CRTC to launch consultation on skinny basic rollout

The CRTC will issue a notice of consultation on how telecom companies carried out its skinny basic TV package rules later this month. Spokeswoman Patricia Valladao said in an email Friday the commission had asked TV providers, as part of a broadcast licence review process launched last month, to answer a number of questions about skinny basic. The CRTC will launch a consultation on those responses before the end of May, she confirmed. In an appendix to a call for licence renewal applications on April 21, the CRTC asked TV providers about their offers of mandatory basic packages priced at no more than $25 per month. Companies were also required to begin offering either pick-and-pay or a choice of either self-built packages or small pre-assembled packages by March 1. In April, the CRTC asked the companies to provide information about the composition and price of their basic service, as well as “any additional products or services that consumers have to purchase in order to receive the basic service, including the specific retail rates for each (e.g., equipment; installation; additional services like an Internet service subscription, digital access fees, fees for high definition).” It also asked for “a list of any additional terms, costs, limitations and/or conditions that apply to subscribers of the basic package that differ from your other subscribers,” as well as an explanation of why the company decided to apply those requirements to their skinny basic package, and how those rules are consistent with CRTC policy. The CRTC also asked about the companies’ offerings of small packages or pick-and-pay, as well as the number of subscribers who chose the new options, and the number of complaints the companies received. When the new offers were launched, critics pointed to tactics providers were using to keep people on higher-priced packages, such as not bundling skinny basic and implementing additional fees. Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) executive director John Lawford said in a phone interview Friday afternoon that consumers are frustrated by the extra fees, the lack of bundling discounts, and the pricing of pick-and-pay channels. He said the consultation is “a chance to maybe tune it so it works better for everybody,” he said. “I think re-opening it is actually good because both parties are frustrated and for whatever reason it’s become rancorous and not achieving what it should." Lawford added that he hopes the “timeline is short and the discussion is productive and constructive and we get it all in place by Dec. 1,” the date by which all providers must offer a pick-and-pay option. In mid-April, the CRTC said about 66,000 Canadians have subscribed to skinny basic since its March 1 launch. At the same time, 68 per cent of respondents in an Angus Reid Institute study said the extra costs associated with the new packages meant they were not worthwhile despite offering greater choice. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca

CRTC to launch consultation on skinny basic rollout

News | May 13, 2016

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CRTC to launch consultation on skinny basic rollout

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