effectively concentrate the burden on fewer providers, which is the opposite of what it has been trying to do with changes to broadcasting fees that an application to raise the threshold is partially relying upon, Bell argues.
The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association filed a Part 1 application in late April calling for the increase in the revenue threshold from $10 million to $25 million to contribute to the CRTC’s administration of the telecom regime, with an annual…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC on Wednesday ordered Telus to include in its support structure tariff a provision allowing third parties to be compensated directly from the telco in the event the structure is forced to move by a government entity.
The interim ruling comes after Telus was ordered to file a tariff proposal that would outline how it would provide for such compensation to the third parties, an issue that was triggered by a Rogers and Shaw application before the former acquired the latter. The issue was that while Telus was being compensated for the move ordered by British…
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Montreal-based mobile satellite operator Terrestar Solutions announced Tuesday it has selected Etiya, a global software company with offices in Montreal, to “help bridge the connectivity gap for all Canadians”, it said in a press release.
Terrestar is currently working on bringing to Canadians “seamless, affordable direct-to-mobile satellite communication services”, which would connect “everyday devices, including smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, everywhere in Canada as a complement to cellular networks”, the company explained in its release.
“We are excited to support Terrestar’s bold vision. Together, we will build a future that enhances the lives of Canadians and…
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The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), Rogers Communications, and the governments of Canada and Ontario announced Monday that Rogers 5G mobile services are now available in 21 communities across Eastern Ontario.
With the completion of 42 new cell towers and four additional upgrades to existing sites, Rogers 5G is now available to residents, businesses and visitors in parts of the following areas: City of Kawartha Lake, Frontenac County, Haliburton County, Hastings County, Lanark County, Lennox and Addington County, Northumberland County, Peterborough County, Prince Edward County, Renfrew County, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, United Counties of Prescott…
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Foreign streamers say base contribution will make collaborations more difficult
By Ahmad Hathout
Foreign and standalone online streamers that make $25 million or more will be required to contribute five per cent of their previous year’s Canadian revenues into the system, an amount the CRTC said Tuesday would draw $200 million per year into supporting Canadian content.
The regulator said it is prioritizing certain categories of content to the receive funds, including the expensive-to-produce local news on radio and television, and content catering to French-language, indigenous and minority communities.
Of the five per cent, two per cent will go toward the Canada Media…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The CRTC is asking Rogers to maintian TekSavvy’s ability to service its customers at two Toronto buildings until it can make a determination on an application by the wholesaler that warns the cable giant’s move to pure fibre would leave competitors behind.
The request came two days after TekSavvy complained that Rogers’s transition from hybrid fibre-coax facilities to pure fibre would mean it would lose 29 existing and possibly more future subscribers at the 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street buildings.
The regulator said in a Friday letter shared with Cartt that it is “concerned that customers…
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Rogers announced Friday that it has begun work on the next phase of expanding its underground wireless network for subway riders in Toronto.
The goal of this phase is to connect the remaining 75 per cent of tunnels – a total of 36 kilometres – so riders on the Toronto Transit Commission’s trains can connect seamlessly throughout their journey between stations, which have already been connected.
The expansion work began this week in the tunnels between Kennedy and Warden stations on Line 2, Rogers said in a press release, adding work is concentrated in the overnight and weekend construction windows to…
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Disconnections are expected June 4, TekSavvy said
By Ahmad Hathout
TekSavvy is again asking the CRTC to intervene in a case where its internet customers are at risk of losing service because the cable network from which it leases capacity is being migrated to pure fibre.
In a Part 1 application dated Wednesday that has yet to be posted at the time of this story’s publishing, Teksavvy said 29 customers at two buildings – 191 and 201 Sherbourne Street – in Toronto are at risk of disconnection because Rogers told the Chatham-based company that it is migrating those hybrid fibre-coax facilities to…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers wants to know why Bell and Telus have such drastic differences in proposed surcharges for a new service that will allow Android phones to more accurately communicate their locations with emergency responders under the next-generation 911 system.
The Emergency Location Service (ELS) is a Google location service that allows Android-based devices – relying heavily on Wi-Fi sensors, but also using GPS and cell towers – to provide enhanced location data directly from the device to the public safety answering point (PSAP) where 911 calls are received. The result, it is said, is accuracy, speed and reliability of…
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