The Wire Report’s 2024 in review

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of The Wire Report’s stories from 2024 to get you caught up on some of the year’s biggest developments in telecommunications, broadcasting, regulatory news, and more heading into the new year. Happy holidays from our team – and happy reading! Hannah Daley Phalen Tynes-MacDonald Paul Park news@thewirereport.ca January Kicking off the year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) unveiled its Strategic Plan for 2024-2027. Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne, who assumed the role in mid-2022, shared three pillars: privacy as a fundamental right, privacy supporting the public interest and Canada’s innovation, and privacy as a key factor in building trust among digital citizens. More news from January 2024: - Rogers sisters leave board of directors in private settlement - TekSavvy challenges Cogeco's network changes - CCTS: Rogers received the most complaints about telecom services last year - New “use it or lose it” policy helps Indigenous spectrum connectivity February Artificial intelligence spurred conversation in February, with “godfather” of AI and scientific director of the Mila AI research institute Yoshua Bengio warning the House of Commons industry committee of serious risks if the technology goes unregulated, as he discussed Bill C-27’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). Committee members were also told to be careful about implementing regulation that is too broad and risks hindering its development and use in Canada. “Not all risk is created equal,” said Amanda Craig, Microsoft’s senior director of public policy during a February hearing. The conversation over wholesale access to competitor fibre networks also began heating up again, as BCE Inc. asked the federal cabinet in a petition to reverse a ruling by the CRTC which mandated Bell to grant independent internet service providers (ISPS) access to its fibre network at interim rates in Ontario and Quebec. (Keep reading into the later months of this year in this post for the most recent news on this file.) More on the wholesale access framework: - Fibre needed for viable third-party access framework, CRTC hears - Providers debate wholesale fibre access in rural areas at CRTC hearing - Reseller market is healthy, incumbents tell CRTC internet hearing - Rogers, Cogeco, Quebecor challenge ILECs at CRTC hearings - Aggregated access to FTTP needed for independent ISPs, CRTC told More news from February 2024: - Canadians won’t get consulted on new CBC mandate, St-Onge tells Prime Time conference - Creative orgs call for copyright protections to be added to AI bill - CRTC, St-Onge highlight Bell's profitability in response to 4.8K job cut, CTV and radio closures - Trudeau says Bell decision to cut jobs is “garbage”; CNOC not surprised - Canada's Bill C-63 takes aim at online hate crimes and child exploitation - Competition Bureau expands probe into Google's advertising practices in Canada - Beyond tractors: Farmers navigating the digital transition, and broadband barriers March Policymakers’ efforts to determine how best to keep Canadians safe online continued in 2024, with several matters on the topic making the news in March. The Liberal’s proposed online harms legislation, Bill C-63, faced scrutiny over why penalties for promoting genocide are increasing so greatly in the government’s new Online Harms Bill – the study of which kicked off again later in the year. “While I applaud certain aspects of the bill that aim to protect children, my question relates more to the criminalization of online hate speech,” said independent Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne in March. “I’m surprised to see that advocating genocide, as odious and reprehensible as that may be, can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment rather than five years. These maximum penalties are much harsher than for sexual assault and other heinous crimes.” More news from March 2024: - St-Onge appoints committee to look for new CBC president - Court authorizes class action lawsuit for phone unlocking fees - Class action suit granted over Rogers' 2021 service outage - Frédéric Perron replaces Philippe Jetté at Cogeco - CRTC kicks off Online News Act consultation - Indigenous Screen Office to receive permanent funding - High spectrum costs are the villain in cellular prices, Big 3 tell INDU - CRTC adopts interim basic 911 features for remote regions, pushes NG911 deadlines - CRTC issues Indigenous broadcasting policy consult; asks about quotas - Social media companies sued by school boards in Ontario April The government in April announced the federal budget would include $2.4 billion to address matters related to artificial intelligence The vast majority of the funding was marked for the AI Compute Access Fund, which was to receive $2 billion as the government consults with stakeholders about the best way to support researchers and industry. April also brought the release of multiple reports by industry groups. One found Northern Ontario is lagging behind the rest of the province when it comes to internet connectivity, and another determined customer complaints against telecom and TV service providers surged by 43 per cent between Aug. 1, 2023 and Jan. 31, 2024. More news from April 2024: - Trudeau announces AI measures will be in budget - CRTC orders Cogeco to maintain TekSavvy’s access to facilities - Billions of ad dollars leaving Canada through “tax loophole”: Friends of Canadian Media - Industry Committee starts clause-by-clause study of C-27 - Budget finds money for CBC, public interest broadcasters - Bell failed to give feds advance notice of layoffs, defends cuts in committee testimony - Quebecor scales back Manitoba expansion after CRTC access rate decision - Senate committee takes up study of internet service quality bill May Outgoing CBC/Radio-Canada CEO Catherine Tait told the Canadian Heritage committee in early May that the public broadcaster had significantly reduced its financial shortfall and would not be cutting any more jobs to balance its budget this year. Tait appeared before the committee to answer questions from MPs regarding the CBC’s announcement that it was planning to cut approximately 600 union and non-union positions, and 200 vacant positions would be left unfilled. MPs continued to take aim at the provision of bonuses for the company’s top executives and other non-unionized employees. Tait maintained that the CBC does not pay bonuses. “It has been a point of great frustration that some members of this committee refer to performance pay as a bonus,” she stated. Later in May, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced the appointment of an advisory committee to help develop policies regarding the future of CBC/Radio-Canada’s funding, governance, and mandate. Seven experts from various fields – four of which have previous experience working for the CBC – made up the committee. May was also the last month of the year that saw any movement on two proposed bills, C-27, the digital charter implementation act; and Bill S-210, the protecting young persons from exposure to pornography act. More news from May 2024: - CRTC proposes cost recovery regulations for digital news platforms - Canadian telecom prices fall, remain high internationally: ISED report - CRTC defends regulatory policies in Senate, asserts lower prices for consumers - CBC’s finances improving, no more job cuts needed, Tait tells heritage committee - Private rights of action could undermine privacy commissioner, MPs told - Privacy tribunal needed in Digital Charter, ISED continues to tell MPs - Senate committee passes internet service quality bill - CRTC grants Corus, TVA CanCon relief; other BDUs must wait - CCTS reports increasing compliance among service providers - International cooperation needed to tackle uncertain future of AI, says expert report - Privacy commissioner flags excessive site blocking, privacy risks in age verification bill June The CRTC issued a new base contributions policy under the Online Streaming Act, to the dismay of some major streaming companies. As of the 2024-2025 broadcasting year, streamers earning more than $25 million in annual Canadian revenues are required to contribute five per cent of that money to various production funds, as a base contribution. The streamers took their arguments to court the following month. In the same month, a group of Indigenous communities from the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut announced plans to buy Northwestel from Bell. The consortium, Sixty North Unity, said it intends to acquire the northern telecom for almost $1 billion. Once completed, the sale would make Northwestel the world’s largest telecom company with full Indigenous ownership, the group noted. As of November, that deal was expected to close in 2025. Bill C-288 was signed into law in June, requiring internet service providers to provide more accurate information about the internet services that they offer. The CRTC launched a consultation at the end of the year about how it will enforce these rules and proposed that telcos be required to use standardized labels that summarize their internet plans. More news from June 2024: - Bell postpones appeal against CRTC fibre access decision - TekSavvy and Rogers reach agreement in copper decommissioning dispute - Privacy tribunal unlikely to get through INDU’s look at Bill C-27 - CRTC lacking in battle against cybercrime: Auditor General - SiriusXM to pay $3.3 million penalty for misleading ads - Class action suit against SiriusXM announced following Competition Bureau fine - Competition Bureau imposes conditions on Bell Outfront acquisition - Quebecor files complaint with Competition Bureau over Loblaw deal with Bell, Rogers - Competition Bureau investigating fake reviews on Amazon - Google signs $100M deal with news collective, ends News Showcase in Canada - Publishers call on CRTC to set rules for Online News Act collective - CRTC launches consult on Google's Online News Act exemption - ISED launches consultation on expanding mobile coverage with satellites - ISED launches consultation on AI computing power July The Federal Court of Appeal in July rejected an appeal from TekSavvy Solutions Inc. after the CRTC’s reversal of a 2019 decision that would have slashed wholesale access rates for competitor internet providers. The dispute began with a 2019 CRTC decision, which significantly lowered the rates that large telecoms could charge smaller competitors like TekSavvy for access to their networks. This move was intended to foster competition and reduce prices for consumers. However, major telecom companies, including BCE Inc., challenged the decision, arguing that the rates were unsustainable. The CRTC issued a new decision in 2021, reversing the 2019 order and permanently setting wholesale rates to a higher interim rate established in 2016. TekSavvy, negatively affected by the reversal, took the CRTC to court arguing that its decision was legally flawed and procedurally unfair. More news from July 2024: - Iristel battle over millions in denied tax credits best suited for Tax Court, Supreme Court rules - Streamers take CRTC to court over Online Streaming Act payment requirements - TV broadcasters denounce streamers’ appeals of CRTC’s broadcasting contribution decision - Watchdogs find deceptive privacy practices across majority of websites, apps studied - Federal Court grants site-blocking order against pirate NHL, NBA, Premier League live streams - Court adds MLB, UFC, UEFA Euro live streams to site-blocking order - Telecoms and broadcasters hit by CrowdStrike IT outage - Drew Olsen named CEO of Copyright Board - Hannah Daley returns to lead The Wire Report August The CRTC issued its long-awaited final decision on wholesale fibre access. The decision ordered Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, and Bell MTS, along with Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. (SaskTel), and Telus Corp. to provide competitors wholesale access to their existing fibre networks in Canada, expanding upon a temporary decision in November 2023 that ordered Bell and Telus to provide access to their networks in Ontario and Quebec. More news from August 2024: - Google challenges CRTC broadcasting fees decision in appeal court - Edward Rogers named executive chair of Rogers Communications - After nearly 10 months of lockout, Videotron and unionized workers in Gatineau heading back to negotiations - CRTC grants Ottawa man extended deadline to comment on NG911 rollout - Indigenous Connectivity Institute training locals to bridge digital divide - Privacy Commissioner, FCC sign memorandum on telecom privacy September Canada began to see further retaliation over the Online Streaming Act from streaming platforms in September, with Netflix announcing it would be pulling funding from Canadian arts programs. Despite the CRTC’s statements that the new regulatory framework will be “flexible” and consider different business models, Netflix has argued it had invested lots of money into Canada’s broadcasting sector and should not have to pay into contribution funds. Also in September, the Canadian sports world was shaken up as Rogers announced it would be acquiring Bell’s 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) for $4.7 billion. With the sale, expected to close in mid-2025, Rogers would become the majority owner of MLSE with a controlling interest of 75 per cent. MLSE is the largest sports and entertainment company in Canada, with ownership of major sports franchises including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Football Club. The Competition Bureau later told The Wire Report that it would not be challenging the acquisition “at this time,” noting that the agency has the option to challenge a transaction up to a year after it has been completed. More news from September 2024: - CRTC issues final conditions of Online Streaming Act - Amazon joins streamers' advocacy group amid streaming act court challenges - Two years in, balancing change and privacy the main task for Philippe Dufresne - Copyright Board joins Canadian Digital Regulators Forum - Rogers moving forward with appeal of CRTC's choice of Quebecor MVNO rates - Federal Court of Appeal rules against Facebook in data collection, privacy dispute - Conservatives to introduce new online safety bill - Telesat announces funding deals with governments of Canada, Quebec - SaskTel seeks judicial review, appeal of CRTC wholesale fibre decision - Closing Canada’s digital divide will take more than reaching 100% broadband coverage, says former CRTC head October Months after signing a deal with the news collective that will be responsible for distributing its $100 million contribution to Canadian news businesses, Google finally received an exemption from the mandatory bargaining requirements of the Online News Act in October. The CRTC gave the online search giant a five-year exemption and ordered Google to work with the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC) to make sure there is a mechanism in place requiring the collective to admit new businesses looking for a share of the funds on an annual basis, as long as they are eligible under the act. October also saw the announcement of CBC’s new leader. Marie-Philippe Bouchard will be taking over from Catherine Tait, with her five-year term beginning on Jan. 3. More news from October 2024: - Rogers names Mark Kennedy as chief technology officer, following retirement of Ron McKenzie - PIAC’s outgoing, incoming executive directors discuss advocacy group's future - The Big Fix: Vass Bednar, Denise Hearn tackle competition in Canada in new book - Videotron, Gatineau union sign new collective agreement, ending nearly year-long lockout - CRTC launches consult on code of conduct for News Act negotiations - CRTC changes terms of MVNO rules to include enterprise and IoT customers - TekSavvy wants to take fight over 2021 wholesale rate decision to Supreme Court - Competitors unhappy, incumbents closed-lipped about CRTC’s interim wholesale rates - Rogers announces $7B sale of minority stake in regional backhaul infrastructure - What's keeping rural Canadians offline? November The wholesale services debate bubbled up again in November, but not from the usual suspects in the telecom sector. Instead, it was sparked by an order from Canada’s cabinet, issued Nov. 6. The governor-in-council directed the CRTC to revisit its interim decision from November 2023 requiring large incumbents Bell and Telus to provide aggregated wholesale access to their fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec. Citing “concerns about the viability of small and regional Internet service providers,” the government specifically told the CRTC to reconsider whether Bell, Rogers, and Telus – the Big Three – should be restricted from using the wholesale regime in the two provinces. Shortly after, a wave of telcos filed submissions to the CRTC demanding that the Big Three be blocked from the wholesale regime entirely, regardless of which province they are in, or which technology their networks use. The consultation closed the following month, and the CRTC has yet to release a decision on how it will proceed. More stories from November 2024: - Bell acquires U.S. telecom; Eastlink buys in Northern Ontario - Union concerned over Bell expansion into United States - CRTC launches consult on CAB’s proposed ‘Commercial Radio News Fund’ - TikTok to challenge Canadian wind up order in court - Facebook looks to take privacy fight to Supreme Court of Canada - Rogers, Cogeco, Eastlink ask CRTC to block Big Three from wholesale access - CRTC launches consult on cabinet order to revisit interim wholesale decision - CMPA names new director of government and stakeholder relations - Telecom affordability, broadcast revision key to CRTC mandate: Eatrides - Champagne announces launch of Canadian AI Safety Institute - Canadian media companies sue OpenAI for copyright infringement, could cost $322 billion - CRTC launches Streaming Act consults on CanCon definition, radio regulations - Terrestar takes CRTC spectrum revenue decision to Federal Court of Appeal - CRTC consulting on new consumer protection measures - Incoming CBC head non-committal on bonuses as she takes the helm, pledges to listen to Canadians - Competition Bureau suing Google for alleged anti-competitive ad practices December December saw the government’s proposed online harms act, Bill C-63, finally return to the spotlight on Parliament Hill – although it still saw very little movement. Justice Minister Arif Virani announced on Dec. 4 that the proposed legislation will be split in two – a move that Virani said was made primarily to push the legislation through a stalled House of Commons. The bill was sent to the federal justice committee for “pre-study.” These meetings saw appearances from digital rights advocates and legal experts, as well as Conservative MPs pushing to have their own party’s proposed online harms legislation, Bill C-412, be pre-studied at the same time. Also on the table to cap off the year is the CRTC’s ongoing proceeding on its reconsideration of whether or not Bell, Telus, and Rogers should be blocked from accessing competitors’ networks as part of the wholesale access regime in Ontario and Quebec. Here is our latest story on the matter, published Dec. 20. More stories from the final month of 2024: - Quebecor seeks to review and vary Bell MVNO decision - CRTC launches consult on providing more info to consumers shopping for internet services - Feds launch AI compute strategy - As online harms bill splits in two, advocates continue seeking amendments - Conservative MPs discuss possibility Liberal, Tory online harms bills could be studied together - Telus calls wholesale cabinet order ‘protectionist play,’ ‘not fair to consumers’ - Bell won’t participate in subsidized broadband projects if wholesale access for Big Three continues, signs agreement with CNOC - Privacy commissioner says TikTok wind up has no impact on investigation as company takes government to court - Telecom industry players look to Senate for greater copper theft prevention - CRTC announces changes to Broadband Fund - Canadian Journalism Collective announces estimated amounts it expects to pay out - Rogers’ purchase of Bell’s MLSE stake not being challenged by Competition Bureau ‘at this time’ - Heritage Committee urges changes to bonuses for CBC executives - Tech exec, broadcasters named to Order of Canada

The Wire Report’s 2024 in review

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By Wire Report Staff
| December 23, 2024

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