SRDUs need licensing to curtail "anti-competitive behaviour", say independent BDUs

OTTAWA - Canada’s satellite relay distribution undertakings (SRDUs) should be exempt from licensing requirements, say Canada’s only two SRDU operators - Shaw and Bell - in their submissions to the CRTC’s consultation on that market. SRDUs transport broadcasting signals to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) that do not have access to fibre interconnections to receive their television signals, and, are often located in rural and remote parts of the country. Both Shaw and Bell stress in their submissions dated July 11th that other technologies create enough competition in the signal transportation field to negate the need for licensing requirements. “With the...