OTTAWA – With just a few weeks left to go before the CRTC’s widely anticipated hearing on vertical integration, the Commission has provided interveners with a sneak peek into what exactly it plans to focus on.
The Regulator posted its agenda and issued a letter on Monday saying that its panel intends to focus on five key areas:
1. Perceived problems and benefits with respect to the Canadian broadcasting system resulting from vertical integration;
2. Concerns with respect to exclusivity of content distribution, including distribution over mobile and broadband platforms;
3. Requirement for protection of independent broadcasters or independent distributors;
4. Adequacy of current ex…
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NOW WE KNOW WHAT happens when you try to combine an ideology that says big business is all-bad with sets of inaccurate data to try and make recommendations on fostering Internet “openness”.
You end up with a rambling report (honestly, we stopped counting after 10,000 words, but the 44-second video about the report is cute) chock full of conflicting messages and untenable ideas. And that’s just what Internet advocacy group OpenMedia.ca has produced with its report “Casting an Open Net.”
Instead of a concise and well-researched case against usage-based billing (UBB) that could have sparked a constructive debate between OpenMedia.ca…
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OTTAWA – Many wireless providers are telling Industry Canada that it should restrict Inukshuk Internet’s ability to fully participate in the 2500 MHz spectrum auction.
MTS Allstream, Quebecor Media Inc., Shaw Communications, Telus Corp., and EastLink all suggested in comments to the 2500 MHz licensing process that it would be unfair to allow Inukshuk unfettered bidding in the auction because it owns 98% of licensed 2500 MHz bandwidth and a considerable chunk of the overall band. Inukshuk is a joint venture between Bell Canada and Rogers Communications.
For MTS, it’s no longer a question of whether competition is…
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TORONTO – The company has had its hiccups, but as of Thursday, Public Mobile has been open for a year.
The wireless start-up with the spectrum, G-band, that so few wanted (and some quite unique advertising that stands out from the crowd by cleverly using their very customers) has battled the incumbents and new competitors in the marketplace, in front of regulators and in the courts and emerged energized, says Bruce Kirby, the company’s vice-president of strategy and business development.
“It’s been a lively year,” he told Cartt.ca in an interview. “There has been some interesting behaviour by the incumbents who…
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VANCOUVER – Telus has added French, English and Mandarin versions of Fox International’s BabyTV to its Optik TV lineup.
Founded in 2003, BabyTV provides commercial-free, original programming for babies and toddlers through distinct daytime and night-time playlists. By day, short episodes are active and engaging, and introduce important learning skills through stories, songs, and loveable characters. At night, soft music, lullabies, and bedtime stories set the mood for sleep.
“Not only are we introducing three language channels targeting different audience groups, the launch with Telus also marks the first time that our content will be available to viewers in Western Canada”, said…
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OTTAWA – One year after its launch, 25,000 Canadians now subscribe to the wireless Amber Alerts program, according to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).
The free text message service assists Amber Alert agencies in providing the public with immediate and up-to-date information about a child’s abduction, and solicits the public’s help in the safe and swift return of the child. The program is administered by Canada’s wireless telecommunications industry, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and Amber Alert agencies across the country.
The Amber Alerts program is available to cell phone users in all 10…
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OTTAWA – The country’s big Internet service providers will be required to provide static Internet protocol (IP) address allocation for their third-party Internet access (TPIA) services, the CRTC has ruled.
A static IP address is a number that is assigned to a device, such as a computer, to be its permanent address on the Internet. An ISP assigns the address when it provides an Internet access service to an end-user.
Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw and Videotron originally told the Commission that it is unclear whether the managed router solution they use to provide static IP addresses for business customers would work for their TPIA…
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RIMOUSKI – Telus is set to begin building a new $65 million intelligent Internet data centre in Rimouski that should be ready to open in 2012.
The company said Wednesday that the new facility, which will be built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards, will be a cornerstone in Telus’ strategic shift in support of next-generation cloud computing and unified communications solutions.
“The new Telus Intelligent Internet Data Centre will be a flagship facility; one of the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly purpose-built data centres of its kind in North America”, said François Côté, president of…
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OTTAWA – The pace of play at the Federal Court of Appeal’s (FCA) hearing on Globalive Wireless’ ownership yesterday was certainly not like an NHL playoff game, but both sides used their opportunities to rough up their opponents.
After an in-depth explanation why the Federal Court erred in its decision to overturn the Governor in Council (GIC) decision giving Globalive the green light to operate, lawyers for the government of Canada took their first jab at Public Mobile, arguing that the company shouldn’t have even had the right to appeal the GIC in the first place. They said…
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SLAVE LAKE, AB – It’s the not knowing that really bothers Ric McLaren.
The general manager of Cable TV Slave Lake said Wednesday that three days after fire ravaged the town in which he has lived with his family for the last eight years was evacuated, he still doesn’t know for sure whether his home or his family-run cable TV business is still standing.
“We don’t know anything 100%, but we’re 99% sure that our office and our headend is intact,” he told Cartt.ca in a phone interview. “The only real information that we’ve got has been through Facebook and photo…
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