CRTC rejects plea from small internet providers seeking wireless access

Do you think your cellphone bill is too high? Tough. It's going to stay that way thanks to a CRTC decision that nixes the possibility of dozens of new wireless carriers springing up, consumer advocates say.

The regulator on Thursday denied an appeal from a group of small internet providers to mandate what are called Mobile Virtual Network Operators.

City Councils Oppose Mayors in Latest Broadband Battle -- Ottawa and Toronto motions support CRTC decision on open access web.

The Canadian battle over broadband services has taken an unexpected turn in recent weeks as Bell's effort to win high profile support for its appeal of a crucial ruling issued by Canada's telecom regulator appears to have backfired.

After support from Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson for the telecom giant came to light, city councillors in both cities fought back with motions rejecting the mayors' positions and expressing support for more competitive Internet services.

Bell Appeals CRTC Ruling Forcing Company To Sell Fibre Internet Access To Small ISPs

Competition among providers could make ultra-high-speed fibre internet packages more affordable and give consumers more choice. But there likely won't be much of it anytime soon if Bell successfully appeals a ruling from Canada's telecom regulator.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled in July that large telecom companies such as Bell must sell wholesale access to their fibre networks to independent internet providers. Those independent ISPs could then offer customers competing internet packages, theoretically forcing everyone to offer better prices and packages in order to win customers.

CRTC Says Federal Election Debates Must Be 'Equitable'

OTTAWA - The country's broadcast regulator says it's not going to stand in the way of changes to the way federal election debates are conducted, so long as all the major parties get equitable news coverage.

This comes after the Conservative party opened the door this week to competing offers from individual networks to host the debates.

The move effectively ends the monopoly over the political contests previously enjoyed by a broadcast consortium made up of CTV, the CBC and Global TV.

CRTC Slams Bell Media Over Allegations It Attempted To Censor Coverage Of CRTC

Bell Canada and the CRTC seem to be at war.

In what could well be an unprecedented move, Canada’s telecom regulator has publicly criticized Bell Media over reports its president attempted to censor coverage of a CRTC decision by Bell-owned CTV News.

Canada’s telecom regulator didn’t name Bell Media in a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday, but made it clear who the target was.

Netflix battles with CRTC over disclosure

OTTAWA - One of the hottest dramas to hit the fall season isn't on your TV screen — it's happening behind the scenes in a battle of wills between the country's fastest-growing video supplier and Canada's broadcast regulator.

Netflix has told the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission it won't turn over sensitive corporate information, despite being ordered to do so at a hearing last Friday.

The move calls into question the very authority of the broadcast regulator to institute any rules governing Internet-based video service providers, says new media expert Michael Geist.

CRTC Defenseless After Tories Walk Away From Wireless Code Challenge

OTTAWA - After spending millions of dollars in ads critical of the big wireless companies, the Harper government appears to have walked away from a legal battle over its touted wireless code of conduct.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled this week that the country's telecom regulator could not argue on its own behalf in an appeal by Canada's major service providers over the start date for the wireless code, which is set to kick in by June of next year.

Debate Over: Canada's Wireless Market Is Uncompetitive

The longstanding debate over the state of wireless services in Canada has veered across many issues -- pricing, roaming fees, locked devices, new entrants, and foreign investment to name a few. At the heart of all of these questions is a single issue: is the current Canadian wireless market competitive?

The competitiveness of the Canadian market is a foundational question, since the answer has huge implications for legislative and regulatory policy. If the market is competitive, regulators (namely the CRTC) can reasonably adopt a "hands-off" approach, confident that competitive forces will result in fair prices and consumer choice. If it is not competitive, standing on the sidelines is not option, thereby pressuring government and the CRTC to promote more competition and to implement measures to prevent the established players from abusing their advantageous position.

CRTC To Probe ‘Unfair' Competitive Practices At Big Telecom

Canada’s telecom watchdog is launching an inquiry into whether the country’s big wireless carriers are trying to muscle out competitors by charging them excessive wholesale roaming rates — something some of the small wireless players have been arguing for years.

“Some of the large providers are charging, or proposing to charge, their smaller Canadian competitors significantly higher wholesale roaming rates than those charged to U.S.-based wireless companies,” the CRTC said in a statement Thursday.

David Anderson, Tory MP, Lobbies CRTC On Sun News Case In Possible Ethics Violation

OTTAWA - A Conservative parliamentary secretary has intervened in the federal broadcast regulator's deliberations on carriage of all-news services — just months after three colleagues landed in trouble for sending letters to the same court-like body.

In his Sept. 4 letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Saskatchewan MP David Anderson urges the regulator to take a "much more market driven approach" to both news and entertainment channels.

The CRTC has made a mistake: Bell's takeover of Astral will hurt the media

Public interest group OpenMedia.ca is condemning today's CRTC decision to allow big media giant Bell to take over Astral Media. Thousands of Canadians have spoken out against the takeover, because it will lead to lost jobs, fewer media and telecom choices, higher prices, and less opportunity for free expression.

Just four large, unaccountable Big Media conglomerates (Bell, Quebecor, Rogers, and Shaw) control over 86 per cent of Canadian cable and satellite distribution, 70 per cent of wireless revenues, and 54 per cent of Internet service revenues -- making Canada the most concentrated media market out of all G8 countries. Today's decision means Canada falling even further behind the rest of the G8. Canadians pay high prices for poor content and services because of this lack of real choice.

CRTC approves Bell Canada purchase of Astral Media

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has approved the $4-billion acquisition of Astral Media by Bell Canada Enterprises.

The companies had their merger rejected by the CRTC last fall.

But an amended version of the deal won over the commissioners — even though it applied some new conditions in response to the fact that Bell will have a 35.8 per cent share of the English-language television market in Canada.

CRTC made wireless code stronger after consumers spoke

The CTRC’s new wireless code is tougher on Canada’s big telecom firms than the draft code released in January, which focused on disclosure.

In the final version released this week, the telecom regulator orders the firms to stop doing things it feels are unfair to customers.

Starting in December, there will be no more three-year wireless contracts. You will be able to cancel a contract at no cost after two years.

Wireless Prices: Canadians Would Pay $419 More Per Year, Industry Group Study Suggests

HuffPost Canada readers got what they most wanted from the CRTC Monday — an effective end to three-year cellphone contracts, in the form of an early escape clause allowing wireless customers to end their contracts after two years.

But they didn’t get something else that wireless customers apparently want: Higher prices for cellphone service.

That’s the implication of a new poll carried out for the main lobby group of Canada’s telecom industry, which shows Canadians willing to pay up to $11.5 billion more for telecom services than they are currently paying.

New CRTC wireless rules ban contract break fees after 2 years

The CRTC has unveiled a new code of conduct that forbids cellphone companies from charging customers fees to break their contracts after two years and makes it easier to unlock cellphones.

Those are two of the biggest takeaways from a new code of conduct that the broadcast regulator unveiled on Monday and will come into effect for contracts signed after Dec. 2, 2013.

Parliament must intervene to save the CBC

CRTC decision to allow advertising on Radio 2 and Éspace Musique eliminates CBC radio’s distinctiveness and therefore its relevance.

In a decision that commission vice-chair Tom Pentefountas calls “crazy,” the CRTC has decided by majority vote to allow the CBC to introduce advertising on its Radio 2 and Éspace Musique radio networks.

Former CRTC commissioner hired at Sun News

A commissioner at the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has left his post after five years to join Sun News, as the broadcaster seeks “must carry” status.

Marc Patrone’s contract with the CRTC ended on March 18. He is now the Sun News Network’s director of news operations for Western Canada.

The Chronicle Herald reported Patrone’s new job Friday, and CTV confirmed the move.

Sun News: Mike Duffy Didn't Pressure CRTC On Our Behalf

Sun News is denying a report that scandal-plagued Senator Mike Duffy inappropriately pressured the CRTC into approving its bid to be a mandatory part of cable and satellite TV.

“Senator Duffy does not, nor has he ever, been employed as a lobbyist for Sun News/Sun Media. Nor have we asked Senator Duffy act as an agent on our behalf,” network vice-president Kory Teneycke said in a statement published by Sun Media national bureau chief David Akin.

Mike Duffy tried to influence CRTC decision on Sun Media: source

Sen. Mike Duffy attempted to influence the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission’s upcoming decision involving the right-leaning Sun News Network, a source has told CTV News.

A well-placed source told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife that Duffy approached a Conservative insider with connections to the CRTC three weeks ago to discuss Sun Media, which is asking the federal regulator to grant its news channel “mandatory carriage,” or guaranteed placement on basic cable and satellite packages.

Bell-Astral Deal: CRTC To Take Second Look At Merger

MONTREAL - Bell is heading to the CRTC for a second time in hopes that its plan to sell off the majority of Astral Media's TV channels will be enough to appease the regulator's worries its takeover of the media company would not be good for Canadians.

A new round of public hearings on Bell's revised plan to buy Astral starts Monday after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission killed the plan last fall, citing concerns it would restrict choice and raise prices for consumers.