More Consumer and Industry Voices Say No to Bell Canada

PIAC, Union des Consommateurs, Option consommateurs, Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, CCSA, MTS Allstream, TELUS and Rogers voice concern and opposition

OTTAWA, Aug. 10, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - More consumer and industry organizations have joined the growing chorus of voices opposing the proposed acquisition of Astral Media Inc. by Bell Canada. Notable submissions just published by the CRTC and elsewhere include:

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (who also acts as counsel for the Consumers' Association of Canada, Canada Without Poverty, and Council of Senior Citizens' Organization of British Columbia):

"If this transaction is approved, consumers will be offered even less flexibility in packaging and fewer choices to pick and pay only for the television services they want to watch. Our primary concern is the trend of rising prices for subscriptions to television services which are increasing at a significantly higher rate than other communications services." ¹

PIAC's submission includes evidence from Dr. Dwayne Winseck, Professor at the School of Journalism and Communications, Carleton University, who says: "Canada already has the second highest levels of cross-media ownership consolidation and vertical integration in the 32 countries examined by the IMCR project. We don't need to be first. The CRTC ought to oppose this venture on this ground alone." ²

Union des Consommateurs:

« UC, défendant ici principalement les droits des consommateurs situés sur le territoire québécois, souhaite mettre le Conseil en garde contre les arguments simplistes de Bell concernant l'état de la concurrence. […] UC considère néanmoins que la position dominante ainsi renforcée de Bell pourrait créer des dommages irréparables sur le caractère abordable et la diversité des services de radiodiffusion canadiens. » ³

Option consommateurs:

« Option consommateurs est persuadé que l'acquisition d'Astral Média aura comme conséquences inévitables: des augmentations substantielles de coûts aux usagers ; une dégradation importante de la qualité des services ; et une réduction remarquable des options disponibles aux consommateurs. […] Si le CRTC n'intervient pas pour stopper la transaction, les téléspectateurs canadiens risquent d'être à la merci des hausses de tarifs et autres pratiques abusives de la part de BCE/Astral. » ⁴

Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste:

« considère qu'il s'agit d'une très mauvaise nouvelle pour le Québec, autant sur le plan économique que culturel et linguistique. » ⁵

Canadian Cable Systems Alliance:

"There can be no doubt that Bell already occupies a dominant position in the industry. Approval of the proposed transaction would further entrench that dominance and exacerbate the negative impacts of that dominance on competing BDUs and the consumers they serve.

"Despite Bell's repeated assertions that "the market has spoken" in accepting its new wholesale contract for the distribution of the former CTV Specialty services, nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that Bell, by virtue of its dominant market power, succeeded in imposing new terms on competing distributors." ⁶

MTS Allstream:

"Allowing Bell to acquire the programming assets of Astral will further increase the already unprecedented level of control Bell can exert over the distribution market.  […] In essence, Bell is trying to control and limit the degree of consumer choice and competition." ⁷

TELUS:

"Bell has already shown a propensity towards making anti-competitive use of its content properties and such abusive behaviour should not be further rewarded and encouraged by approval of the acquisition of Astral." ⁸

Rogers:

"If the application is approved, BCE's market power, already the strongest in Canada, would be even greater. This would both negatively impact the diversity of programming available to Canadians and further undermine the competitive marketplace for Canadian programming services and broadcasting distribution undertakings, thereby harming Canadian consumers." ⁹

Even though the formal CRTC submissions deadline has now passed, concerned Canadians can still make their voices heard, through either or both of the SayNoToBell.ca website and/or a completely independent initiative conducted by OpenMedia.ca:

• You can voice you opposition to the deal by visiting www.saynotobell.ca and submitting a letter through the website to Canada's Ministers of Heritage and Industry, the Competition Bureau, the CRTC, and Members of Parliament.
• You can also send a message via the Openmedia.ca website at http://openmedia.ca/takeover.

About SayNoToBell.ca

The SayNoToBell.ca website and public information campaign are brought to you by Canadians who are concerned about increasing media concentration in Canada. We are opposed to the proposed $3.38 billion Bell Canada acquisition of Astral Media Inc. and wish to inform the public and regulatory bodies about the risks posed by the merger. We call on the Competition Bureau, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and the Government of Canada to block this deal.

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¹ http://www.piac.ca/telecom/consumer_and_public_interest_groups_oppose_bell_astral_merger/
² http://dwmw.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-significant-impact-of-the-bell-astral-deal-on-media-internet-concentration-in-canada/
³ https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?DMID=1750431
⁴https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?DMID=1750032
⁵ http://www.ssjb.com/contenu/la-societe-saint-jean-baptiste-de-montreal-appelle-la-mobilisation-contre-la-transaction
⁶ Submission by the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance in response to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-370, August 9, 2012
⁷ https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?DMID=1750724
⁸ https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?DMID=1750560
⁹ https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/DocWebBroker/OpenDocument.aspx?DMID=1750367

SOURCE: SayNoToBell

Lyla Radmanovich
[email protected]
514.843-2336