MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is urging the CRTC to reject BCE’s $3.38 billion bid to purchase Astral Media, and is asking to appear at the Commission’s public hearing scheduled to begin on May 6, 2013 in Montreal.
In a press release issued today, the company cited concerns over competition and TV and radio ownership concentration, the same concerns it raised in its submission filed last October with the Commission. Cogeco says approval of the Bell-Astral deal would “give BCE unprecedented market power that could not be constrained through regulatory safeguards, whether administered by the Commission or the Commissioner of Competition.”
“Nothing in the intervening months has brought about new revelations that would allow the Commission to overlook these major flaws or seek to remedy them through regulatory means, and the Commission’s fundamental reasons for denying the previous application apply equally to the current application,” said Cogeco in the statement.
Among its arguments, the company says that the Commission must reject the takeover because it is “clearly” not in the public interest as it will lead to rising subscription costs and reduced selection of services.
