Alt TV managed service, doesn’t violate CRTC rules: Cope

MONTREAL — BCE Inc. has launched a new TV product hoping to appeal to a segment of the market that’s less likely to subscribe to traditional TV, which independent consultant Peter Miller says could face regulatory challenges over tied selling and its classification as an IPTV service. Alt TV, which starts at $14.95 a month and was announced in April, is an “app-based live TV service” that allows customers to subscribe to “up to 500 live and on-demand channels on a laptop, tablet, smartphone or TV,” Bell said in a press release. Bell CEO George Cope told reporters in Montreal Monday the service, which doesn’t count toward a subscriber’s data when viewed at home, doesn’t violate regulations banning zero-rating because it’s a managed service that’s exempt from those rules. “It’s a licensed TV service,” Cope said. “It’s really a TV service, just without a set-top box… that’s why it can only be in our IPTV footprint.” He noted that Telus Corp. also launched a similar product, Pik TV, recently. “I would fully expect over time to see our cable competitors launch something similar,” he added. Independent broadcasting consultant Peter Miller, who is an engineer and a lawyer, said he agrees with Bell’s interpretation that Alt is a TV service, but that doesn’t mean the question won’t end up in front of the CRTC. “Having a set-top box is an indicator of operating a BDU, but there’s nothing that says you have to have a set-top box,” he said in a phone interview. He noted that a recent case involving VMedia Inc. and Bell also centered on similar questions. While VMedia said that its skinny basic TV service was a BDU service, Bell argued that by offering service over-the-top (OTT) over the Internet, VMedia was acting outside of its BDU licence. A Federal Court judge ruled in Bell’s favour. “I think this issue is going to come before the commission at some point,” Miller said. Cope said he wasn’t concerned about a CRTC challenge, “because it’s completely within the TV licence territory.” John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said in an email Wednesday when asked about net neutrality implications that the issue is complex, and “we have to be careful to analyze it properly.” A second potential issue with Alt TV is that customers must subscribe to Bell’s Internet service in order to sign up. Bell previously required subscribers of its Fibe TV to also take its Internet service, but stopped that requirement a day ahead of a CRTC hearing on the implementation of basic TV packages last fall. While the CRTC didn’t ban so-called tied selling in that decision, it did highlight it as one of the practices it was keeping its eye on, writing that it “considers that it would be contrary to the intent of the Policy for a larger service provider to take advantage of its competitive position to tie its TV services to the subscription of an additional service such as Internet.” Miller said that aspect of the offering “may well attract some attention. In fact, I expect it will. Given the history of this kind of issue and how people dealt with it, I’d be very surprised if we don’t get appeals and filings.” Telecom researcher Ben Klass said in an email Wednesday that tied selling may violate undue preference rules found in various regulations and legislation, including the BDU regulations, but added that “someone would have to file a complaint to find out” whether that’s indeed the case. Cope said that while the service currently has to be purchased with Bell’s unlimited data Internet package, Bell aims to make it available with other packages in the future. He predicted Wednesday that Alt TV would be “a major market opportunity for us, and we think over time probably for our competitors in Canada.” Cope said the company is targeting those who have either gotten rid of their TV service or never had it in the first place, as well as the condo market — given it only has two streams, which likely wouldn’t be enough for large households. He said the low entry price point, lack of set-top box, and the wide choice on TV channels, including specialty channels like HBO, will appeal to that market. He added that Bell plans to add features its currently lacking — it currently doesn’t offer recording capability, for example — to the Alt TV over time. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca

Alt TV managed service, doesn’t violate CRTC rules: Cope

Broadcast | May 15, 2017

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