All-Canadian TV package won
GATINEAU, QUE. – Tinkering with the size of the basic television package by stripping out American channels will only fuel the “black market” for foreign TV services in this country, Telus Corp. told the federal broadcast regulator this morning.
Executives from the Vancouver-based telecommunications giant made that argument during hearings hosted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, taking direct aim at a CBC proposal that advocates the creation of a barebones, all-Canadian basic package - ostensibly at a lower cost.
Telus warned the commission that Canadians will complain “vigorously” if they are forced to buy an all-Canadian basic bundle before they are allowed to purchase other services they really want.
“I think it is also a great way to reignite the black market because if I can now go and, say, spend $15 for a limited package of local Canadian channels and then steal the rest, I have the best of both worlds,” said Michael Hennessy, vice-president of broadband and video policy. “That is something that we spent the last few years working to avoid.”
Moreover, he said, there is no evidence that consumers are “clamouring” for the CRTC to pick a small number of mandatory services for them cash advance usa.
“More content a la carte, perhaps, but a smaller basic (package) is not a solution to any problem that we are aware of,” Hennessy added.
Ann Mainville-Neeson, director of broadcast regulation for Telus, said there is a “misconception” that by limiting the size of basic, the price of television would be significantly reduced.
“In fact, it is not the cost of programming that comprises the biggest part of the cost of offering the basic service,” she said. “What goes into the determination of the cost of the basic service are our network and just the whole infrastructure.”
The CBC told the CRTC last week that a streamlined basic package would “allow all Canadians,” whether they are rich or poor in both rural or urban centres, to have guaranteed access to all major Canadian channels.
“Under our proposed approach, consumers would have greater choice, at lower cost, than ever before,” Michel Tremblay, the CBC’s vice-president of strategy and business development, told commissioners at that time.
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