Quebecor’s Vrai VOD service violates CRTC regs: Bell

The CRTC has opened a proceeding in response to a BCE Inc. November complaint against Quebecor Inc.'s Videtron and its Vrai on-demand streaming service. In a Monday letter, the CRTC advised both Bell and Quebecor that it would be opening a proceeding on an expedited basis, as requested by Bell. The regulator set a deadline for interventions and for Videotron's response to Bell's complaint of Feb. 10, followed by a Feb. 15 deadline for Bell's response. In the Nov. 17 complaint to the CRTC, Bell argued that Quebecor's service Vrai violates provisions of the commission's regulations on video-on-demand (VOD) services. An initial version of Vrai, Bell argued, was first offered solely to Videotron's subscribers. "While an Internet direct-to-consumer (DTC) offer was subsequently launched, there are significant discrepancies between that option and the one available only to Videotron BDU subscribers," Bell wrote. "Vrai Internet DTC has been designed to ensure virtually no take-up from other Canadian consumers and to maintain a de facto exclusivity for Videotron subscribers." The direct-to-consumer version of Vrai is more expensive, and restricts viewers to accessing fewer streams at a time, than the version of the service available to Quebecor's subscribers. Bell explained that when Quebecor launched the Vrai service in August, Quebecor did not specify when the service would be made available to subscribers of other companies. As such, Bell filed a Part 1 application complaining of what they said is Quebecor's violation of the broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) regulations. Rather than ceasing to offer the service to its subscribers, Quebecor extended its free trial for Vrai from three to six – and then subsequently 12 – months. Rather "than taking action to remedy its intentional breach of the VOD Exemption Order and the BDU Regulations, Videotron doubled-down on exclusive distribution and further extended the free trial promotion for it," Bell wrote in its November complaint. However, the difference between the two versions of Vrai means that service offered by Quebecor violates section 12 of a 2015 CRTC broadcast policy that mandates that an "undertaking offers its service over a broadcasting distribution undertaking provided that all of the programs for which the rights are held on an exclusive basis are also delivered and accessed over the Internet." Bell also argued that the Vrai service violates the provision against undue preference in the 1997 Broadcast Distribution Regulations. In its complaint, Bell asked the commission to mandate that Quebecor immediately remove its Vrai service — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Quebecor’s Vrai VOD service violates CRTC regs: Bell

News | February 1, 2022

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Quebecor’s Vrai VOD service violates CRTC regs: Bell

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