Rogers, Shaw indicate different plans for IPTV, internet bundling

On the final day of the CRTC’s broadcast distribution licence hearing, Shaw Communications Inc. told commissioners it’s not planning to sell its IPTV service without a subscription to its internet service, while Rogers Communications Inc. said it would eventually be willing to do so. In response to a question about why an individual who subscribes to internet service from another company should be prevented for signing up for Shaw’s BlueSky, vice-president of regulatory affairs Dean Shaikh responded that “there are legitimate technical and customer care reasons,” according to a transcript. Shaikh added that “in terms of offering customer care and ensuring the quality of that service, the robustness of that service to ensure that there's no issues with delivery of all the internet delivered features, it's critical to have BlueSky bundled with Shaw internet.” Shaikh was also asked whether the requirement to bundle was temporary. “The current thinking is that this is not a temporary approach,” he responded. Shaw launched BlueSky in January. The service uses Comcast Corp.’s X1 platform, which both Rogers and Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron are planning on using for their own upcoming IPTV services. The bundling of TV service with internet was an issue the last time the CRTC held a hearing to look into how TV providers were implementing its skinny basic rules. A day before that hearing began a year ago, BCE Inc. announced that it would not require the purchase of its internet service for access to its IPTV service, pre-empting the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) concern that such practises constrained consumer choice and hurt competition. Rogers’ senior vice-president of regulatory David Watt also appeared in front of the CRTC panel Thursday. He indicated his company is taking a different approach, stating that the CRTC could have, based on its prior statements, “have assumed, and I think you probably correctly did, that we would later, once the system has stabilized,” and the company was sure it worked, allow customers to subscribe to internet service from another company or use it with no internet service at all. However, Watt added that “we don't know why anyone would want to do that because, quite frankly, the attraction and the power of the X1 IPTV service lies in its — the integrated features that come from the internet and the television offering.” He noted that if a customer did subscribe to internet service from another provider, that service wouldn’t be integrated into the set-top box. “I want to be clear that that internet service would be standalone. It would not be integrated into Rogers IPTV service. So if that customer wished to receive, using Netflix as the example, that would be not through our set-top box. That would be entirely through their computer, through their internet solution,” he said. Representatives from the two companies were speaking during the reply phase of the four-day hearing, which also covered issues like community TV, pick-and-pay offerings and the development of a set-top box measurement system. The CRTC is also asking all three cablecos who have or are planning to launch X1-based services for details about the technology. Commissioner Yves Dupras said that the commission is asking for information such as which parts of the service are located in Canada and which in the U.S., what aspects remain under the control of Comcast and what kind of information, such as customer information, the U.S. company has access to. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca

Rogers, Shaw indicate different plans for IPTV, internet bundling

Broadcast | October 20, 2017

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Rogers, Shaw indicate different plans for IPTV, internet bundling

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