CRTC gives go-ahead to Bell-MTS BDU licence transfer

The CRTC has granted approval for Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. to transfer its broadcast distribution licences to BCE Inc. as part of an overall $3.9-billion acquisition of the provincial provider. In a notice on its website Tuesday, the regulator said the transaction “does not raise concerns with resect to applicable Commission policies and regulations and that it does not trigger the payment of tangible benefits.” In a press release, George Cope, Bell president and CEO, said the companies “continue to make progress toward uniting Bell and MTS as we work with federal regulators to complete the remaining transaction approvals," and that they “look forward to implementing our billion-dollar capital investment program to bring innovative broadband fibre and wireless services to Manitobans everywhere." The CRTC highlighted that its decision “exclusively reviewed the change in ownership of the licensed ” and that this particular approval “is not sufficient, in and of itself, for BCE to go ahead with the broader transaction,” which still requires the go-ahead from the Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. In a research note following the decision, Canaccord Genuity analyst Aravinda Galappatthige said that the CRTC’s approval “was not really in doubt as its scope was limited to the BDU license transfers,” and that it’s the approval from the Competition Bureau which “remains the key.” He added that the deal is likely to close in the first quarter of 2017, and that he suspects the Competition Bureau is “is focused on securing a future fourth player in the province and this naturally brings into the transaction negotiations.” The precedent set when Rogers Communications Inc. acquired Shaw’s AWS-1 spectrum and Mobilicity, “where the incumbent was required to transfer spectrum to the new entrant, is likely to be the model being followed here.” Galappatthige said that while “one can never be certain, we are fairly confident the transaction closes albeit with a number of caveats, the primary one being around the transfer (or sale) of spectrum to Shaw.” In a separate decision, the CRTC also granted MTS approval to exempt from the new basic service regime a television service noted for “often portraying violence in a highly graphic manner.” The Cult Movie Channel Inc. will not have to be offered in a prefabricated package, though “if MTS decides to offer user-created packages, the Commission will expect” that the channel “be included as one of the programming services that could be chosen to assemble such a package.”

CRTC gives go-ahead to Bell-MTS BDU licence transfer

Brief | December 20, 2016

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CRTC gives go-ahead to Bell-MTS BDU licence transfer

Brief | December 20, 2016

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