Tag: Rogers-Shaw deal

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Telus calls on CRTC to deny application merging Rogers and Shaw

Executives from various media groups across the country met in a Gatineau boardroom to continue the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) hearing into the merger of Rogers and Shaw.

The day focused on interveners, organizations raising various issues with the proposed merger.

Telus has been vocal about their opposition since day one. At the hearing, executives asked the CRTC multiple times not to approve the merger, targeting Rogers regarding the promises made during its presentation the day prior.

Stephen Schmidt, vice president of telecom policy at Telus, said Rogers failed to understand the harms this merger creates, including reducing competition and consumer choice. The scale the company will cover alone will give Rogers access to 47 percent of subscribers using the English language, and their network would pass 80 percent of English homes.

Telus also argues the scale will allow Rogers to determine what program would be available for English language consumers, whether or not they’re a Rogers customer, and secure exclusive foreign content.

The company says that the media giant failed to show the merger is in the best interests of Canadians and that the best proposal possible was presented.

Schmidt said the principle on non-exclusivity of programming was what the Canadian broadcasting system was built on to create “healthy competition.” But if approved, the merger will change that and give Rogers the ability to be the only provider to offer specific content and give consumers no other option but to subscribe to them.

“Denial of the application is the only response that is proportionate to the concerns that it raises,” Schmidt said.

The Global News fiasco

Another issue this merger creates is the funding associated with the Global News network that runs under Corus Entertainment. Shaw directs roughly $13 million towards Corus every year because of a federal rule that asks broadcaster distributors to redirect five percent of revenue towards Canadian content and local news.

Zainul Mawji, executive vice president of home solutions at Telus, said Rogers should continue to provide this funding, over redirecting it to its network, CityTV, because many Western Canadians rely on the network. She shared CityTV has roughly one percent viewership and Global about 20 percent.

Lecia Simpson, a director at Telus, said Corus might have to turn to the independent local news fund if the funding is pulled. $13 million is more than half of what the fund has, she shared.

“Further having listened yesterday to Rogers and response to their questions, or the questions you posed to them, there were no guarantees made, no actual firm commitments on how they would be spending the $13 million,” Simpson said.

Need for safeguards

The executives say the current safeguards offered aren’t enough, and Rogers hasn’t proposed any of their own, a concern raised by many others as well.

“Denial of the application is the only response that is proportionate to the concerns that it raises,” Stephen Schmidt, vice president of telecom policy, Telus

The Canadian Communication System Alliances represents dozens of broadcasting and telecommunications providers, specifically in rural and remote areas. Representatives raised concerns the merger could impact the investments and affordability of the services they offer. While they were clear to note they do not oppose the transaction, they say it will impact many people unless safeguards are implemented.

“We do not believe that the safeguards in your current toolbox are adequate to do the job. And we fear that, even if you impose the right safeguards, you will not adequately and effectively enforce them. Unfortunately, our own experience says that you won’t,” Jay Thomson, the organization’s CEO, said to the panel of CRTC representatives.

The Independent Broadcast Group also raised similar issues.

“Without clear enforceable safeguards, this transaction will make things much worse – if it can be – for independents. A combined Rogers-Shaw entity will set the market and, based on their current approach to independent services, it is going to be a choppy ride. The situation for many, if not most of us, is dire,” Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv and OMG Media Group, said.

Blue Ant Media, the parent company of MobileSyrup, has also raised an intervention with the merger.

Executives from Rogers were on hand Monday and said the merger would be the best for Canadians. On behalf of Shaw, representatives from Rogers will be back Friday to answer questions raised throughout the week.

Image source: CRTC (screenshot)

Categories
Mobile Syrup

First day of CRTC hearing on Rogers-Shaw merger emphasizes need for expansion to serve Canadians

Canadians got their first look into a $26 billion transaction that will impact the broadcast and telecommunications industries as a whole.

Representatives from Shaw and Rogers met in front of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Monday to make their case on why a joint merger is the best for Canada.

Ian Scott, CRTC’s chair, started the first day of a five-day hearing with a statement reminding representatives the hearing will only deal with the broadcasting aspects of this deal. Companies against the transaction have voiced concerns the merger will give Rogers unprecedented power to negotiate fees to carry these channels.

Interventions have been filed by numerous organizations, including Blue Ant Media, which owns MobileSyrup.

While telephone, wireless, and internet services are an important part of the merger, they will be dealt with by the Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Concerns have been raised the merger would reduce the competition in the wireless market.

“It doesn’t appear there would be increased competition in those communities…I’m not getting your point that a combination of Rogers and Shaw will create more competition.” – Ian Scott, CRTC chair

This is the only hearing that will be open to the public.

Sat in the front row after a fresh round of family drama, Edward Rogers, the chairman for Rogers board of directors, shared a statement as part of the opening remarks but didn’t speak publicly after that.

Along with Brad Shaw, the CEO of Shaw, the two broadcast heirs promised to stay committed to a deal they say will close the digital divide between rural and urban communities.

“By joining Rogers, we will expand and accelerate the multi-generational investments needed to close the digital divide and compete more effectively across Western Canada, while expanding competition to communities that currently have little or no choice,” Shaw said.

Rogers currently offers services in Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces. Shaw operates in Western provinces including B.C, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Despite Scott’s earlier warning, some talk outside of the broadcast realm did occur.

Dean Prevost, president of Rogers Connected Home, said the merger would allow them to build 5G networks across the nation, spreading to areas each company had not ventured in on its own.

The details

Prevost said there has been a growing divide between the country’s urban and rural areas, specifically in Indigenous communities, and in order to overcome these challenges, there’s a need to invest in “competitive network infrastructure.” This will be done through four contributions.

The first is to enhance competitiveness. He says many in smaller communities in B.C and Alberta, Telus is the only option and there is no competition. The second is to bridge the digital divide by investing funds in Indigenous-specific content. The third and fourth pillar is to offer more affordable options and allow everyone to transition to the “digital world.”

But Scott questioned how more competition would be created in the target communities. “Where is the competition enhanced,” he questioned. “It doesn’t appear there would be increased competition in those communities…I’m not getting your point that a combination of Rogers and Shaw will create more competition.”

“[It] happens in the fringes of Shaws network today,” Ted Woodhead, Rogers senior vice-president of regulatory said. With a larger scale, the company will be able to expand services from the “fringe” to areas only addressed by a few broadcasters. He emphasized not all Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services are the same and the one offered by Rogers is “unique.”

Executives also promised the network would invest in community journalism, create opportunities for Indigenous content creators, and carry 40 independent programming services for three years. At this time, more than 100 companies are carried collectively by Shaw and Rogers. “We felt it was fair, it was reasonable,” Pam Dinsmore, vice president regulatory, said on the three-year timeline.

Image source: CRTC (screenshot)

Categories
Mobile Syrup

CRTC considering request to delay Rogers-Shaw hearing

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is considering postponing the upcoming hearing about the Rogers-Shaw merger.

The news comes after Rogers responded to calls to delay the hearing from Bell, Telus and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF). In short, the telecom companies and advocacy groups requested that the CRTC postpone the Rogers-Shaw hearing slated for November 22nd because of the ongoing issues with Rogers’ executives as Rogers family members vie for control of the company.

According to a tweet from the National Post’s parliamentary reporter Anja Karadeglija, the CRTC responded to Rogers’ to give the company until Monday, November 8th at 1pm to provide supplemental information. You can read the CRTC response sent to Rogers’ senior vice president Ted Woodhead shared by Karadeglija below:

“The Commission is in receipt of a letter containing a procedural request from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the National Pensioners Federation (PIAC-NPF) dated 1 November 2021. In that letter, PIAC-NPF requests that the Commission adjourn the public hearing initiated by Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2021-281, scheduled to begin on 22 November 2021.

“Commission staff acknowledges that Rogers has already replied to PIAC-NPF’s procedural request, but will provide the opportunity for Rogers to submit any supplemental information it wishes before the panel renders a decision on the PIAC-NPF request. Rogers will have until Monday, 8 November 2021 at 1 p.m. EST to provide the supplemental information. A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of the proceeding.”

In other words, the CRTC is considering the delay but we likely won’t hear a final decision until after the November 8th deadline.

Rogers says the family is “aligned” on the Shaw deal

Proponents for the delay argue that it’s not clear which of the two boards currently has authority for the company’s affairs. There are also concerns that changes to company leadership caused by the family feud may impact whether Rogers will hold to assurances it made in the Shaw acquisition.

Rogers previously countered those arguments in a filing, noting that the Rogers family is “aligned” on the Shaw deal and pledging to honour any commitments “regardless of any changes” to leadership.

Meanwhile, Edward Rogers (son of the late company founder, Ted Rogers) had lawyers in a Vancouver court this week arguing that B.C. law allows him to change the board in the way he did. Company lawyers, however, say that those kinds of changes necessitate a shareholder meeting.

You can read a full timeline of the Rogers family drama here.

Source: Anja Karadeglija (Twitter)