CCR Newsmakers

Why the CRTC reversed its own policy and allowed BCE to buy a Quebec cableco In a controversial decision released Feb. 6, the CRTC approved the sale of Câblevision du Nord du Québec to Télébec, a Quebec telco owned by BCE Inc. In Decision 2001-45, five commissioners opposed the decision in dissenting opinions, saying it gives BCE a monopoly in delivering telephony, cable TV, and satellite TV services to the more than 100,000 people living in the region. Commissioner Stuart Langford called it an "unprecedented policy reversal" by the commission that appears to "turn a blind eye to the conclusion that 'Canadians want and deserve choice'." An edited excerpt of commissioner Stuart Langford's written dissent appears below: For more than 100,000 Canadians, the vision of benefiting from a competitive communications industry in this so-called Information Age, has faded to black. To prevent that happening, I would have denied this application. To approve it is to embrace a short term solution at the risk of creating a long term problem, to consign the residents of Câblevision du Nord de Québec's (CVNQ) territory to a virtually monopolistic environment at a time when the stated intention both of Parliament and this commission's communications policies is to achieve precisely the opposite goal… The stumbling block, in a word, is dominance. Approval of this application, safeguards notwithstanding, is tantamount to relegating the consumers affected to dependence on one provider for virtually all their communications needs. Télébec, together with Bell, will provide wired telephone access, wired cable television access, direct-to-home satellite television through Bell's ExpressVu, MDS or "wireless cable" distribution in the area and the sole avenues of wired access to the Internet. One stop shopping will become a reality for these subscribers, so will life in a tightly controlled communications monopoly. The availability of service from one other DTH provider, Star Choice, can hardly be said to mitigate the dominance created by the majority decision. The consumer benefits inherent in such a situation could be significant. For example, should it choose to invest its resources on captive customers, Bell, through Télébec, possesses the wherewithal to ensure high quality service complete with the latest technological advancements. Unfortunately, the benefits are by no means guaranteed and even if they do accrue to subscribers the price tag attached to losing the advantages of competition will be enormous. The competitive environment so long encouraged and nurtured by both Government and Commission policies will be lost to these subscribers. Eventually, they could be lost to all Canadians should this precedent start a trend. Should that happen, the healthy turbulence of market forces will be stilled, possibly forever. Why the majority would risk such a trade-off, particularly in light of the Commission's often-stated competitive agenda for the communications industry is not obvious to me.… An argument could be made that this application is merely authority for the proposition that where no other option exists, the Commission will approve applications such as this. Had not Télébec offered to buy this isolated family-owned cable distribution enterprise, it might have languished and eventually failed as its aging owners became increasingly less interested in or able to maintain and improve it. Perhaps, but nothing on the record supports such a contention. CVNQ has been and continues to be a profitable operation. There is no evidence on the record that its owners are desperate to sell or that its subscribers have been poorly served…. In light of the downside of monopoly situations, the risks inherent in setting a precedent approving one and the complete absence on the record of a diligent effort on the part of CVNQ's owners to attract alternate purchasers, I would have denied this application and advised CVNQ's shareholders to pursue other sales options should they desire to sell.

CCR Newsmakers

Broadcast | February 14, 2001

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