DENVER – Upstream channel bonding – meaning far faster uploads – is coming to cable.
With DOCSIS 3.0 now passing an estimated 75 million homes in North America and set to pass another 10 million households by the end of the year, U.S. and Canadian cable operators have been steadily offering higher downstream data speeds to broadband subscribers. Thanks to the wideband spec’s channel-bonding capabilities, at least six North American MSOs offer peak downstream speeds of at least 100 Mbps today, including Videotron and Shaw Communications.
Upstream data speeds have lagged behind, though, due to a lack of upstream channel-bonding. As…
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OTTAWA – The incumbent wireless operators want a straight-up winner-take-all auction (mostly).
Those newer to the wireless game want some protective rules in place. They say some restrictions (set asides, caps) are needed in order for them to be able grab a slice from the lucrative, high quality, 700 MHz wireless spectrum to go on auction likely in 2012 or 2013.
In November, Industry Canada launched a consultation on a technical framework to auction spectrum in the band 698-806 MHz (also known as the 700 MHz band). Comments were sought on general policy considerations related to commercial mobile broadband spectrum…
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OTTAWA – TV and film production stakeholders are urging the CRTC to not lose sight of its Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) benchmarks when considering the group-based licence renewals of the large, vertically integrated, broadcasters.
The Canadian Media Production Association tells the Commission that it shouldn’t acquiesce to any demands to deviate from its proposed 30% CPE requirement and argues that the CRTC should reject outright broadcasters’ demands to have CPE requirements lower than 30%.
“Since the broadcaster groups all compete for the same types of programming (both Canadian and foreign) and for the same advertisers, they should all be…
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OTTAWA – Broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) say they need greater regulatory flexibility to offer on-demand services to compete with over the top service such as Netflix, particularly if they continue to take eyeballs away from conventional distributors.
This was the one primary messages to come out of a session on over the top (OTT) services at the Canadian Media Production Association’s annual Prime Time event in Ottawa last week.
David Purdy, vice-president of video product management at Rogers Cable, insisted that OTT services will have an impact on the Canadian broadcasting system and as a result, it’s only fair…
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TORONTO – The Television Bureau of Canada Thursday announced its 2011 board of directors.
Rita Fabian, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CTV conventional and specialty, will continue as chair, while Errol Da-Ré, senior vice president of sales at Shaw Media, will remain vice chairman. Mitch Dent, executive vice president of TV sales at Rogers Media, will continue as secretary, and Lori Legault, vice president of national sales at Shaw Media, will fulfil the role of treasurer. Along with TVB President, Theresa Treutler, the above form the board’s executive committee.
Completing the board of directors are: Sally Basmajian (vice…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC Tuesday said no to adding the U.S. cable channel National Geographic Wild to the eligible satellite list for distribution in Canada.
Shaw Communications had made the application and High Fidelity HDTV, which runs a similar, Canadian service here (Oasis HD) opposed the application, as did CTV.
Fox Cable Networks-owned NatGeo Wild airs wildlife and nature programming, including a variety of documentaries, series, events and specials.
CTV and HiFi said the U.S. channel would be at least partially competitive with their respective Category B specialty services Animal Planet and Oasis HD. “Specifically, CTV and High Fidelity highlighted several documentary…
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OTTAWA – Saying he’s defending consumer choice and competition, Industry Minister Tony Clement announced Tuesday that the Conservative government will appeal a Federal Court of Canada ruling that quashed a cabinet order allowing Egyptian-backed Globalive Wireless (whose retail brand is Wind) to operate in Canada.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), ACTRA, and Friends of Canadian Broadcasting were intervenors in the case.
"Overturning the Cabinet decision is a victory for Canadian ownership rules and a victory for Canadian culture," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director. "Globalive was potentially the beginning of the end of our…
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NOT LONG AGO I ASKED A CRTC senior policy advisor I know how work was going. It was one of those just-making-conversation questions we all ask, but I was a little surprised at his response:
“Livin’ the dream,” he excitedly told me. Now, I’m not sure my facial expression betrayed my wonder at that statement and I don’t remember what I said next, but he continued to add that he found it exciting, interesting and fun to debate and then help craft what would become the “law of the land.”
Upon reflection, it shouldn’t have come as such a shock –…
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GATINEAU – The winds of criticism were blowing Pelmorex Communications’ way during the first day of its licence renewal hearing in Gatineau on Tuesday as CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein and Pelmorex senior VP of regulatory and strategic affairs Paul Temple sparred over aspects of the company’s licence renewal application.
In addition to asking for a seven-year licence renewal, Pelmorex is requesting an extension to the 2009 mandatory order on 9(1)(h) that would keep the Weather Network and MétéoMédia on basic carriage until 2018. The company says that it needs the extension to help offset the costs of operating…
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GATINEAU – After a week of vitriol, legitimate consumer anger and utter political silliness, the CRTC today officially opened up a new review into wholesale broadband usage based billing
“The great concern expressed by Canadians over this issue is telling of how much the Internet has become an integral part of their lives,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, chairman of the CRTC, in a press release.
“Our approach is based on two fundamental principles: as a general rule, ordinary consumers served by Small ISPs should not have to fund the bandwidth used by the heaviest residential Internet consumers; and it is in…
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