Suite Systems wins BDU licence to serve MUDs across Canada
The CRTC has approved Suite Systems Inc’s application for Class 1 cable licences in 17 communities across the Prairies and Ontario. The Calgary-based rental property owner – a subsidiary of Boardwalk Equities Inc – is the largest apartment owner in Canada. It was approved to offer cable TV services to its tenants in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Airdrie, Banff, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Windsor, London, Kitchener, Toronto, Hamilton, Kingston and Ottawa. The application was opposed by both the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Cable Television Association. Suite Systems plans to spend $50 million on an overbuild distribution system for IP-based digital cable TV. Its service bundle will also offer Internet and local telephony and will be made available to its own tenants, as well as to multiple unit dwellings it doesn’t own, and then to single family dwellings.

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The CRTC has approved a $140-million gamble by BCE Inc that Canadian television programming can make money, without having to rely on cheap U.S. shows to help subsidize the cost. As part of its approval of BCE’s $2.3-billion purchase of CTV Inc on Dec. 7, the commission threw its support behind the telecom giant’s attempt to create a new economic model for Canadian English-language entertainment programming – one it contends will result in bigger domestic audiences and international sales for homegrown television.

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Richard Stursberg says a merger between Rogers Communications Inc and CanWest Global Communications Corp could counter the media powerhouse BCE Inc has assembled over the past few years.

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The Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA) says potential copyright problems could outweigh any of the small administrative benefits gained by the CRTC’s proposed regional approach for licensing cable systems.

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The CRTC has taken the first step to loosening the reins on cablecos with a Dec. 7 proposal to exempt Class 3 systems from regulation. That same day it also issued a broader public notice –2000-164 – asking for comments on how it can go further in reducing the administrative burden on other cable operators and itself, without compromising cultural objectives under the Broadcasting Act.

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Despite giving the CRTC high marks for conditions of licence that are "flexible and balanced" for the new digital services, many programmers say the commission could have done more to ensure reasonable carriage.

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The CRTC is expected to rule this week on an urgent appeal by Star Choice Communications Inc to stop Telesat Canada from handing over four Anik F1 transponders to three other Canadian broadcast customers.

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