CCR Short Takes

CAIP ends talks with cablecos over third-party accessThe Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) has walked away from mediation talks with cablecos over the thorny issue of third-party access, and is calling on the CRTC to settle the three-year-old dispute once and for all.CAIP president Jay Thomson says he will be sending a letter to the commission within the next few days after ongoing mediation between the two groups failed to reach a settlement that would enable its members to begin offering cable modem service.CAIP has been fighting for access to cable networks since early 1997 and appeared to be gaining some ground last September when the CRTC ordered cablecos to begin reselling Internet service at a 25 per cent discount. A deadline of December 13 was set, but still no agreements have been signed. Cable operators claim that there are still technical and costing hurdles to overcome before the contentious issue can come to a conclusion.CAIP disputes those claims and has fired off several letters to the CRTC demanding an expedited resolution to the impasse. CanWest acquires shares in RadioWorks, seeks moreCanWest Radio New Zealand, a wholly owned subsidiary of CanWest Global Communications Corp, has conditionally acquired a 19.9% stake in publicly listed RadioWorks New Zealand Ltd for $14.1 million. The company is looking for up to an additional 24.9% of the outstanding shares of RadioWorks and will begin buying more at NZ$8.25 on a first come, first serve basis on Thursday, May 11. RadioWorks is one of three large radio groups in New Zealand, and operates under four network brands that reach most major markets across New Zealand. It currently represents about 27% of the country's radio market. VoicePrint applies to CRTC to distribute service as SAPThe National Broadcast Reading Service Inc (NBRS), the organization behind the freely-distributed news reading service for the blind, VoicePrint, has asked the CRTC to amend its licence to allow distribution of the service as a secondary audio program (SAP). Further, the NBRS has asked the commission to direct Class 1 and Class 2 BDUs to distribute the VoicePrint Audio Programming Service in conjunction with the CBC Newsworld Programming Service as a SAP service. Finally, NBRS has asked the CRTC to authorize a $0.01 per subscriber, per month rate for the carriage of the VoicePrint service to be paid to NBRS on a "pass through" basis. No mark-up would be available to BDUs for the carriage of this service. Details on the service can be found on NBRS' site at www.nbrscanada.com. Licence fee funding program tops expectationsThe Canadian Television Fund (CTF) made a surprise announcement at this year's HOT DOCs Festival to report that a booming cable and DTH industry has provided about $18 million more to the Licence Fee Program than expected. Last year it supported 413 television programs and 19 feature films, which helped bring 2245 hours of new TV programming to air. CTF chair Richard Stursberg attributed the increase to a 50% increase since the fund's first year in 1996 in funding from cable and DTH. Because of the extra funds, 46% of documentary applications were supported, rather than the 38% that would have been funded before the year-end figures were tallied. The CTF is in the last year of its funding mandate. Internet streamed over land/space networkInternational Datacasting Corp, Ottawa, announced a successful test by CyberStar and Akamai Technologies Inc of its SuperFlex SR2001. The satellite receiver picks up live broadcast-quality Internet streaming over a hybrid satellite and terrestrial network. Using Akamai's FreeFlowSM Streaming service, the 1 Mbps streams were delivered across Akamai's globally distributed network and displayed in Akamai's booth at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas last month. Return of iCrave promisediCraveTV.com may be back in business by September. President William Craig is patenting a firewall called iWall that can identify and isolate computer users in particular nations. He claims the new system will be able to verify a customer's location with a high degree of accuracy. Cancom signs pact with Liberate TechnologiesCanadian Satellite Communications Inc has signed an exclusive agreement with Liberate Technologies that will see Cancom become the Canadian partner of Liberate. Cancom will use the technology from the San Carlos CA firm to provide interactive services to Star Choice DTH subscribers and cable customers. Satellite TV part of Ontario Hydro's bundling futureOntario Hydro Energy Inc is preparing to bundle home services on one bill. While initial efforts will be limited to long distance telephone, electricity and water heaters, the company says it plans to offer satellite TV, home insulation, water purification and other residential services over the coming months. The utility's Onsource billing software will compare each customer's monthly invoice against the rates of key competitors and invoice the customer the lowest cost. Ontario Hydro cites deregulation in the electricity market as its reason for getting into bundled services. Bell ExpressVu tops half a million subscribersBell ExpressVu has passed 500,000 subscribers to its DTH service. The company carries more than 200 video and 38 music channels and distributes them to an 18-inch dish. Chapters Online extends service in western CanadaChapters Online, the Internet side of the giant book chain, has expanded its strategic marketing agreement with Telus. The book company will be the recommended bookseller on Telus' Internet portals MyBC.com and Alberta.com and on other portals the telco may create. The deal runs for one year. Group Telecom completes takeover of Moffat fibreToronto-based GT Group Telecom Inc has finalized its purchase of the fibre access business of Moffat Communications Ltd of Winnipeg. The deal cost Group Telecom $68 million in cash as well as 1.6 million shares. The company is now looking at acquiring Vidéotron Télécom. Vidéotron edging toward CLEC service launchQuebec cableco Groupe Vidéotron ltee is buying 50,000 integrated telephony cable modems from Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. It is expected the sale will allow for the debut of cable telephony in North America. Problems implementing 911 service and fall out from the proposed takeover of Vidéotron have delayed the launch of the service. The company has given no firm dates for its rollout. SaskTel moves into wireless TV and Internet marketPrairie telco SaskTel has purchased 29.9 per cent of Craig Wireless International, a division of Craig Broadcast Systems Inc. The minority stake will help SaskTel market TV broadcasting, Internet access, high speed data transmission and video-conferencing. SaskTel back under CRTC rulesThe CRTC has accepted a transitional plan by SaskTel that would see the provincially owned telco return to federal regulation effective June 30. During the 18-month transition period, SaskTel has committed to not increase residential and business telephone rates. NY Exchange now a Corus lineCorus Entertainment Inc president John Cassaday and chair Heather Shaw rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on May 10 to mark the company listing on the exchange. Shareholders contest multicultural TV bankruptcyQuebec shareholders of Montreal's multi-ethnic television station represented by Placements Saint-Mathieu Inc. are contesting CJNT-TV's filing for bankruptcy by Winnipeg's CanWest Global Communications Corp. The Quebec shareholders say CanWest's status as a shareholder is precarious and has not even been approved by the CRTC. The shareholder group started four proceedings to block CanWest's action. They are contesting the filing of the petition in bankruptcy of the only television station exclusively dedicated to Greater Montreal's diverse cultural and ethnic communities. They filed notice to the official receiver of the bankruptcy enjoining him not to dispose of the assets of the television station, petitioned Quebec's Superior Court to cancel transfer provided for under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. They also filed a formal complaint with the president of the CRTC, and submitted an intervention at the CRTC's public hearings on WIC/CanWest. Astral's earnings up in first half of FY 2000Astral Media Inc. reports that EBITDA for the first six months ended February 29, 2000 are up 49 per cent to $30.6 million from $20.5 million in the first half last year. Cash flow from operations grew by 24 per cent to $16.8 million, compared with $13.6 million a year earlier. On a pro-forma basis, EBITDA for the first half rose 78 per cent to $36.4 million, while cash flow from operations rose by 72 per cent to $23.4 million. Astral credited its acquisition of Radiomutuel for the rise in earnings. Earnings before taxes increased to $12.6 million from $12 million, but grew by 25 per cent on a pro-forma basis to $15 million. Revenues from operations rose to $207.2 million from $206.4 million, and showed a 20 per cent increase on a pro-forma basis, growing to $246.9 million. Rogers trials WebTV in Toronto with digital cable subscribersRogers Cable Inc is offering digital subscribers in Toronto Internet access via their television sets as part of a trial of Rogers Interactive TV services. The trial stems from a July 1999 agreement with Microsoft Corp to deliver its WebTV service to cable subscribers. Using a wireless keyboard, customers will be able to surf the Web, receive e-mail, save "favourite" sites and conduct on-line banking and shopping. Commercial rollout of Rogers Interactive TV is expected later this year.

CCR Short Takes

Broadcast | May 11, 2000

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