OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied a request from Telus to amend that company's regional broadcasting licences for various terrestrial broadcasting distribution undertakings in British Columbia and Alberta by deleting six licensed areas.
In its application, Telus asked to drop the areas of Prince George, Terrace, Vernon and Penticton in BC, and Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray in Alberta, citing the carve-out criteria required to remove a service area as a separate, exempt undertaking from a regional licence.
But the Commission said that Telus did not meet the exemption criteria and that the community programming that Telus distributes in these six licensed areas did not meet the key policy objectives of citizen access and community reflection.
The decision did, however, say that Telus may file a new application seeking to delete these undertakings from its regional licences based on its new programming once it has addressed the Commission’s concerns over its community programming.
