Media Beat: March 02, 2023

Canada’s biggest telecommunications companies are on a buying spree of small competitors, arguing that the acquisitions will help them expand their footprints and lower-cost offerings. But independent players say the spate of takeovers is a bid to quash competition from smaller firms, which are in a vulnerable state at the moment. – Paul Chiasson, The Canadian Press

Canada’s small internet providers — and choice — are dying at the hands of Ottawa and the CRTC

… The past year has also seen the loss of competitors Ebox, Distributel, Altima, and Vmedia divided between Bell, Telus and Vidéotron. And let us not forget Rogers’ impending buyout of Shaw.

Big Telecom may be waiting to pounce on vulnerable independent providers, but the blame falls directly on the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and our Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, whose poor decisions created circumstances where indie ISPs are left no option but to sell. – Rosa Addario, Toronto Star

Ottawa’s dithering on Rogers-Shaw is delaying a win for cellphone customers

If you believe Canadians are best served by four mobile-phone providers – and that is the government’s long-standing goal – the telecom sector’s recent financial results are chilling. In the past three months, Rogers picked up 193,000 net new mobile-phone subscribers. Bell was close behind at 155,000, while Telus added 112,000 new cellphone customers. The gains largely came from increased immigration. – Andrew Willis, The Globe and Mail

Government agency for monitoring social media could be legacy of Emergencies Act report

The final report from the Public Order Emergency Commission recommended the federal government look into “whether a department or agency of government should have the authority and responsibility to monitor and report on information contained in social media.” Justice Paul Rouleau was looking into the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Liberal government in response to the Freedom Convoy protests, and released the final report on Feb. 17. – Anja Karadeglija, National Post

Bell Media wouldn’t nominate Lisa LaFlamme for an award — so she did it herself

The Canadian Screen Awards has recognized LaFlamme as a finalist for best national news anchor, following her controversial ouster from CTV News. – Joanna Chiu, Toronto Star

Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

Hundreds of thousands of workers lost jobs at Google, Meta, and other giants in recent months. Some are deciding to build their own companies. – Wired