Bell’s Bibic gives a ‘tip of the hat’ on Broadcast Act update

BCE Inc. CEO Mirko Bibic praised the updates to the Broadcasting Act proposed earlier this week by Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, saying the legislative changes fulfill some of Bell’s longtime goals. "I have to give a tip of the hat to Minister Guilbeault for putting forward the amendments that they did on Tuesday," Bibic said on Thursday morning’s third quarter earnings call. "The recognition that there needs to be a level playing field in Canadian broadcasting as between our domestic players large and small, and the global internet giants: very, very important principle. We've been asking for the recognition of regulatory symmetry and a level playing field for a long time," he said. At the same time Bibic said that the real test will be in the policy direction the government gives to the CRTC. Guilbeault said in an interview with The Wire Report he expects the legislation to pass by early next year, at which point the government will issue the policy direction and give the CRTC about nine months to issue new regulations. "What will the policy directions from the government look like to the CRTC and how will the CRTC generally apply these principles?" Bibic asked, calling on the government to move fast to implement the reforms. Bibic also called on the government to act more quickly to impose sales taxes on streaming services like Netflix Inc., as well as to do more to combat privacy. Bell is currently in a protracted court fight with TekSavvy Solutions Inc. over an unprecedented site-blocking order Bell obtained from the Federal Court last year, forcing internet service providers to block a pirate IPTV site known as GoldTV. Bibic also told analysts on the call that he was pleased with signals coming from the federal government on regulatory matters. In August, the government released a statement siding with large telecoms’ arguments that the wholesale rates the CRTC issued in 2019 were too low. "Right now, and I hope it continues, we have a favourable regulatory environment with positive signals having recently been sent by the federal government that facilities-based competition matters, and investment in facilities matters. So when you put that all together, I think there's clearly a case to be made for accelerating the pace of roll out," he said. Bell's total revenue fell 2.5 per cent to $5.79 billion from $5.94 billion at this time last year, a drop of $153 million. The company pointed out that while this represents a significant increase over the second quarter revenue numbers, it was still lower than pre-COVID levels. "The pandemic continued to adversely affect all three of our operating segments with a more pronounced impact on media advertising revenues, wireless outbound roaming revenues and product volumes," the company wrote in its quarterly report. The company also saw a sharp decline in profits, down 19.7 per cent to $740 million from $922 million a year ago, a fall of $182 million. Within wireless, Bell saw a slight increase in revenue, up to $2.32 billion from $2.31 billion at the close of Q3 2019. This minimal increase was attributed to lower revenue from roaming fees because of decreased travel during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In wireline, the company reported a slight revenue drop, from $3.06 billion this time last year down to $3.02 billion. Bell's media division saw a more significant drop of 16.4 per cent, down to $628 million from $751 million a year ago. Bell attributed that dip to the continued effects of the pandemic. “Lower advertising revenues from our Bell Media segment as market activity did not return to pre-COVID levels despite the reopening of most businesses due to reduced spending by advertisers driven by economic uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic had a more pronounced impact on out-of-home (OOH) and radio advertising," the company wrote. In subscriber numbers, the company added some 128,168 wireless subscribers — 87,529 in postpaid and 40,639 in prepaid — a 37.2 per cent drop from the 204,067 added in the third quarter of 2019. The company said the drop in subscriber activations was again due to the effects of the pandemic, specifically, reduced traffic in retail stores and slower back-to-school activity. Bell now has a total of 10.1 million wireless subscribers, 3.1 per cent up from the 9.83 million at the same point of 2019. Bell's wireless average billing per user (ABPU) dipped by six per cent, down to $65.74 from $69.94 at this time last year. On the wireline side, the company added 62,859 internet subscribers, an 8.1 per cent increase from the 58,137 subscribers added this time last year, for a total of 3.66 million at the end of the quarter. Bell posted a net loss of 296 TV subscribers, a 106.1 per cent drop from the 4,842 subscribers they added a year ago. The net loss contained 18,837 IPTV subscriber additions, offset by 19,133 satellite subscriber losses. Bell now posts a total of 2.74 million TV subscribers, a 1.2 per cent drop from the 2.77 million the company counted at this time last year. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Tim Forster at tforster@thewirereport.ca

Bell’s Bibic gives a ‘tip of the hat’ on Broadcast Act update

News | November 5, 2020

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Bell’s Bibic gives a ‘tip of the hat’ on Broadcast Act update

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