Bell playing skinny basic plan close to the vest: report

BCE Inc. is keeping mum in the wake of a media report claiming the company is telling staff to downplay its upcoming skinny basic TV offering.

On Friday, CBC reported that an internal training document it obtained advised sales staff to not promote its new skinny basic TV package, quoting the document as saying that there "will be no advertising, and this package should only be discussed if the customer initiates the conversation."

25,000 respond to basic services survey: CRTC

The CRTC said Friday that more than 25,000 Canadians have completed a questionnaire on the future of broadband as part of its basic telecom services review.

The deadline to complete the survey, which includes topics like availability of broadband and pricing of services, is Feb. 29, it added.

Rogers to offer $3-$18 theme packs with skinny basic

Rogers Communications Inc.’s $24.99 skinny basic offer will include the U.S. "4+1” networks ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and PBS, and its theme packages will cost between $3 and $18.

Rogers spokeswoman Jennifer Kett sent details of the new offer, which will be available as of March 1, in an email Wednesday.

Rogers disconnection would set harmful precedent: Sugar Mobile

Interventions filed opposing Ice Wireless' request for interim relief in its roaming dispute with Rogers Communications Inc. failed to properly address the relevant issues, instead focusing on "absurd" interpretations of statements Sugar Mobile CEO Samer Bishay made in media reports, the company said in a response to comments filed with the CRTC.

Ethics commish says MP broke rules writing letters to CRTC

Mary Dawson, the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, said Wednesday that former conservative MP Parm Gill breached the Conflict of Interest Act by sending letters of support to the CRTC.

12 applications for revoked, reinstated radio licences

The CRTC said Tuesday it received 12 radio licence applications to serve urban indigenous Canadians through frequencies used by five aboriginal radio stations whose licences were revoked.

Media division sale shouldn’t trigger tangible benefits: Shaw

Shaw Communications Inc. told the CRTC that the sale of its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc. shouldn’t result in any tangible benefit payments, because “both entities are under the common effective control of JR Shaw."

CMPA asks for ‘competitive safeguards’ in Shaw-Corus deal

The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) asked the CRTC to put in place “competitive safeguards” as part of its approval of Shaw Communications Inc.’s sale of its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc.

The CMPA argued that “requiring Corus to agree to such safeguards is the only way to mitigate the substantial harm that a merged [Corus-Shaw Media] would inevitably have on the Canadian independent production sector and, ultimately, on the range and quality of content available to Canadian audiences.”

Wireless competition on federal agenda: Bains

Sugar Mobile subs have no ‘right’ to roaming: Rogers

Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. told the CRTC that Rogers has the right to disconnect Ice Wireless from its network because its affiliate Sugar Mobile is selling service outside of Ice Wireless' operating territory.

CRTC launches telecommunications database

The CRTC has a new online tool to help people find phone, mobile, Internet and television services in their area.

CRTC denies call to change MVNO mandated access rules

The CRTC is standing by its decision to not require national wireless service providers to provide wholesale access for "full" mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), denying an application filed last summer by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC).

Shaw launches skinny basic package

Shaw Communications Inc. announced Wednesday it has launched its skinny basic TV package, called Limited TV.

The package, along with new small theme packs that can be combined with existing TV packages, is now available for purchase, Chethan Lakshman, vice-president of external affairs at Shaw, said in an email Thursday.

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

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 and threatens their livelihoods.”

Heritage committee to conduct study on news media

The House of Commons heritage committee will undertake a study on the news media.

The committee will hold at least 10 meetings that will study how Canadians and “especially local communities, are informed about local and regional experiences through” broadcast, digital and print media, it said in a motion passed Tuesday.

The committee will also look at “the unintended consequences of news media concentration and the erosion of local news reporting and the impact of news media.”

CRTC extends deadline in Shaw-Corus consultation

The CRTC said Thursday it has extended the deadline in its consultation on Shaw Communications Inc.’s sale of its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc. to 

CRTC settles Bell-Hamilton access agreement dispute

The CRTC has approved a municipal access agreement proposed by the City of Hamilton, ending a dispute between the municipality and BCE Inc. that began in 2012.

The commission said in a decision Wednesday the two parties haven’t been able to come up with a new agreement since the previous document expired in 2012.

Newcap released from AVR payments: CRTC

CRTC approves distribution of U.S. college sports channel

CRTC consulting on 7 non-compliant radio station licences

Seven radio stations will have to explain themselves and face public comment before the CRTC renews their licences.

The licences, which expire on Aug. 31, were previously renewed on a short-term basis after the stations were found "in non-compliance with one or more of their regulatory requirements during their previous licence term," the commission said Tuesday on its website, adding it "notes the serious and, in some cases, repeated nature of these instances of apparent non-compliance."

CRTC asks Bell, Rogers, Shaw, Quebecor to renew TV licences

The CRTC said Monday that BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc. should apply to renew their TV licences that will expire in 2017.

Business as usual for last simsub Super Bowl: Bell

There hasn’t been an increase in ad sales for Sunday’s upcoming Super Bowl, Perry MacDonald, senior vice-president of English television and local sales at BCE Inc.’s media division, said in a phone interview.

There is “no difference in sales volumes considering this could be the last year for simsub,” he said. “We’re still seeing a high level of interest overall from advertising."

ADR complaint against Bell dismissed

The CRTC threw out a complaint by a Quebec TV station accusing BCE Inc. of several regulatory violations, including giving itself an undue preference, after Bell said it would stop distributing the channel focused on public-safety and police-related information.

CMT not required to play country music: CRTC

The CRTC has approved a request that releases Country Music Television Ltd. (CMT) from its obligation to broadcast country music videos.

In a decision posted to its website on Thursday, the commission agreed with the majority of an application from Corus Entertainment Inc. on behalf of the Category A specialty channel to remove certain nature of service conditions from its licence.

CRTC extends deadline for comments on local TV hearing

The CRTC said in a notice Wednesday it has extended the deadline to submit final comments in the local and community TV hearing.

The deadline for final observations and responses to some undertakings has been extended from Feb. 5 to Feb. 16, CRTC said.

Advocacy group asks for $10 Internet for low-income households

A low-income advocacy group is calling for a $10-per-month Internet plan to help make high-speed Internet more accessible for low-income households.

On Tuesday, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Canada released the results of a survey that suggested high-speed Internet is too expensive for low-income earners to access at home, leading to unnecessary hardship.

CRTC needs technological guidance: former commissioner

The CRTC should have more commissioners with a background in engineering, and fewer with backgrounds in law, broadcasting and news, former commissioner Timothy Denton said in a blog post.

Denton – who served on the CRTC from 2008-2013 – argued that the CRTC should appoint a chief technology officer in the same style of that employed by the Federal Communications Commission in the post, dated Jan. 28.

“Commissioners and staff need to have some other source of guidance as to the technologies,” he said the blog post.

SaskTel launches skinny-basic package

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. launched its skinny-basic TV package Monday, priced at the $25 maximum mandated by the CRTC, SaskTel spokeswoman Michelle Englot said in an email. 

Stornoway withdraws complaint over Bell’s iChannel downgrade

Stornoway Communications LP has withdrawn a Part 1 complaint to the CRTC against BCE Inc. stemming from the removal of its iChannel offering from a Bell TV theme package.

The CRTC confirmed it has now closed the file in a Jan. 28 letter posted on its website. The letter did not specify the reason behind the withdrawal, and Stornoway CEO Sandy Baptist declined to comment in a phone call with the Wire Report, citing a confidentiality agreement.

CRTC approves new hybrid VOD service

The CRTC has approved a video-on-demand licence application by Gold Line Telemanagement Inc., a Markham, Ont.-based company that offers over-the-top (OTT) subscriptions to international TV and radio services.

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

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 funding.

“I would say that there is a huge pent-up demand on any new dollars that we might get. We have made significant cuts over the past 10 years,” executive vice-president of English services Heather Conway said on the fifth day of the CRTC’s eight-day hearing on local and community TV.

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

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 way to address the problems facing local television, though if the CRTC does establish a fund, it should be half the size suggested by BCE Inc.

CRTC news fund proposal would ‘gut’ community TV: Cogeco

Cogeco Communications Inc. told a CRTC hearing Wednesday that a plan the commission proposed to create a new fund for local TV news programming, to be funded by existing financial resources within the broadcasting system, would amount to “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Nathalie Dorval, Cogeco’s vice-president of regulatory affairs and copyright, said doing so “particularly when both Peter and Paul are increasingly losing customers and money to Uncle Sam, is neither an effective nor a fair public policy option.”

CRTC consulting on radio market capacity in southern Ontario

The CRTC issued Wednesday a call for comments on the market capacity for radio stations in Grimsby and Beamsville, Ont., both located about an hour south of Toronto.

Not enough money in the system to fund local TV, watchdog says

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting told the CRTC Tuesday that its position that there is enough money in the TV system to fund local programming “flies in the face of the evidence, a form of denial that evokes the image of King Canute or an ostrich.”

CRTC sets Feb. 25 deadline for comments on radio licence renewals

The CRTC said Tuesday it has set a deadline of Feb. 25 to submit comments on applications to renew radio licences that will expire this year. 

Bell, Channel Zero tell CRTC local TV needs help

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.

ADR assured Videotron must keep it until dispute resolved

The CRTC has told officials representing ADR.TV and Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron that the latter must maintain distribution of the former as the CRTC sorts through a dispute between the two parties.

CRTC opens consultation on Shaw-Corus deal

The CRTC on Thursday acknowledged receipt of an application from Shaw Communications Inc. to sell its media division to Corus Entertainment Inc., and said interested parties have until Feb. 15 to file submissions on the matter.

Dependence on landline-phone services put Primus in creditor protection: CEO

Too much reliance on landline-phone-service revenue, combined with a heavy debt load, has resulted in Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. being placed in creditor protection and awaiting court approval of a sale to a U.S.-based service provider, according to its CEO.

On Tuesday, Primus applied for and was granted protection by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. 

Court hears mobile-TV case

BCE Inc.'s appeal against a CRTC decision banning the provision of mobile-TV services that are not subject to regular data charges was heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto on Tuesday, and the court is expected to render a decision some time in the coming months.

CRTC to host information session on rate setting

The CRTC announced Wednesday it will host two one-day information sessions on costing principles and concepts for telecom services.

“As more and more companies are filing cost studies in support of their proposed rates, the Commission intends to provide an informational session to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the rate setting process,” it said.

CRTC cites 15K responses from public in basic telecom proceeding

The CRTC said Tuesday that it has received 15,000 responses to a questionnaire in the public consultation it is holding as part of a proceeding on what basic telecom services should be available to all Canadians.

Bell denied requests to switch Category A channels to B

The CRTC has denied BCE Inc. applications to have eight Category A channels changed to Category B channels, which would have reduced the requirements for Canadian content on these channels.

The channels Bell Media requested this change for were Bravo, the Comedy Network, Discovery Channel, E, MTV Canada, Much, M3 and Space.

CRTC asks public for input on basic telecom services

The CRTC is asking Canadians what telecom services they need, as part of the second phase of its proceeding on basic telecom services.

Tangible benefits unclear for Corus-Shaw deal: expert

Regulatory approval of Corus Entertainment Inc.'s planned purchase of Shaw Communications Inc.'s media division shouldn't be a problem since there's no real change in who's controlling the assets, said one consultant, though there is some question as to how tangible benefits will apply in this deal.

CRTC denies public hearing on cancellation of OMNI newscasts

The CRTC denied Tuesday the application by Urban Alliance on Race Relations (UARR) and Unifor Local 723M, both seeking to expedite a public hearing on the issue of Rogers Communications Inc. cancelling local third-language newscasts on its OMNI stations.

CRTC proposes fund for local TV news

The CRTC is proposing a new fund to support local TV news programming, which would be funded by existing financial resources within the broadcasting system.

The proposal was included a paper released Tuesday, which will be used as a basis for discussion at an eight-day hearing on local and community television that begins Jan. 25.

CCTS to enforce TV service provider code

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) said in a press release Friday it will be responsible for administering the CRTC's new television service provider code of conduct.

TV service provider code takes effect September 2017

Television service providers have another 20 months before they are forced to abide by a new code governing their relationship with customers.

Community TV channels do not meet CRTC standards: CACTUS

The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) said Thursday that most cable community TV channels do not meet CRTC standards for operating a community TV channel, according to one of the organization's members.

Bell’s claim FTTH investment at risk is ‘fear-mongering’: CNOC

Small Internet service providers (ISPs) are asking the government to reject an appeal, filed by BCE Inc., of a CRTC decision that mandated access by smaller competitors to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks, stating Bell’s arguments in the case contradict statements it has made to investors.

Bell launches another challenge to Super Bowl simsub rules

BCE Inc. has opened up its battle against the CRTC's plan to ban simultaneous substitution during the Super Bowl on another front.

TV regulatory changes could cost 15,000 jobs: report

New CRTC regulatory changes from the Let’s Talk TV decisions could lead to a loss of more than 15,000 Canadian jobs and take $1.4 billion from the Canadian economy annually by 2020, according to a new report released Tuesday that was co-authored by independent TV consultant Peter Miller and research company Nordicity.

Toronto telecom provider seeks condo access

Beanfield Technologies Inc., an independent provider of fibre-based Internet, TV and phone services in Toronto, is asking the CRTC to help it gain access to one of the few condominium buildings it isn't already connected to in the city's Liberty Village neighbourhood.

Additional comments can be added in local-TV review

The CRTC said Thursday that parties participating in the policy review for local and community TV programming can submit additional information to already submitted comments that were made in November. 

The regulator said the deadline to do so is Jan. 5 and added that the commission will publish an additional document on Jan. 12 “that would set out areas for exploration at the hearing based on the comments to focus discussion and debate."

Shaw says timing, current market dynamics made Wind deal attractive

The economics of entering Canada’s wireless market through the acquisition of Wind Mobile today are better than past opportunities Shaw Communications Inc. has had to enter the mobile sector, officials said during a conference call Thursday morning.

“By acquiring a company that already has a solid foundation, including spectrum, management expertise and scale, we have significantly lowered our risk of entry, and have done so in a disciplined and prudent manner,” Brad Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, said during the call.

CRTC consults on off-tariff roaming agreements

The CRTC on Wednesday started a consultation that asks whether it should refrain from regulating some arrangements between incumbent wireless carriers and smaller operators regarding domestic roaming where the terms or conditions might differ from regulations that are in place.

Bell denied request for relief on original-content condition

The CRTC has denied a request by BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division to delete a condition of licence for its French-language specialty channel Vrak.TV that requires it to show 104 hours of original, first-run Canadian French-language programming each year.

CRTC denies TekSavvy relief in Toronto wholesale issue

The CRTC has denied TekSavvy Solutions Inc.'s request for interim relief in a situation where Rogers Communications Inc. is slated to replace some legacy cable in a Toronto neighbourhood with fibre, leaving a certain number of households, for the time being, unable to become customers of TekSavvy or any other small Internet service provider (ISP) renting capacity on the local cable network.

Bell denied requests for no quota on independent programming

The CRTC on Friday approved requests from BCE Inc. to delete many genre-related terms on its licences for three different specialty channels, but it was denied in all three instances its requests that the requirement that 25 per cent of Canadian programming, other than news, current affairs and sports, come from independent production companies.

CRTC denies application to amend third-language exemption order

The CRTC denied an application from Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. Wednesday to amend the exemption order for discretionary TV services serving fewer than 200,000 subscribers in order for third-language undertakings to devote 15 per cent each week to Canadian programs rather than 15 per cent of the broadcast year and the evening broadcast period.

CRTC asks Videotron why zero-rate and not increase data caps

The CRTC is asking Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to answer 16 questions regarding its Unlimited Music service, including why it chose to launch a zero-rating service rather than increase data caps.

Wind responsible for 72.5% of code breaches last year: CCTS

Wind Mobile had 422 confirmed breaches of the CRTC’s wireless code last year, or 72.5 per cent of the total compiled by the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) in its annual report, and the carrier said it's mostly due to issues involving its unlimited U.S. roaming feature.

Data analytics key to discoverability, CRTC hears

The use of data analytics to build a global audience steered much of the discussion around content discoverability at an event hosted by the CRTC in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).

The panel of experts at Tuesday's event in Vancouver, held as part of the lead-up to the CRTC's Discoverability Summit, said industry should look at discoverability from a global perspective rather than focusing only on Canada. 

CRTC says incumbents can’t change terms in interim roaming rates

The CRTC has told Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc., and Telus Corp. that the terms and conditions in interim tariffs the incumbents filed following the CRTC’s move in May to regulate some roaming rates must be consistent with the agreements in place at the time the decision was made.

Broadcasters advised to ‘pick their winners’ as pick-and-pay approaches

As the Canadian TV industry approaches an era where customers have more choice over the channels they subscribe to, large broadcasters should “pick their winners” and consolidate into a smaller number of channels, a new report from RBC Capital Markets says.  

Incumbents seek little change in domestic data roaming tariffs

The domestic roaming rates for voice and text services BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. have asked the CRTC to implement are significantly lower than what they currently charge smaller carriers, while the prices the incumbents suggested for data roaming are largely in line with tariffs that are already in effect, and even slightly higher in the case of Bell and Rogers.

CRTC approves purchase of Quebec radio station

The CRTC approved an application by Torres Media asking for permission to acquire, from Radio Express Inc., and continue operating CKOD-FM, a French-language radio station located in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., about an hour outside Montreal.

Bell holds out on distributing Bloomberg TV

When Channel Zero Inc. announced the launch of its Bloomberg TV Canada channel this week, it listed every TV-service provider that was carrying it and absent from that list was Canada's biggest provider of TV service.

Videotron ordered to pay $7.4M in LPIF class action

A judge has ordered Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron to pay back $6.4 million it improperly billed its customers, plus $1 million in punitive damages.

Superior Court Judge Carole Hallée said in a Nov. 11 decision that Videotron improperly billed customers for contributions to the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF), which was eliminated last year.

Telus, Cogeco challenge Bell appeal of wholesale code

Telus Corp. and Cogeco Cable Inc. have filed their opposition to BCE Inc.'s attempt to fight, before the Federal Court of Appeal, the CRTC's wholesale code governing relationships between television stations and TV-service providers.

Videotron’s MAtv still violating licence conditions: complaint

A group that previously battled MAtv, the community channel operated by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, is telling the CRTC that MAtv is still violating the conditions of its licence months after a CRTC decision found it in non-compliance.

Wind adds 3rd domestic roaming partner

Wind Mobile said Tuesday it has added "a third major roaming partner" in Canada.

It did not disclose which company is the new partner, though given that Wind's operating territory is Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, having three "major" roaming partners indicates it is now working with all three national incumbents, BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Roger Communications Inc.

Trudeau tells Bains to boost broadband coverage

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has directed Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains to increase “high-speed broadband coverage and work to support competition, choice and availability of services,” according to a mandate letter released Friday.

He also said Bains should “foster a strong investment environment for telecommunications services to keep Canada at the leading edge of the digital economy.”

FTTH to cover 90% of Bell footprint in 10 years: Cope

BCE Inc. will cover about 90 per cent of its wireline footprint with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) in a little less or a little more than a decade, though the issue of whether smaller Internet service providers will get mandated access to such networks will affect the build-out in an unspecified fashion, Bell CEO George Cope said Thursday.

Liberals’ infrastructure plans could extend to telecom: lawyer

TORONTO — The newly elected Liberal government has indicated infrastructure will be a priority, and that could include telecom infrastructure, said lawyer Chris Tacit during a panel discussion at the Canadian ISP Summit in Toronto on Wednesday.

Tacit, a lawyer for the Canadian Network Operators’ Consortium (CNOC), which organized the conference, said that “there is a likelihood, with this government’s focus on infrastructure, that they might actually turn their focus in a much more meaningful way to broadband infrastructure.”

Shoan tells radio operators to focus on smartphones

CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan told a group of broadcasting professionals this week that radio operators should look at how they can become a bigger presence on smartphones in order to hold their own against an increasing number of new options for audio consumption, such as online streaming.

29 local TV stations at risk of closing by 2020: report

A report from independent consultant and lawyer Peter Miller and research company Nordicity says that 50 per cent of Canada’s small- and medium-market local TV stations could close by 2020.

The report, prepared for advocacy group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting and the union Unifor, and submitted by Friends as part of the CRTC’s consultation on community and local television, found that “Canada’s local television heritage is at risk of major cutbacks and station closures.”

CCTS shouldn’t be consumer advocate: Bell

Officials from BCE Inc. told a CRTC panel Friday that the mandate of the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) shouldn’t be expanded to allow it to become a consumer advocacy body.

CRTC says 30-day cancellation ban not for single channels

The CRTC on Friday made certain clarifications about the policy implemented early this year to prohibit providers of telecommunications services from requiring 30-days' notice of subscription cancellations.

Responding to concerns expressed by some providers, it said the regulation would be modified to explicitly state that the policy only applies to the cancellation of TV services as a whole, not individual channels or particular packages.

Deadline extended in review of local, community TV

The CRTC said Friday it extended the deadline for interventions in its review of the policy framework for local and community television programming to 8 p.m. ET that evening.

It had already delayed the deadline once from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5.

Lead-up to Discoverability Summit in Montreal Dec. 3

The CRTC announced Friday that the second of two En Route events leading up to its Discoverability Summit will be held in Montreal on Dec. 3 with discussions focusing on French-language markets.

CRTC denies 2 Alberta radio applications

Sylvain Lake, Alta., will remain without any dedicated local radio service after the CRTC denied two applications on the grounds they would hurt stations in other communities — in particular, Red Deer, Alta.

No more industry minister, Bains becomes innovation minister

Navdeep Bains, MP for the Ontario riding of Mississauga-Malton, was named minister of innovation, science and economic development on Wednesday, a post intended to replace what was previously the position of industry minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet were sworn in Wednesday, following the election of a Liberal government on Oct. 19.

Shoan protests Traversy no-show in court case

CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan is asking that the affidavit of John Traversy, outgoing secretary general of the commission, be struck from the record in a Federal Court case — in which he's fighting a finding that he harassed an employee — because Traversy has not made himself available for a cross-examination.

Alternatively, Shoan asked that CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais be subject to a cross-examination instead to back up the affidavit from Traversy that was sworn Aug. 27.

Traversy's affidavit has not yet been made available for public viewing.

CCTS asks CRTC to keep membership mandatory for telecoms

Representatives from the Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) told the CRTC Tuesday that making telecom companies' participation in the CCTS voluntary would affect the independence and effectiveness of the commission.

Connectivity beats content in telecom/media sector: report

The notion that "content is king" is challenged in a new report that points out that connectivity services take in significantly more revenue than content providers in Canada and have seen more growth in recent decades.