Bell-Astral II: Majority French market share bad for consumers: PIAC

MONTREAL – An advocacy group led by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) told the CRTC today it should reject a second attempt at a Bell-Astral merger because it would further erode competition in the Canadian media market that’s already dominated by a select few large players. PIAC made the comments before the Commission as part of a week-long hearing examining the proposed merger, representing the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), the Council of Senior Citizens’ Organization of British Columbia (COSCO), the National Pensioners and Senior Citizens Federation (NPSCF), and Option consommateurs. The group noted that the proposed transaction, if...