THE REACTION TO THE CRTC’s decision to quash usage-based Internet billing in favour of a couple of other options (complete with set rates) has been all over the map, with several hailing it as a win for consumers while others predict broadband rates will only rise because of it. Then again, there are also some in the middle taking a wait and see approach.
Dennis Beland, senior director regulatory affairs, Quebecor:
“The decision is a victory for artificial competition. We’ve always been defenders of facilities-based competition and if you take a step back and look at the…
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TORONTO – Kids who can’t get enough of music and pop stars can quench their thirst with Juicebox, Bell Media’s new commercial-free, music video channel devoted to pre-teens that launched Thursday.
A rebrand of music video channel PunchMuch, Juicebox features videos from stars like Selena Gomez and the Scene’s “Who Says”, Justin Bieber feat. Ludacris “Baby”, and Cody Simpson’s “On My Mind”. The channel’s music programming is vetted by a committee of parents to ensure that it provides an age-appropriate environment for kids to enjoy their favourite music.
“With Juicebox, we have created a dedicated destination for kids who love music, a…
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LAST YEAR AT THIS time, Kevin Crull was into week three of his transition from long-time telecom executive to the leader of the largest Canadian broadcasting company.
Now president of Bell Media, the company which owns the CTV and CTV2 conventional TV networks, 29 specialty channels including market leader TSN, 33 radio stations and the Sympatico.ca portal, Crull came over from Bell Canada’s telco side, having run Bell Residential Services for five years. For a decade prior to that he was a senior executive with AT&T and US West.
One of his final projects at Bell Canada was writing the business…
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WHILE WE’VE YET TO hear back from the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Bell Canada or Telus – and Industry Canada hasn’t yet responded to our request for a better answer to our original question, Canada’s two largest cable companies have responded to our plea that our country come up with a plan to get broadband Internet access to low-income families.
As we reported, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission along with many cable companies and other contributors, have devised a program to offer broadband connectivity to low-income families for…
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GATINEAU – Rather than picking one system over another, the CRTC has chosen to give the large Internet providers the choice in how they charge small competitors who use their networks. The commission has, however, rejected Bell’s bid to charge on an aggregated volume basis, instead opting for a capacity-based approach.
In its much-anticipated usage based billing decision, the Commission chose capacity as the proxy over an aggregated volume method. Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. advocated for the latter approach.
Bell suggested during the hearing that a capacity-based approach would result in independent ISPs keeping traffic volumes high resulting in…
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GATINEAU – Cartt.ca reporter Perry Hoffman will be in the media lockup this afternoon at 2:30 prior to the CRTC release of its latest decision on wholesale Internet usage-based billing.
Whatever the decision, brace yourselves for waves of misinformation on what the decision means, especially since the decision will likely take time and a lot of number crunching to figure out what it all means. The decision is the result of a re-think of the Commission’s prior wholesale UBB decision, which federal cabinet made many noises about forcing the Regulator to re-visit after enduring a substantial public outcry.
However, in the end, the…
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OTTAWA – Some of the country’s biggest broadcasters must pay out a combined $618 million in tangible public benefits by August 31, 2017 associated with their recent acquisitions of English-language television assets, according to new research by Boon Dog Professional Services Inc.
The Ottawa-based research and consulting firm released a new annual syndicated research study on Monday called the ‘Canadian Television Benefits Monitor: Tracking Spending on English-Language Television Benefits Packages’.
The report, which uses 2010 data, tracks spending for 15 current English-language TV benefits packages using data contained in reports filed with the CRTC. The CRTC generally requires broadcasters to pay…
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READERS MIGHT HAVE sensed with my column Thursday that I am taking the issue of getting broadband to low-income families very seriously. I called the fact that we have nothing in Canada to help the poor get broadband in their homes embarrassing, especially when compared to the ambitious and comprehensive Connect 2 Compete program that was launched in the United States this week by the Federal Communications Commission, numerous cable companies and other firms.
Then, reporter Peter Nowak reports today that Canada is the ONLY country in the G8 with no assistance…
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TORONTO – In a company-wide memo leaked to the popular Canadian wireless blog Mobile Syrup, Public Mobile CEO Alek Krstajic outlined his company’s “very successful quarter”, noting the Canadian wireless upstart now has over 150,000 subscribers.
(A Public Mobile spokesperson confirmed to Cartt.ca that the memo was the genuine article.)
“We finished the quarter with more than 150k customers, with September being the best month for growth in the history of Public Mobile,” wrote Krstajic. “More importantly, when we look at the results of the incumbents, our importance to…
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OTTAWA – Industry Canada should avoid prescriptive and burdensome licensing of high-capacity spectrum in the 70 GHz, 80 GHz and 90 GHz ranges, according to comments filed in response to Gazette Notice SMSE-010-11, the ministry’s request for comments on the spectrum utilization.
Companies submitting comments to the public notice suggest the department take a more light-handed approach to licensing the bandwidth and point to the “light licensing” method adopted in the U.K. and the U.S. as preferable. The comments come as Industry Canada continues to consider the best way to license spectrum in the 71-76 GHz,…
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