PIAC, other consumer groups speak out against Bell-Astral II

OTTAWA – Five Canadian consumer and public interest groups say that Bell and Astral’s new proposed merger is not in the public interest and should be denied. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), who also acts as counsel for the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), Council of Senior Citizens’ Organization of British Columbia (COSCO), National Pensioners and Senior Citizens Federation (NPSCF) and Option consommateurs (OC) filed comments with the CRTC on Friday opposing the proposed acquisition of Astral Media Inc. by Bell Canada, a division of BCE Inc. “Increased media concentration into the hands of few large vertically integrated telecommunications...