Why the Commission must maintain safeguards against VI power

By Perry Hoffman

GATINEAU – The CRTC shouldn’t bow to pressure from the vertically integrated (VI) entities and loosen any regulatory measures on their activities, according to comments from the non-VI broadcast distributors.In comments to the licence renewals of the large English and French-language ownership groups (for which a public hearing is coming in November), the non-VI BDUs tell the Commission that in fact it needs to strengthen regulations ensuring the VI companies (Rogers, Bell and Quebecor) don’t exhibit any anti-consumer and anti-competitive behaviour.Telus says the Commission has rules to ensure carriage contracts for TV channels are done on reasonable terms. However, “there...