Videotron asks for extension on Unlimited Music finale

Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is asking the CRTC for more time to comply with the decision killing its Unlimited Music service last month, when it was found to be out of step with the concurrent decision on differential pricing practices that essentially banned zero-rating. In a Part 1 application to review and vary the April 20 decision dated Thursday, Videotron said it was specifically asking the CRTC to “grandfather contracts currently in place with Affected Subscribers, until such a time as each Affected Subscriber has reached the end of his/her handset subsidy amortization period or has otherwise renewed or renegotiated his/her contract for mobile wireless services.” Failing that, the company wants the regulator to set a new deadline “that is fair and reasonable to Affected Subscribers, Videotron’s other subscribers and to Videotron itself” by taking all necessary factors into consideration. Introduced in 2015, the Unlimited Music service let its mobile customers listen to streaming music without having it count against their data caps. “Videotron does not take issue with the Commission’s conclusion that the Unlimited Music program violates section 27(2) of the Act,” and, accordingly, stopped offering the service to new subscribers or those renewing or renegotiating new contracts as of May 10, the application said. The legislation says no providers shall “unjustly discriminate or give an undue or unreasonable preference toward any person, including itself, or subject any person to an undue or unreasonable disadvantage.” The company won’t be able to meet the CRTC’s 90-day deadline “due to technological, administrative, and privacy-based constraints, and assuming it should respect its contractual and legal obligations,” and if no stay of the decision is granted while the commission makes a decision on its application, “Videotron will suffer irreparable harm,” the application said. To comply “while maintaining equivalent services” to Unlimited Music customers, Videotron said it would “have to establish alternative services or benefits to replace” the contested service, which is a “massive undertaking as it requires the calculation of the amount of data used by Affected Subscribers to listen to music through the program; the identification, development, programming and testing of alternative services and benefits; and communication with Videotron’s customers with respect to changes to their contracts.” The timeline is also affected by the requirement to provide 30 days’ notice to customers about changes to their contracts, but some haven’t consented to get that notice via email, and some of those who have consented do not have valid email addresses on file. “Termination of the program would be considered a unilateral change of contract terms by Videotron,” the company said, and that might influence whether a customer keeps their mobile service. “Since most Affected Subscribers subscribe to a package of Videotron services, this decision would affect their subscription for television, internet and home telephone services.” The company would also have to “absorb the unamortized cost of the device” for customers with subsidized devices who would be allowed to cancel their two-year contracts prematurely, Videotron said. Overall, Videotron said it “estimates that the shutdown of access to the program is not achievable until Jan. 31, 2018, and that doesn’t take into account what the company said was a busy summer season due to many subscribers changing residences as of July 1, reduced staffing due to summer holidays and the ongoing work to meet the Aug. 31 deadline for the new TV service provider code. Videotron also said it did not provide, and the CRTC did not ask for, information about the “impacts of a decision imposing a short deadline to terminate the program.” “A decision-maker commits an error of fact if it fails to make relevant inquiries allowing it to obtain relevant evidence, or makes a decision in the absence of evidence.” The company proposed an intervention deadline of May 31, with its own replies due June 2. It said it would need a response from the CRTC regarding a stay by June 9, as that’s when it would have to begin its customer notification process. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Videotron asks for extension on Unlimited Music finale

Broadcast | May 25, 2017

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Videotron asks for extension on Unlimited Music finale

Broadcast | May 25, 2017

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