CRTC grills telecoms on skinny basic promotion, bundling

GATINEAU — A CRTC panel pressed Canada's largest TV service providers on whether they were doing enough to bring attention to new skinny-basic services, raising concerns that higher-tier services were receiving favourable treatment, on the first day of a hearing on skinny-basic implementation. The commission heard Wednesday from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron, Rogers Communications Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and BCE Inc., who fielded questions on how they were faring with respect to implementing its skinny-basic rules, which came into effect on March 1. These four companies serve more than three-quarters of all Canadian subscribers, according to the commission. “Canadians have told us clearly that they are not satisfied with the way the new choices have been implemented,” CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in the opening address, quoting one complainant who said that the basic package is “undesirable and uneconomical.” One particular concern was about how well-promoted skinny basic is and whether enough is being done to incent customers toward the new option. In a question put to Bell about the rationale behind not offering bundled discounts when basic television service is part of the bundle, Payal Gabrani-Bahl, Bell’s vice-president of content, said “there are certain discounts and promotional offers that we have in market … the eligibility criteria are based on higher tiers of service.” She added that the confusion about what’s bundled could be because the company doesn’t have a “bundle program in its historical sense.” Bell told the commission that it currently doesn't offer discounts for bundles that comprise of Internet and home phone, for instance. A day before the hearings, Bell announced that it would not require the purchase of its Internet service for access to its IPTV service, pre-empting the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s (PIAC) concern that linking the two — known as tied selling — constrained consumer choice and hurt competition. Shaw president Jay Mehr told the panel of commissioners that Shaw takes a different approach to bundling, and that as a guiding principle, “anything you can bundle with video, you can bundle with” the company’s skinny-basic service. He added that “90 per cent of our Limited TV customers have bundles with either Internet or phone or both.” The panel also brought up a report which revealed that before the implementation of the skinny-basic package, Bell sales staff in Atlantic Canada were instructed not to promote the new services. Bell said that the company will now centralize its training in response to that. The issue of barriers to entry to services was brought to the forefront when Rogers told the commissioners that it required customers to physically come into a store to switch services. Rogers defended the move, stating that it would help the company understand the customer and eliminate any confusion when making selections. But the panel said that the practice could create a barrier, while stating that the digital route would seem to be more convenient and accessible, especially for students. The panel also pressed the big carriers on whether they would offer customers the opportunity to go back to their old TV packages. Rogers, for its part, said that it has been trying to incent people toward the three new packages it began offering last month by including TV Everywhere and being able to add one more channel at no extra cost. “We’re doing a lot of things to pull people into these packages and to that new platform, 4K and all that,” Melanie Griffith, Rogers’ senior vice president of content, said to the panel. She added that Rogers is working on a triple-play strategy with small basic in it and that will contain content and hardware discounts. The commissioners also questioned the four on how they are doing with implementing full pick-and-pay services, the deadline for which is December 1. Bell and Rogers had previously said in documents before the hearing that, without implementation of the full mandate, the hearings are premature. The commission will hear from consumer groups the Consumers' Association of Canada, PIAC and the Union des consommateurs on Thursday. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

CRTC grills telecoms on skinny basic promotion, bundling

News | September 8, 2016

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CRTC grills telecoms on skinny basic promotion, bundling

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