OTTAWA – The CRTC has given Shaw Communications the green light to eliminate the rules that require it to keep its DTH service Shaw Direct structurally separate from its corporate sibling Shaw Cable.
In Wednesday’s decision, the Commission noted that the distribution market has become “significantly more competitive” than when the conditions of licence in question were imposed. (Ed note: at that time, some 14 years ago, DTH BDUs were new players in the distribution market and Shaw was the only owner of terrestrial BDU, DTH and SRDU holdings).
The CRTC agreed with Shaw that the rules may place it at a competitive disadvantage today, noting that the conditions prevent it, for example, from bundling DTH services with telephone, Internet and wireless services, as some of its competitors do.
The decision pertains to Shaw’s DTH operations only, as the Commission noted that it considers that the issue of structural separation as it relates to Shaw’s SRDU operations lies outside the scope of this proceeding.
