OTA Hearing: Bell pitches FreeSat again. Does the industry want to catch it this time?

GATINEAU – Bell Canada says it has continued to develop an interesting way for the conventional broadcast industry to go digital, but it is bumping up against stiff opposition by those broadcasters to its so-called (and perhaps mis-named) FreeSat proposal.In a nutshell, Bell is offering broadcasters the ability to distribute their local signals digitally, via satellite, covering their entire traditional over-the-air contours, without upgrading a single transmitter. And beyond paying about $450 for the required dish, set top box and installation, FreeSat would not cost the tens of thousands of OTA-only consumers a monthly subscription fee to Bell TV, according...