What does the federal government’s policy to enhance wireless competition look like the morning after the 700 MHz spectrum auction results were announced? We have another player, Videotron, in BC and Alberta. Videotron, Quebec’s largest cable company, has...
Roland Renner
Federal budget announces $305 million for rural and northern broadband
The federal budget provides for $305 million for rural and northern broadband access. There are no details yet on the structure of the program. How this is structured and delivered will be key to its success. There are a wide range of options of what...
Broadcasting Developments in 2014
The year 2014 will see more key developments in broadcasting around the world and in Canada. These developments are all related to the topics we have addressed under InfoComm, from Usage Based Billing (UBB) for Internet access service to rebuilding the Last...
CRTC Launches “Let’s Talk TV: A Conversation with Canadians”
Today the CRTC announced a new exercise in participatory democracy, directly consulting the public on the future of the television system in Canada. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2013/2013-563.htm Although this is meant to be in keeping with the government’s...
Featured News
Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
Options for the CBC: Alternative Roles for the National Broadcaster
Based on a historical analysis of the original role for a national public broadcaster, Roland Renner assesses how improving technology has affected the CBC and takes a look at five potential alternatives for bringing the CBC in to the modern world. Renner looks at five potential proposals, ranging from abandoning the idea of a public broadcaster entirely, to making only minor changes to the current system, before making a final recommendation.
Sun News Wants to be on Basic Cable
Good commentary from Terry Field on Sun News trying to get on basic cable in a new CRTC proceeding. http://www.troymedia.com/2013/01/25/canadian-tv-consumers-are-still-the-real-losers/ Three things going on here. The first is political. Sun News thinks it represents...
Supreme Supreme Court Rules CRTC does not have jurisdiction to implement broadcaster fees for cable carriage
The fee for carriage would have allowed the traditional over the air broadcasters like CTV, and Global, to charge a fee to the cable, satellite and other distributors for the right to carry their signals. These fees would have been passed on to the cable...
Google Fibre Begins Service in Kansas City
Google's fibre network in Kansas City will turn on its first customers today. http://www.fiercecable.com/story/google-fiber-schedules-first-1-gbps-installations-kansas-city/2012-11-13?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal Meanwhile the cable industry has been working...
Westerners more likely to buy NetFlix
Here is another interesting result from the CRTC’s “Communications Monitoring Report”. Western Canadians subscribe to NetFlix in far greater numbers than Ontarians. The subscription percentage is 71% higher for Albertans (14.5%) compared to Ontarians (8.5%). ...
Traditional Broadcasting and Video Distribution Still Prospers
In spite of all the hype around Internet video, the traditional broadcasting system continues to very well. The CRTC’s "Communications Monitoring Report 2012" was released in September. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/PolicyMonitoring/2012/cmr.htm It...
CRTC to Implement Wireless Industry Code of Conduct
The CRTC is holding a proceeding to establish a Code of Conduct for the Wireless Industry (meaning cell phones). This is unusual for the telecom industry although it has been used by the CRTC on the broadcasting side. The Broadcasting Code for Advertising to Children is one example. It isn’t traditional tariff regulation, it isn’t relying more on market forces, it is a kind of guided self-regulation, likely with penalties for violations.
Consumer anger has led three provinces to legislate provincial codes on mobile phone contracts. The big cell phone companies through the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) proposed the Code of Conduct to avoid more legislation at the provincial level and having to deal with different rules in every province. It took years to get the provinces out of telecommunications regulation and have a national market with the same rules and yet now, they are coming back into it through this path.
How did we get ourselves to this point? Terrence Corcoran takes the consumers groups to task as leftist anti-market economic illiterates here.
He claims that the figures show that the market is competitive, consumers have no right to complain if they don’t read their contracts and that the CRTC and the provincial governments should get out of the way of business and let them compete. Up to a point, I agree with this view, generally favouring free market competition as the best result for consumers.
CRTC denies BCE acquisition of Astral Media
…the Commission must evaluate applications for a change in effective control against the objectives set out in the (Broadcasting) Act, as well as its own policies and regulations. The Commission considers that the concerns related to competition, ownership...
US telcos and cablecos complain that Kansas City gave Google a better deal
US cablecos and telcos are upset that Kansas City gave Google a better deal on access to municipal infrastructure than they get. Now they want the same deal, complaining that the Google deal is unfair and "not a level playing field"...