CCR Short Takes

Wavesat could fill service gaps in rural areasWavesat Telecom Inc could have a ready-made market if changes to older microwave licensing policies proposed by Industry Canada earlier this year are ratified. Spectrum in the 6 GHz frequency range, which is already lying under-used or dormant, could be liberated and opened up for re-licensing for different services. The company’s initial product offering will operate in this band, and will eventually operate in the other frequencies. The band was previously used as the primary telecom infrastructure backbone connecting cities. It’s since become redundant due to the wide spread laying of fibre optic networks across the country. While some of the small cable TV and Internet providers were concerned that if the spectrum was designated for other services, they would have to upgrade to newer technologies which would cost them significantly more to provide service to consumers in the rural areas of the country. More specifically, they were concerned that upgrading to digital TV signals would cost more than subscribers would be willing to pay. With the price points coming down for the type of equipment that Wavesat is developing, the company may be in a particularly enviable position compared to other equipment vendors. The Montreal-based firm will soon launch a broadband wireless modem that is capable of delivering voice, video and data at speeds fast enough for high-density urban areas. Smaller rural areas could well take advantage of the new equipment to upgrade at a reasonable cost. Telefilm Canada spends $161M in 1999-2000Telefilm Canada spent $161 million in 1999-2000, according to the organization’s annual report, which was released this month in Vancouver. Of the total, $121 million went toward production and development, nearly $20 million was spent on such marketing and diffusion activities as distribution, dubbing, subtitling and participation in festivals and markets, and nearly $5 million was spent on training and industrial and professional development. Administrative expenses totaled $15 million. Telefilm financially supported 475 companies, the majority of them small or medium-sized. It backed 644 projects, of which 290 are in production and 354 in development. Telefilm allocated 65.6% of its resources to projects in English and 32% to projects in French, and 1.7% to Aboriginal-language production. Productions in Montreal and Toronto accounted for 66% of its allocations. In all, 420 production and development projects were supported through the Canadian Television Fund’s Equity Investment Program, 46 feature films through EIP and the Feature Film Fund and 65 multimedia projects totaling about $17 million through the Multimedia Fund. FICC spends $3.31 million on culture and commmunications A private organization, Le Fonds d’investissement de la culture et des communications (FICC), is dispersing $3.31 million to eight companies in the culture and communications field. Among the recipients are In Extremis Images Inc, a production house founded in 1995 by Robert Lepage and Bruno Jobin that produces independent films, Visuel Corp Canada Inc, which is launching an Internet news channel in elevators for business people, and www. netrad.com Inc, the first Canadian radio station to be carried exclusively on the ‘Net. CRTC grants short-term licence renewal to TV5The CRTC has extended the broadcasting licence for the international French-language specialty channel TV5 Quebec Canada from September 1, 2001 to August 2002 under existing conditions of licence. The extension was reportedly granted because the CRTC did not have the time to deal with the issue. The extension does not dispose of any substantive issues that might exist in conjunction with the renewal of the licence. Manitoba Telecom invests millions in high-speed InternetManitoba Telecom Services Inc has tagged an additional $300 million over the next three years to expand and enhance high-speed broadband and next generation services for Manitobans. The plan is to provide 85% of Manitoba business and residential consumers with dedicated access to Internet service up to five times faster than any high-speed service currently available in Winnipeg and Brandon, and up to 200 times faster than any dial-up service currently in rural Manitoba. The project is also aimed at leading the way for a range of next-generation telecommunications-related services, such as on-demand broadcast TV, video, music and games for residential customers, and tele-work services that allow business people to work from home. BCE takes convergence road show to New York BCE Inc chair/CEO Jean Monty told investment bankers in New York City earlier this month that they should expect the number of Bell ExpressVu subscribers to hit 1.2 million in 2002, up from 0.4 million in 1999. In an October 4 presentation to Goldman Sachs, Monty also predicted that the corporation’s wireline business will eventually become secondary to its content, wireless and data operations. Estimates for 2002 show BCE’s overall share of wireline revenues dropping to 44%, compared to 66% in 1999. Strengthening its competitive position against cablecos in the high-speed Internet market is another priority. Monty said BCE will spend $1.5 billion over the next three years to increase its DSL coverage to 70 per cent, and to increase its market share to 50 per cent by 2003. Bell ExpressVu and Sony go Hi-Def shoppingBell ExpressVu and Sony of Canada Ltd are bringing high definition television to shopping malls across Canada until about mid-November. Shoppers can view HDTV programs in a movie-theatre-like setting in the mall. Bell ExpressVu is selling integrated HDTV satellite receivers, the Bell ExpressVu model 6000. The DTH satellite TV company said it would broadcast at least one movie per week in high definition on its pay per view service Vu! CAB becomes NABA memberThe Canadian Association of Broadcasters has joined the North American Broadcasters Association as an associate member to ensure its participation in international tariff and copyright issues. NABA works with seven other members of the World Broadcasting Unions to provide collective representation within international and regional bodies on world telecommunications issues affecting broadcasting. It also liaises with the European Commission, UNESCO and the International Telecommunication Union, and participates in the World Intellectual Property Organization on discussions of intellectual property. Some CAB members, including CTV Inc, are already NABA members. CRTC turns down radio stations in Timmins, KapuskasingApplications submitted by Angela Demers to operate English-language low-power FM radio stations in Timmins and Kapuskasing were rejected by the CRTC. The commission ruled that the proposed staffing levels for the undertaking in Kapuskasing were too low, and that there wouldn’t be enough advertising revenue in the city to support an additional station. The regulator also concluded that the proposed budgets were not sufficient to fulfill the applicant’s programming commitments or to produce high-quality local programming on the two pop, rock and dance music format stations. Sony Wonder Canada renews agreement with Cinar CorpEmbattled Cinar Corp announced this month that it had renewed its agreement with Sony Wonder Canada to bring six of its animated and live-action series to the home entertainment market. Launch parties were held in Toronto and Montreal to mark the two recently completed Caillou albums, and two weekly packaged Caillou videos that resulted from the deal. In conjunction with PBS, Cinar has produced Caillou, an animated series about a four-year-old. Trading of Cinar shares were suspended following allegations that the company put Canadian names on scripts written by Americans to obtain tax credits. Cinar is currently the subject of a police investigation, and has yet to release revised financials for the last few years. Montreal firms work toward cell phone broadcastsPCS Innovations Inc and Vertigo Multimedia Inc have aligned to facilitate the broadcast of live information to such gadgets as mobile phones and personal digital assistants. The two Montreal-based companies plan to provide broadcasters and others with the tools to diffuse real-time content to wireless devices. Meeting to review issue of self-employment and artistsThe Canadian Conference of the Arts is convening a meeting of national arts service organizations Nov. 22 to discuss the question of employment versus self-employment within the cultural sector, including finding better ways to resolve this long-standing issue. The CCA says it expects a draft policy from the new Canada Customs and Revenue Agency will be available in the near future to clarify the self-employment issue. The CCA also anticipates that Canadian Heritage will review the Status of the Artist legislation next year to help define exactly who is an artist for taxation purposes.CAB honours its ownOttawa-born John W H Bassett, who helped build the CTV Television Network, sports and broadcasting executive Ron Bremner, national news anchor Peter Kent and broadcaster Yvon Chouinard will be inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame this fall. Others receiving the honor from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters are filmmaker Daryl Duke, CTV news anchor Harvey Kirck, radio man Lew Roskin, Life Network founder Juris Silkans and radio pioneer Reg McCausland (posthumously). They will be honored Nov. 14 during the CAB’s convention in Calgary. Asper explains merger maniaThe inability to predict where the technological revolution is heading is fueling mergers in the communications sector, according to Izzy Asper, CanWest Global’s executive chair. In a recent speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, he said "...because of uncertainty as to which technologies will work, and which will fail, those who want to remain the captains of their own destiny, must become larger, in order to be able to take the risks of introducing new applications, on a trial and error basis."

CCR Short Takes

News | 10/13/2000 4:00 am EDT

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