By Ahmad Hathout
EDMONTON – A Calgary bylaw that sought to regulate the relationship between private entities and the city for access to municipal rights-of-way is not binding on telecom companies, the Alberta Court of Appeal said Thursday.
The highest court in the province upheld, 2-1, a lower court’s determination that the terms of the bylaw be amended to remove “telecommunications services” from the definition of “utility provider” because telecommunications is the jurisdiction of the federal government. The bylaw forced entities to get – in some cases multiple – permits to construct within rights-of-way.
The bylaw effectively gave the city the power…
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Incumbents wanted to postpone until it can be done in person
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The Federal Court of Appeal will hear the wholesale rate appeal via online videoconference in June, the court said Monday, after the appellants sought last week to have the hearing held in person – even if that meant delaying the proceeding.
Eastlink, Rogers, Cogeco, Shaw, and Videotron as well as Bell sent letters to the court last week requesting the delay because they argued the complexity of the case could not be hashed-out over videoconference. The arguments were challenged by TekSavvy and the Canadian Network Operators…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – In the middle of March, Rogers Communications was asked to prepare a document by Innovation, Science and Economic Development that floated ideas for how governments could potentially help enhance network capacity if needed, including mobilizing temporary wireless sites, fast-tracking permit applications and allowing access to rights-of-way for emergency fibre installs.
The example measures, obtained by Cartt.ca through an access to information request, was in response to one of several questions asked of Canadian telecommunications companies by the federal department in the event the virus strained networks – and before the full effect of what the virus…
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TORONTO — This year’s Canadian Screen Award winners will be announced in virtual presentations later this month, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced today.
The award presentations will be livestreamed on the Canadian Academy’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels as well as its website over four days, from Monday, May 25 to Thursday, May 28.
The announcement follows the cancellation of all Canadian Screen Week events due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala that was originally scheduled for March 29.
The Canadian Screen Award virtual presentations will consist of eight pre-taped, thematically distinct online…
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TORONTO — CTV and youth-focused charitable organization WE announced today the WE Celebrate: Class of 2020 one-hour primetime special which will air Saturday, June 6 and will celebrate students and educators who have been making a difference throughout the school year and have been supporting their communities during the Covid-19 crisis.
The prime time special will be hosted by Lilly Singh and feature a star-studded lineup delivering Canada’s 2020 valedictorian addresses, one-of-a-kind performances and other surprises, says the news release. Joining Singh will be Tyrone Edwards, Selena Gomez, Brett Kissel, Shawn Mendes, Shay Mitchell, Natalie Portman, Jacob Tremblay, Liz…
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OTTAWA — Demand for Internet connectivity has soared in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost seven in 10 Canadians saying they’re using the Internet more now than before the crisis started, according to a recent survey conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of Shaw Communications.
The survey was conducted online with 2,183 Canadians aged 18 and older from April 19 to 22, 2020. The survey results were released April 24 in a Covid-19-related blog post by Abacus Data CEO David Coletto.
Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they are using the Internet more, including 27% who say they are…
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GATINEAU – After last week receiving a letter from third party internet access providers which said new install practices being instituted by incumbent network operators to protect people from Covid-19 were onerous and preventing new customers from being connected, the CRTC sent a letter back urging everyone to, well, work it out.
TekSavvy and the Canadian Network Operators Consortium filed a letter to the CRTC asking it to investigate how the incumbent ISPs are prioritizing their own customers for installs, repairs and maintenance during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the resellers use the incumbents’ network capacity, they also rely on…
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TORONTO — Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) has added more dates to its spring webinar series, with many of the presentations focusing on strategies to face the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis.
All webinars take place from noon-1 p.m. ET. Recordings will be available to WCT members on the organization’s website.
The X factor: Why the world needs more women leaders — Thursday, April 23
Katherine Emberly, president of business, brand and communications at Shaw Communications, will share her view of the power and the imperative of women’s leadership.
Find your pleasure: The art of living a more joyful life —…
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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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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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