VMedia, Bell resolve IPTV carriage fight

VMedia Inc. co-founder George Burger says his company has been able to launch apps for its new IPTV service on several new devices after a dispute with BCE Inc. was resolved. VMedia last month lodged a Part 1 application alleging Bell acted in “bad faith” by delaying its approval for Bell’s TV programming to be distributed over redacted IPTV apps until it had received further information about VMedia’s business relationships for wholesale content distribution with independent internet service providers (ISPs). In the Part 1 complaint, VMedia said that part of the business was unrelated to its IPTV apps, and accounted for five per cent of the company’s subscriber base. But the application was closed by the CRTC on Wednesday, following VMedia’s Sept. 18 letter to the regulator informing it the matter had been resolved to its satisfaction. In a phone interview, Burger would not comment on whether VMedia had disclosed information about its relationships, but said it had secured Bell’s approval to carry its programming and it would continue to distribute content through its “transmission agents.” The agreement means VMedia TV is now available to the company’s internet subscribers on Apple Inc.’s Apple TV and Amazon Inc.’s Firestick devices, Burger said. It had previously only been available on Roku TV devices and through its set top box. In an intervention on the now-closed Part 1, posted to the CRTC’s website on Sept. 15, Rogers Communications Inc. said there was an “information gap” that made it impossible to know whether broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) were carrying out resale activity in compliance with their licence conditions and regulatory obligations. In order to bridge that, it requires BDUs that engage third-party ISP distribution partners or resellers to sign distribution partner agreements, which it says also gives it a “legally binding enforcement mechanism.” Only some BDUs had signed the agreements and Rogers has no ability to ensure BDUs are actually complying with the terms and conditions they’ve agreed to, Rogers said in its intervention, calling on the CRTC to create a policy framework that establishes clear requirements for distribution partners of IPTV BDUs. In a separate intervention, also posted on Sept. 15, Telus Corp. said it was extremely important for the CRTC to investigate VMedia’s complaint, given the highly concentrated nature of Canada’s broadcasting market. Telus also pointed out Bell had been subject to another complaint of unduly preferencing its own TV service, lodged by the Canadian Communications Systems Alliance (CCSA) in August. “Considering the significant negative impact that anticompetitive behaviour by vertically integrated media companies can have on independent BDUs and the broadcasting ecosystem in general, it is crucial for the Commission to consider such allegations seriously and to intervene – when necessary – in a forceful and decisive manner,” Telus said in its intervention.

VMedia, Bell resolve IPTV carriage fight

Brief | September 24, 2020

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VMedia, Bell resolve IPTV carriage fight

Brief | September 24, 2020

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