FRPC wants CanCon visibility on search engines

Media | 01/21/2019 12:50 pm EST

As a rule, when Canadians search keywords on the internet, they should be presented with Canadian content...

Raj Shoan sues government, former CRTC chairman over firing

telecom | 11/09/2018 12:32 pm EST

Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed a lawsuit against the federal...

Blais flagged gov’t non-compliance with payment card security standard

telecom | 10/05/2018 5:07 pm EDT

Seventeen of 34 government departments are “non-compliant” with private sector payment card industry standards they are required to follow to prevent data breaches and fraud, according to a June...

Jean-Pierre Blais new assistant deputy minister at PSPC

telecom | 03/08/2018 6:16 pm EST

The former chairman of the CRTC, Jean-Pierre Blais, is staying in the...

CRTC asks digital giants for info, promises confidentiality

Media | 02/05/2018 2:02 pm EST

As part of its government-ordered proceeding on future content distribution models, the CRTC is asking a number of companies — including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Netflix Inc. — for information about their digital media broadcasting revenues, subscribers and viewing in Canada. Several years ago, during its Let’s Talk TV proceeding, those two companies refused to provide such info to the regulator, triggering conflict with the commission that saw then-chairman Jean-Pierre Blais briefly walk out of a hearing and threaten to revoke the digital-media exemption order under which Netflix...

Bell asks Supreme Court for stay, reversal of CRTC simsub decision

Media | 01/18/2018 4:12 pm EST

Weeks ahead of the 2018 Super Bowl, BCE Inc., along with the National...

CRTC shouldn’t have ‘a particular slant,’ new chairman says

Media | 09/22/2017 2:34 pm EDT

As the head of an organization that must hear and decide on issues that...

Bell files Part 1 against Super Bowl simsub order

Media | 08/01/2017 5:28 pm EDT

With six months until kick off, BCE Inc. and its supporters are asking the CRTC to put a freeze on its...

U.S. broadcasters look to resume retransmission row

Media | 07/21/2017 2:52 pm EDT

A group of American TV stations seems to be renewing its efforts to put compensation for signals...

Ian Scott ‘collegial’ choice for new CRTC chair: former colleagues

Media | 07/18/2017 11:49 am EDT

The choice of Ian Scott as the new chairman of the CRTC was greeted...

ADR files GIC petition over ignored emergency alert system

telecom | 07/11/2017 5:22 pm EDT

The federal cabinet should overturn a spring CRTC decision mandating...

How serious is the CRTC’s ‘unprecedented’ lack of commissioners?

Media | 07/10/2017 4:58 pm EDT

At the end of this week, following the departure of its vice-chairman of...

Stakeholder meetings status quo for CRTC, Shoan argues

Media | 07/05/2017 3:11 pm EDT

The encounters with stakeholders that formed part of the rationale for his...

WGC asks Joly to reverse CRTC licence decision

Media | 06/27/2017 5:50 pm EDT

The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) has formalized its complaint against the CRTC’s recent TV licence renewal decision in the form of an appeal to Canadian Heritage asking it to reverse the ruling it says harms the production of Canadian content. “We appeal to Heritage...

Wawatay seeking appeal of Aboriginal radio licence decision

Media | 06/21/2017 5:04 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Wawatay Native Communications Society will ask for an appeal of...

Judith LaRocque named acting CRTC chair for 4-month term

Media | 06/19/2017 5:52 pm EDT

Judith LaRocque has been appointed acting CRTC chairwoman for a four-month...

Blais evokes praise, criticism as he leaves CRTC

Media | 06/19/2017 5:36 pm EDT

Now that former chairman Jean-Pierre Blais has departed the CRTC after five years at the helm, he leaves...

Blais pans, prophesizes in end-of-term speech

Media | 06/13/2017 1:48 pm EDT

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais used what may prove to be his final address as head of the telecom...

Blais confirms CRTC departure: report

Media | 06/12/2017 5:11 pm EDT

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais did not reapply for his job as CEO of the country’s telecom and broadcast regulator, according to a report by the Canadian Press. The wire service reported Monday that Blais “says he believes he has made a difference since assuming the helm of the CRTC in June 2012 and plans to leave the job to others.” Blais’s five-year term ends June 17 and he has traditionally been reluctant to speak publicly about his future with the CRTC. The job of chair of the CRTC was one of four positions posted on the government’s appointment opportunities website in...

ISED suspends CASL lawsuit rules

telecom | 06/08/2017 11:53 am EDT

The federal government is suspending rules in Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) that would make it possible to for lawsuits to be filed against individuals and organizations for breaking the rules. In a press release...

CRTC demands NG911 network upgrade by 2020

telecom | 06/01/2017 6:06 pm EDT

The CRTC has started the clock on next-generation 911 (NG911) services, directing the country’s telcos to ready their networks to fully support sending emergency information via text, photo or video messages by the end of 2020....

Joly ‘studying’ CRTC licence decision after criticism

Media | 05/30/2017 1:36 pm EDT

Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told a parliamentary...

Rogers’ OMNI gets temporary mandatory distribution

Media | 05/15/2017 5:13 pm EDT

Rogers Communications Inc. will get a three-year window to run its new national ethnic channel before having to compete with other proposals for its mandatory carriage, the CRTC announced Monday. The regulator partially...

Bell touts good relationship with PMO: Barclays

telecom | 05/08/2017 7:58 pm EDT

BCE Inc. believes the company currently has a “good working relationship” with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), according to a note from Barclays Capital analyst Phillip Huang, written following meetings...

Shoan vows court challenge of second dismissal from CRTC

Media | 05/05/2017 2:41 am EDT

Raj Shoan, the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario who was fired again just four days after a return to his post, said he will be heading back to court to challenge the second...

Shoan back to work following CRTC reinstatement

Media | 05/02/2017 5:29 pm EDT

Raj Shoan, the once-former CRTC commissioner, returned to work Monday, following a 10-month gap in his role as the regional representative for Ontario. As Shoan put it in a statement issued over the weekend, his tenure was...

Shoan wins appeal of CRTC dismissal; judge sends decision for reconsideration

Media | 04/29/2017 12:23 am EDT

Raj Shoan was denied procedural fairness when he was fired from his job as the CRTC’s regional commissioner for Ontario last summer, three years into a five-year term, a Federal Court justice...

CRTC to launch women-in-production talks

Media | 04/27/2017 4:33 pm EDT

The CRTC will explore the topic of generating more participation of women in media production, according to Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. Speaking at the annual awards gala for Women in Communications and Technology Wednesday night in Ottawa, Blais said the regulator will “use its convening power to initiate a broader discussion” on having women fairly represented in production activities, according to a copy of his remarks. “In the coming months, we will be planning an event on women in production, with a particular emphasis on women in leadership positions.”...

CCSA leads March lobbying pack

Media | 04/21/2017 8:39 pm EDT

The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) led the telecom field for lobbying the federal government in March, logging 15 communication reports for the month, according to the federal lobbyists’ registry. Those...

CRTC effectively bans most zero-rating in differential pricing decision

Media | 04/20/2017 8:04 pm EDT

As the CRTC banned most forms of differential pricing practices Thursday — including declaring that telecoms can’t pick and chose Internet content to zero-rate and...

Telecoms shouldn’t be gatekeepers, Blais says ahead of differential pricing decision

Media | 04/18/2017 8:30 pm EDT

The CRTC may very well complete the record on net neutrality policy in Canada when it releases its decision Thursday afternoon on differential pricing practices,...

Bell says retroactive regulation can’t be basis for simsub ban

Media | 04/11/2017 9:11 pm EDT

The CRTC can’t retroactively apply regulations established almost a year after the fact to justify its prohibition simultaneous substitution during the broadcast of the National Football...

Wireless emergency alerts to be mandatory by April 2018

telecom | 04/06/2017 6:34 pm EDT

The CRTC has ordered wireless service providers to implement a system for the sending of emergency alerts over LTE networks that will be operational in a year’s time. In its decision Thursday, the CRTC said that since more Canadians now have cellphones than landlines, and that alerts have been mandatory for broadcasters since March 2016, requiring wireless providers “to distribute emergency alert messages on mobile devices would be in the public interest and would help protect Canadians from imminent threats to life and property.” The CRTC noted interveners,...

CRTC considers future of Aboriginal radio in Ont., Alta. and B.C.

Media | 03/30/2017 9:03 pm EDT

A typically competitive process, disseminating new applications for radio licences seemed to take on a more culturally significant connotation for the CRTC as it navigated a three-day public hearing...

Are provinces filling the federal broadband strategy gap?

telecom | 03/17/2017 6:57 pm EDT

Nova Scotia may not be formulating its provincial broadband plan as a direct response to federal inaction, but that doesn’t mean the provincial government isn’t acting out of a need to...

CRTC job postings extended

Media | 03/07/2017 7:51 pm EST

Four CRTC job postings have been extended for a second time, with prospective chairperson, vice-chairperson and regional commissioners having until March 15 to apply. The four jobs were first posted on the federal government’s appointment opportunities website in late January, with a deadline of Feb. 20. That deadline was pushed to March 6 and, on Tuesday, again extended...

Blais defends SimSub decision

Media | 03/03/2017 9:51 pm EST

Canada has one of the “world’s most open cultural markets” and the CRTC’s decision to ban simultaneous substitution during BCE Inc.’s broadcast of the National Football League’s...

Eliminate locked phones in Canada, Freedom Mobile tells CRTC

telecom | 02/08/2017 10:05 pm EST

In a departure from the positions of its fellow wireless providers, Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile suggested Wednesday the CRTC should forbid carriers from charging...

Don’t divorce handset, service pricing: wireless providers

telecom | 02/07/2017 10:15 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que. — Changing the rules so that the cost of a wireless device is divorced from a monthly service payment on a customer’s bill would take a considerable amount of work to...

Blais calls out demands for ‘political interference’ with CRTC

Media | 02/02/2017 9:04 pm EST

OTTAWA — CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais used his opening remarks at a panel discussion Thursday to criticize individuals who are calling for “political interference” in the...

CRTC jobs, vacant or not, posted

Media | 01/24/2017 10:50 pm EST

Heritage Canada has issued a series of help-wanted ads for the CRTC — including for the not-yet vacant position of chair. Four new job openings are now on the government’s appointments website for the roles of chair,...

National 911 operator could disrupt regional relationships: PSAP

telecom | 01/17/2017 11:14 pm EST

Forming a national consortium for the development of next-generation 911 (NG911) services would disrupt relationships formed under the current ILEC model, a British Columbia public-safety answer point (PSAP) argued on the second day of the CRTC’s week-long hearing on NG911. The largest 911 PSAP — a service that provides emergency and non-emergency call-taking and dispatch services — in the province took a different position than others who argued for a national consortium to handle the transition to next-generation 911, which will allow 911...

Address diversity gaps when filling CRTC roles, minister told

Media | 01/17/2017 9:52 pm EST

Filling all 13 spots allotted to CRTC commissioners could go a long way in addressing what some are calling decades of ongoing disparity between the demographics of those who make decisions about the...

CRTC should take charge in next-generation 911 rollout, regulator hears

telecom | 01/16/2017 11:17 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que. — The CRTC should take a leading role — at least temporarily — in co-ordinating the development of next-generation 911 services, the regulator...

Unifor asks for suspension of SimSub ban

Media | 01/12/2017 5:12 pm EST

The union representing members of the television and media sectors is asking the CRTC to reverse or suspend its decision banning simultaneous substitution for the Super Bowl in order for its impact to be fully considered. In...

50 Mbps speeds, LTE part of CRTC’s new basic service requirements

telecom | 12/21/2016 9:14 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que. — Advocates are calling the CRTC’s new basic service requirements — which include a minimum of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds and LTE coverage —...

CRTC to go ahead with French-language music review

Media | 12/02/2016 5:52 pm EST

The CRTC announced Thursday that it will go ahead with a hearing on rules governing French-language vocal music on commercial radio stations that had been postponed since last year. The commission is allowing parties, who have already filed submissions, an opportunity to update them by Jan. 11. It said the new date for the hearing will be announced at a later time. The hearing is expected to examine the “possibility of implementing new, innovative measures to support the creation, discovery, promotion and consumption of [French-language vocal music],” according to...

Public consultation before closing TV stations unwarranted: Bell, Rogers

Media | 12/02/2016 12:53 am EST

GATINEAU, Que. — CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais floated the idea that the commission should require a public consultation before a broadcaster closes a TV station during the last day...

Pick-and-pay still has many ‘pitfalls’ for consumers: PIAC

Media | 12/01/2016 10:24 pm EST

As the CRTC’s rules requiring all TV providers to allow customers to sign up for channels individually came into effect Thursday, the regulator emphasized that consumers have to take...

Shoan drops second case on Blais’ power to name panels

telecom | 11/30/2016 8:29 pm EST

Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan won’t pursue a second challenge regarding the ability of the CRTC chairman to name panels, after a judge dismissed a similar application last month....

Mandatory carriage for OMNI only option, Rogers tells CRTC panel

Media | 11/28/2016 10:54 pm EST

GATINEAU, Que. — Rogers Communications Inc. said it understands the irony of asking for mandatory carriage for its proposed new regional OMNI service, but that it’s the only way...

Shoan dismissal part of ‘witch hunt,’ former commissioner says

Media | 11/25/2016 9:16 pm EST

Former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is alleging that Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and the governor-in-council (GIC) have effectively participated in a “witch hunt” against him by...

Siding with critics would be ‘grave disservice’: Blais

Media | 11/25/2016 1:29 am EST

OTTAWA — The CRTC has transformed over the past few years to become less binary — with outcomes that were strictly either pro-business or pro-consumer — in its decision making and more into an organization that finds the balance that best serves the public interest, according to chairman...

Skinny basic best practices not enough to ‘scare’ BDUs: PIAC

Media | 11/21/2016 9:50 pm EST

The best practices for TV service providers offering skinny-basic cable packages announced by the CRTC Monday don’t amount to much more than lip service, with no real consequences for...

CRTC chair OK with being ‘disruptive showman’

Media | 11/16/2016 11:21 pm EST

OTTAWA — With more than six months left in his term as CRTC chairman, Jean-Pierre Blais isn’t ready to start using the word “legacy” in relation to his term as head of the Canadian regulator, but in a...

Judith LaRocque named CRTC vice-chair of broadcasting

Media | 11/14/2016 6:24 pm EST

The CRTC has named Judith LaRocque its new vice-chairwoman of broadcasting, a year after the position was left open following the departure of Tom Pentefountas. According to an email sent to staff Monday by secretary general Danielle May-Cuconato, LaRocque will begin her six-month term immediately. She added that LaRocque has “held numerous positions during her career, including secretary to the Governor General, deputy minister of Canadian Heritage, and Canada’s ambassador and permanent representative at the Organization for Economic...

Videotron goes on defence as differential pricing hearing wraps

Media | 11/04/2016 11:49 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — Those who innovate shouldn’t be penalized because their competitors can’t keep up, the CRTC heard Friday from representatives of the telecom company...

CRTC hears opposite takes on social benefits of zero-rating

Media | 11/03/2016 10:29 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — The question of whether differential pricing practices (DPPs) can be used for socially beneficial purposes came up on the fourth day of the CRTC’s hearing on DPPs...

No proven harm from differential pricing: Bell

Media | 11/01/2016 9:41 pm EDT

GATINEAU — The CRTC shouldn’t take the non-participation in this week’s hearing by content providers who might eventually benefit from zero-rating and other differential pricing practices as non-interest, a...

Blais can name panels: Federal Court of Appeal

Media | 10/24/2016 9:33 pm EDT

TORONTO — A panel of Federal Court of Appeal justices dismissed an application from former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan challenging the authority of chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to name commissioners to panels. Following a...

CIPF criticism ‘misleading,’ Blais tells committee

Media | 10/20/2016 8:55 pm EDT

OTTAWA — CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais defended the rationale and timing of the regulator’s controversial decision to change the eligibility requirements to access certified independent production funds (CIPFs) in face of pointed questions from members of Parliament Thursday morning. The Aug. 25 decision to reduce from eight to six the number of certification points a production must have — granted for each key role a Canadian fills on a production — has sparked concern from members of creative industries (such as actors and screenwriters) who...

CRTC not twiddling thumbs as industry changes: Blais

Media | 10/20/2016 8:21 pm EDT

OTTAWA — On the same day that a new report was released arguing the CRTC’s role and authority should be reduced in response to technological change, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais defended the relevance of the...

Wholesale rate decision could lead to focus on flanker brands, analysts say

telecom | 10/07/2016 8:17 pm EDT

In the days after the CRTC issued a decision that lowered wholesale wireline Internet rates proposed by large Internet Service Providers (ISPs), financial analysts said the large telecoms could...

CRTC’s lowering of HSA rates means small ISPs ‘free to innovate’: CNOC

telecom | 10/06/2016 8:00 pm EDT

The CRTC has set revised interim wholesale rates for high-speed access (HSA) services, criticizing large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for proposing “unreasonable” rates that were too...

CRTC launches video relay service, will keep an eye on data usage

telecom | 09/28/2016 9:18 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — The first national video relay service (VRS) for hearing-impaired Canadians launched Wednesday, with the CRTC and companies involved in the project saying they’ll...

Innovation, cybersecurity, CanCon on agenda as Parliament resumes

Media | 09/19/2016 2:54 pm EDT

After 13 weeks off from the Parliament Hill routine, MPs returned en masse to Ottawa Monday for the start of the House of Commons’ fall session, where the stage is set for forward...

PIAC says customers need better skinny basic info

Media | 09/08/2016 9:12 pm EDT

GATINEAU — On the final day of a two-day hearing, consumer groups told a CRTC panel that the regulator should set standards for how companies present information about their skinny-basic packages, while CRTC commissioner...

CRTC grills telecoms on skinny basic promotion, bundling

Media | 09/08/2016 1:01 am EDT

GATINEAU — A CRTC panel pressed Canada's largest TV service providers on whether they were doing enough to bring attention to new skinny-basic services, raising concerns that higher-tier...

Reinstating Shoan ‘not in public interest’: AG

Media | 09/06/2016 9:36 pm EDT

OTTAWA — Last week’s decision from a Federal Court judge setting aside an investigation and decision that former CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan committed workplace harassment should weigh heavily in his favour for...

Federal court upends Shoan harassment finding

Media | 09/02/2016 6:08 pm EDT

A Federal Court judge has overturned a 2015 CRTC decision that former commissioner Raj Shoan harassed a senior staff member, ruling he was denied procedural fairness in the investigation leading up to the decision. In a Friday decision, judge Russel Zinn approved the judicial review application brought forward by Shoan, who had turned to the courts to fight the finding and subsequent punitive measures levied against him by chairman Jean-Pierre Blais following a complaint by Amanda Cliff, the executive director of communications. “The failure of procedural fairness by the...

Commission admits to factual error in CIPF decision

Media | 09/01/2016 8:54 pm EDT

The CRTC has admitted it made an error in a recent decision by attributing an argument made by Rogers Communication Inc.’s group of funds to the Canada Media Fund (CMF). In a press release Thursday, the...

Blais says critics of CIPF decision should have spoken up earlier

Media | 09/01/2016 3:38 pm EDT

CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais has responded to criticism by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) of its recent decision on Canadian Independent Production...

CRTC opens Wireless Code review

telecom | 07/28/2016 7:38 pm EDT

The CRTC will be holding a public hearing as part of its review of the wireless code governing the conduct of service providers, the regulator announced Thursday. Scheduled to begin Feb. 6, 2017, in Gatineau,...

Ontario fibre project gets federal-provincial boost

telecom | 07/26/2016 8:29 pm EDT

The federal and Ontario governments are investing up to $180 million into a new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network designed to connect about 300 southwestern Ontario communities to high-speed Internet, officials announced Tuesday,...

Joly, Vennard respond to Shoan appeal, allegations of bias

telecom | 07/11/2016 7:51 pm EDT

A CRTC commissioner is refuting allegations of inappropriate conduct and racism levied by a former colleague, Raj Shoan, the recently fired representative for Ontario. Included in documents filed last week with the federal court to appeal his dismissal was a June 14 letter from Shoan to Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly citing allegations of “institutional bigotry and bias at the highest levels of the CRTC.” Shoan wrote the letter to bring to Joly’s attention examples of alleged mistreatment of employees by Linda Vennard, the CRTC commissioner for Alberta and the...

Shoan appeals dismissal from CRTC post

telecom | 07/06/2016 2:06 pm EDT

Fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking the Federal Court to “urgently” intervene in the order-in-council issued last month that ended his appointment with the regulator. On Tuesday, lawyers for Shoan filed a...

Shoan out as CRTC commissioner, appealing dismissal

telecom | 06/24/2016 8:08 pm EDT

In a “highly unusual” move, Raj Shoan, the CRTC commissioner representing Ontario, was removed from his post by the federal government on Friday, capping off a 14-month period of legal strife between Shoan and the...

OECD members commit to new digital initiatives

telecom | 06/24/2016 4:02 pm EDT

Ministers from 41 countries and the EU have committed to upholding certain initiatives to adjust to the new realities of a digital economy. Members at the OECD’s 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting held in Cancun,...

Impartiality, authority of CRTC chairman called into question in harassment review hearing

Media | 06/21/2016 11:19 pm EDT

TORONTO — A reasonable person could make the link between the comments that CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais made as a witness during a harassment investigation...

Blais can name panels: Attorney general

Media | 06/02/2016 6:58 pm EDT

The attorney general’s office is arguing that the CRTC chairman has the authority to name panels to decide issues in front of the commission, in response to a court case launched by commissioner Raj Shoan challenging his...

Four telecoms singled out for skinny-basic hearing

Media | 05/24/2016 9:36 pm EDT

The CRTC said Tuesday it will hold a hearing on the implementation of skinny basic TV packages, though it only asked four companies — BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc.,...

Shoan launches second challenge to Blais’ power to name panels

telecom | 05/24/2016 5:04 pm EDT

CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan has filed another court challenge regarding the ability of CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais to assign commissioners to panels that make decisions on issues before the...

CRTC launches review of zero-rating, sponsored data

Media | 05/18/2016 9:32 pm EDT

Net neutrality advocates welcomed the CRTC’s launch of a new consultation on “differential pricing practices” for both wireline and wireless data plans Wednesday, a process that will see a public hearing kick off...

No charging after cancellation, CRTC reminds service providers

telecom | 05/05/2016 6:50 pm EDT

The CRTC issued a clarification Thursday reminding telecommunications service providers that they can’t charge for services once they’ve been cancelled. “Furthermore, service providers must offer individuals and small business customers a refund upon cancellation, based on the number of days remaining in the billing cycle, if the service fees are billed in advance,” the commission said in a press release. The reminder comes on the same day that the CRTC denied a pair of similar applications from Quebecor Inc. and Telus...

Keep broadband funding status quo: Quebecor

telecom | 04/28/2016 9:20 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — When it comes to funding broadband improvements, don’t “reinvent the wheel,” representatives from Quebecor Inc. told CRTC commissioners Thursday. “In our opinion, nothing would be...

Redirect voice subsidy to broadband, CRTC panel hears

telecom | 04/21/2016 9:37 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — With the use of landlines declining across the country, the money collected for the provision of universal phone service should be reallocated to cover areas of the country underserved by broadband...

Low-income access to affordable Internet is ‘poverty issue’: Bell

Media | 04/19/2016 11:20 pm EDT

Canadians who can’t afford Internet access don’t face an “affordability problem,” but a “poverty issue that is in need of a social safety net,” which should be addressed by different levels of government, Robert Malcolmson, BCE Inc.’s senior vice-president of regulatory...

In ‘unusual’ move, Blais calls for national digital strategy

telecom | 04/18/2016 10:37 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — The ongoing basic services hearing may be the “last, best chance” for the CRTC and the stakeholders appearing before its five-person panel to formulate some...

Customers say skinny basic not worthwhile: study

Media | 04/15/2016 4:57 pm EDT

More than 66,000 Canadians have signed up for a skinny-basic TV package since its rollout on March 1, according to the CRTC. In a Friday press release, the regulator said a third of those who signed up also took advantage of pick-and-pay channels and theme packs. The CRTC said it asked Access Communications, BCE Inc., Cogeco Inc., Eastlink, Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp., Shaw Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron for the number...

Advocacy groups ask CRTC for subsidies, to ‘champion’ Internet access

telecom | 04/14/2016 8:02 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — CRTC commissioners drilled into what should constitute a need versus a want when it comes to access to broadband Internet Thursday, during the fourth day of a three-week hearing...

Basic service should include wholesale rates: TekSavvy

Media | 04/11/2016 10:12 pm EDT

GATINEAU, Que. — On the first day of the CRTC’s hearing on what basic telecom services should be available to all Canadians, small ISP TekSavvy Solutions Inc. asked the CRTC to...

Internet speeds beating benchmarks: CRTC

telecom | 03/31/2016 10:45 pm EDT

The majority of broadband wireline Internet services sold to Canadian homes meet or exceed their advertised speeds, suggest the preliminary findings of a CRTC-commissioned study on broadband Internet performance. "Based on...

I’m not your adversary, Blais tells marketers

Media | 03/22/2016 4:51 pm EDT

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a speech to the Canadian Marketing Association in Toronto Tuesday that “legitimate marketers” should welcome anti-spam rules. “They’re not going anywhere....

As skinny basic arrives, experts doubt consumer appeal

Media | 03/01/2016 9:41 pm EST

On the day Canadian TV providers were required to make their skinny basic options available to consumers, experts expressed skepticism about how many Canadians will sign up for the new offers and...

CRTC won’t change course despite appeals, criticism: Blais

Media | 02/17/2016 11:05 pm EST

CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said Wednesday the CRTC will stick to the course of action it has set despite disapproval by those who feel the CRTC’s direction “upsets their entitlements...

CBC wants in on news fund despite $150M funding increase

Media | 01/29/2016 8:29 pm EST

CBC/Radio-Canada told the CRTC Friday that if it sets up a fund for local news, the public broadcaster should be able to participate, despite the Liberal government’s promise to increase its...

News fund ‘distant second-best solution’ to local TV problem: Rogers

Media | 01/28/2016 11:41 pm EST

GATINEAU — Rogers Communications Inc. said on the fourth day of the CRTC’s hearing into local and community TV that it doesn’t think the creation of a fund for local news is the best...

Bell, Channel Zero tell CRTC local TV needs help

Media | 01/26/2016 12:57 am EST

GATINEAU — The first day of the CRTC’s hearing on local and community television painted a picture of traditional TV in flux, as operators of conventional stations said declining ad revenue is making local TV unsustainable, while Vice Media LLC said it’s moving into traditional TV in order to capture a wider range of advertisers. Channel Zero Inc., which recently restructured operations at its Hamilton local TV station and cut local news programming from 80 hours a week to 17.5, told the CRTC Monday that the commission should rebalance funding for local TV programming,...