Digital technology issue may put small cablecos offside on French services rules

Some small cablecos are warning that the channels available to them as part of a new cost-effective digital solution will restrict their ability to offer a diverse range of specialty channels on a digital basis and may even make it impossible to adhere to CRTC regulations. While Canadian Satellite Communications Inc.’s Headend-in-the-Sky Quick Take (HITS QT) service drastically lowers the cost of converting to digital, a number of signals are currently unavailable on the system (CCR, Aug. 15/01). "I’m ultimately concerned about the decision of the commission regarding French-language services... We are being handcuffed by our suppliers, i.e. Cancom in this particular case, by not having the services available in digital," says Ken East, operations manager at Omineca Cable Vision. Based in Vanderhoof BC, Omineca recently began offering digital cable service using HITS QT to about 2,000 of its 2,500 subscribers through three headends. The CRTC’s policy on the distribution of Canadian French-language specialty services in English markets – Public Notice 2001-25 – requires Class 3 systems with digital capacity of 550 MHz or more to carry at least one French-language service for every 10 English services carried (CCR, Feb. 28/01). But French signals are not available on HITS QT and are only available to small cablecos in analog. East says prohibitive costs and capacity constraints make analog distribution a non-option. He estimates that it costs about $4,000 to launch one analog channel, while as many as 40 digital channels can be carried for that price. "If I’ve got 150 channels (in digital packages), it means that I have to launch 15 analog French services, and at $4,000 a pop times three headends, I might as well just turn my keys over," East tells CCR. "We’re caught between a rock and a hard place because Cancom doesn’t offer (the signals) in digital." Harris Boyd, senior VP of industry affairs and office of small systems at the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA), notes that Cancom "has satellite capacity problems" and is "kind of snookered right now," he says. "They launched all 16 Category 1s and as many Category 2s as they could. They essentially ran out of space, and they moved all the French-language services over to Anik E2. So all the analog French services are on a separate satellite to create enough space. So they have to wait for Anik F2, which launches in 2003, (for the French-language channels to be available)." Although Stornoway Communications has an agreement with the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA) for its Category 2 dance channel bpm:tv (CCR, Nov. 9/01), neither it nor its Movieola channel are available as part of HITS-QT because Cancom isn’t carrying those signals. None of CHUM’s Category 2s are being carried by Cancom either. "There’s no business reason why Shaw and Star Choice shouldn’t carry (CHUM’s Category 2 channels)," says Peter Miller, VP of planning and regulatory affairs at CHUM Television Ltd. "It’s the whole issue of the HITS provider also being the major digital distributor in Canada – Shaw (Communications). Star Choice and Shaw Cable (combined) have the greatest digital subscriber base of all, so if they choose not to carry it, it’s not on HITS. The question is not a simple or trivial question, because Cancom is not in the position to allocate transponder capacity solely without reference to considerations of its owner, who has other interests. There’s a lot of related issues that are still outstanding." In the CRTC’s recently released small cable systems digital migration policy (see stories on pages 4-5), the commission states that it will contact Cancom and Bell ExpressVu, the two Canadian satellite relay distribution undertaking (SRDU) providers, to discuss the issue of optimizing transponder line-ups. "Further, the commission will inquire into transponder line-ups at Cancom’s next licence renewal hearing in approximately a year (Cancom’s licence expires on 31 August 2003)," the CRTC states in Public Notice 2001-130.

Digital technology issue may put small cablecos offside on French services rules

News | 01/18/2002 5:00 am EST

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