OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Reaction to the CRTC’s broadcasting in new media report has been swift, and predictably, mixed.
The news that the Commission will continue to exempt new media broadcasting services from its regulation got high marks from Internet service providers (ISPs) Telus and Rogers.
“The CRTC is often criticized, but give them in credit in this case,” Rogers’ senior vice president of regulatory, Ken Engelhart, told Cartt.ca on Thursday. “The Internet’s power comes from the consumer, not regulation and not taxes. This decision is very progressive and far reaching and we support it.”
Michael Hennessy, Telus’ senior…
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OTTAWA – Former Canadian Association of Broadcasters exec Jay Thomson has launched a consulting company offering strategic communications policy and regulatory advice.
Jay Communications Consulting will focus on Internet, broadcasting and copyright matters.
Thomson recently helped lead the CAB on the BDU framework hearing and other significant CRTC files as its vice president of regulatory and policy. He also spent four years at Telus, and was the first full time president of the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP).
He may be reached at jay@jaycom.ca
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OTTAWA – The CRTC is asking for input on whether it may conduct Canadian ownership and control reviews on a public basis, as opposed to a confidential basis, in certain instances.
Telus sent a letter to the Commission on April 20, 2009 asking it to conduct “an open and transparent process” to review whether wireless newcomer Globalive Wireless Management is under Canadian ownership and control, as required by section 16 of the Telecommunications Act. Shaw sent a letter two days later in support of Telus’ request.
But Globealive opposed the move, saying the Commission has a “longstanding practice” of conducting…
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ABOUT YOUR EDITORS’ NOTE on negotiating a fee rather than imposing a tax (in the story "Heritage Committee: Von Finckenstein wants to let broadcasters and distributors negotiate a fee"). It’s the same thing.
First, there is no retransmission right in the signal itself under copyright law, so there is no right to negotiate unless the CRTC forces the negotiation.
Second, there is no right to not to carry under the BDU regulations because (conventional stations) are mandatory services, so you can not decide to drop bad services as part of the negotiations.
Third, if you cannot agree the…
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TORONTO – Huge cuts in expenses and employees and the adding of a new retail division were just a couple of major moves undertaken by Bell Canada over the past 10 months, CEO George Cope said late last week.
Speaking to a group of investors at the TD Newcrest Telecom and Media Day, Cope said that since last July, when he was hired, the company has moved as quickly as it can to restructure itself.
He made no mention at all of the failed deal to take the company private.
Said Cope on Thursday:
• The company now has…
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TORONTO – Rogers, Bell, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) have banded together to file a complaint with the CRTC alleging that CTV has violated the Broadcasting Act by airing a “one-sided and unbalanced coverage” of its own advocacy campaign.
As reported by Cartt.ca, CTV has been promoting its ‘Save Local TV’ campaign across its television properties in an apparent attempt to pressure the government and the CRTC for fee-for-carriage. But incorporating the campaign into their local newscasts violates the Broadcasting Act and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters own Code of Ethics, say the group of BDUs.
"While we…
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TORONTO – CTV has, predictably, refuted the allegations made by Rogers and other BDUs regarding its ‘Save Local TV’ public advocacy campaign.
In a statement sent late on Friday afternoon, the network said it has remained in “full compliance” with both the Broadcasting Act and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Code of Ethics, and called the complaint by the BDUs an “underhanded move by cable and satellite companies” and “an abuse of process designed to suppress freedom of speech and mislead the public”.
"The fact that the first we’re hearing about this is through a Rogers’ press release and still…
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KELOWNA – “We broke all our records,” says Canadian CommTech Show and Seminars organizer Jan Lee in describing the number of attendees at this year’s gathering.
She told Cartt.ca, which is also the event’s media sponsor, that the annual event drew delegates – not including exhibitors – from 68 separate companies (up from 52 last year). The delegates were treated to a dozen seminars Wednesday and can take advantage of eight more Thursday.
On the trade show floor there are approximately 90 exhibits and while the final count isn’t in yet, the total number of industry folks here are…
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GATINEAU – Final replies by broadcasters to the many, many, many things which were uttered over two-and-a-half weeks of the conventional TV license renewal hearing were due into the Commission Wednesday and to no one’s surprise, no minds have been changed.
We’ve been told by two sources with knowledge of the timing that the Commission will issue a decision on its 1:1 idea on Friday (tomorrow) – just as Canada’s broadcasters are headed to Los Angeles to buy American programming for next fall’s TV schedule.
One of the key “broader policy” questions the Regulator put to the industry was…
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KELOWNA – Be it PON, HFC or xDSL, transmitting video using IP protocols will eventually be the way everyone does it.
But for right now, PON and HFC are doing it the traditional way (easy, cheaper), distributing virtually all the content, all the time across its thick pipes, to customer TVs, phones and PCs. Most traditional telcos however, have opted for DSL technology to force video and other bandwidth-intensive services through its far thinner pipelines. Bell Canada, Telus, MTS, SaskTel and Bell Aliant have all experimented with various forms of DSL over the past decade or so and collectively…
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