By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – When the Competition Bureau filed in November its intervention to the CRTC’s wireless policy review, it was expected that the reactions would be spirited, and they are.
First, some objected because the Bureau (and its specially commissioned Matrix Report) reached conclusions based on confidential information and asked that some information be shared. In that regard, Bell and Rogers got what they wanted while CNOC and Telus are still waiting for word from the Commission when it comes to that data. Telus has warned the Bureau’s intervention should be deleted from the record for…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Quebecor is demanding the CRTC order CBC/Radio-Canada’s Tou.tv Extra paid streaming service to “cease its activities” because it goes outside the mandate of the public broadcaster and is an unfair competitor against Videotron and other regulated television service providers.
The CRTC isn’t about to go that far, but it has decided to look into whether there is an undue preference case to be made, in particular with a deal Radio-Canada has with Telus that provides Telus’s Quebec customers “exclusive” free access to the service.
Tou.tv Extra is the $7/month paid version of Tou.tv, which offers premium video…
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OTTAWA – NBCUniversal will head to Parliament Hill to lobby on favourable tax measures for the company that has created content in the country, as it prepares to push new products in the new year.
It’s the first time the mega media company out of New York (and of course owned by Comcast Corp.) has registered to lobby the feds after having done so with Alberta and Ontario this past fall. The federal registration, effective January 6, targets Canadian Heritage and seeks to “monitor” and “assist” in the “development of policies that encourage and not hamper the development of film…
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MONTREAL — Connected vehicle device manufacturer Siyata Mobile has hired Jamie Kitson as its new vice-president of sales for Canada, the company announced Tuesday.
Kitson most recently was vice-president of sales for Bell business dealer Preston Mobility, according to Siyata Mobile’s news release.
Kitson’s 15 years of previous sales experience includes positions at Telus Client Solutions, Bell Mobility as Push-to-Talk and IoT Solutions team lead, Rogers Communications as a sales manager and an IoT Solutions sales executive, and Shaw Communications as an enterprise account executive.
Siyata Mobile is a global developer and provider of cellular communications systems for enterprise customers, specializing…
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OTTAWA — The CRTC has agreed to direct the Competition Bureau to disclose certain confidential information that was redacted in the economic report submitted by the Commissioner of Competition in November to the CRTC’s wireless policy review proceeding. That is, the CRTC is agreeing to disclosure requests from Bell and Rogers; but it’s still considering similar requests from Telus and CNOC.
In a letter posted to the CRTC website on January 10, the CRTC says it is of the view that, generally speaking, the public disclosure of the redacted information, as requested by Bell and Rogers, would pose minimal…
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QUEBECOR’S GROUPE TVA FORMALLY filed in December its appeal in Federal Court against a CRTC decision that forced it to continue to provide a sports channel signal to Bell customers.
But the submission to the court came before the Supreme Court of Canada determined in a set of cases late last month how it would exercise its ability to review decisions made by administrative bodies such as the CRTC – otherwise known as the standard of review. Bell was successful in having the highest court in the land reverse a 2016 decision by the CRTC that said it could…
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TORONTO — Coming off Sunday’s thrilling Team Canada gold medal victory over Team Russia at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, TSN and RDS announced Tuesday they have signed a long-term media rights agreement with Hockey Canada that extends through the 2033-34 season, continuing their long-standing partnership that dates back to 1991.
The rights extension ensures that TSN and RDS will continue to hold the exclusive, multiplatform media rights to Hockey Canada events, including the IIHF World Junior Championship, which Canadian hockey fans enjoy watching every year during the post-Christmas holidays and has become one of the networks’ most-watched properties….
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By Etan Vlessing
SAN FRANCISCO – The march to 5G promises the newest and fastest networks where wireless carriers can offer next generation applications like VR, better and faster online gaming, driverless cars and improved VOD and TV to consumer and business subscribers.
But how to get the Canadian carriers and service providers from here – current 4G LTE networks – to future 5G and more G deployments as Moore’s Law slows and the operating cost and complexity of Internet plumbing grows?
Cisco, insisting it has tackled the network challenges slowing the race to 5G (which needs significant, deep, fibre backhaul), in…
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MONTREAL – When Cogeco Connexion announced in 2018 its next generation video platform would come via MediaKind’s MediaFirst TV Platform, it said the new product would be in the market by the end of 2019.
While it is currently being tested in employee and other friendly homes, the company won’t be taking it to its Ontario and Quebec customers until sometime in the first quarter of 2020, a spokesperson told Cartt.ca this week.
“We’re getting ready to launch it progressively in 2020,” said Marie-Hélène Labrie, the company’s senior vice-president of public affairs and communications in an interview. Once launched, the…
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TORONTO — With the much-anticipated premiere of Star Trek: Picard scheduled for January 23 and the return of Doctor Who on New Year’s Day, CTV Sci-Fi Channel is giving viewers an early Christmas present with the launch of a nationwide freeview that starts December 19 and runs until January 30. CTV Sci-Fi Channel also has a number of blockbuster marathons scheduled to wrap up 2019.
The all-new Star Trek: Picard series will see Patrick Stewart reprise his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard. During the 10-episode first season, Stewart will be joined by other familiar faces from the Star Trek franchise,…
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