“Minute regulation” diverting CRTC from big concerns, overburdening firms: Tory

The CRTC concerns itself with too many small things, resulting in important decisions taking too long to be released and broadcasting players getting bogged down in producing time-consuming reports, according to the president and CEO of Canada’s largest cableco. John Tory of Rogers Cable Inc. tells Canadian Communications Reports that red tape is stifling the industry and making it less able to compete in a more open market. "We’re required to file incredible amounts of paperwork with the regulator. Sometimes I think some of the monthly reports we are required to produce just end up in a file drawer somewhere and I’m not sure what’s done with it. That’s not useful to either side," he says. He adds that reporting requirements to Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage have also increased. "The CRTC is obviously swamped and short of resources," he adds. "It has too much to deal with, so it should cut down on the small things and concentrate on the timely release of bigger decisions."Tory’s comments echo remarks made by the Canadian Cable Television Association in a submission filed last month to Industry Canada’s consultation on its innovation agenda (CCR, Sept. 26/02). The important issues on which the commission should concentrate, according to Tory, include major acquisitions, breaches of licence conditions and adjudicating between two disputing parties. He concedes that the regulator has moved toward looser requirements with the deregulation of Class 3 cable systems and with the licensing of competitive Category 2 digital specialty TV channels. But because Rogers owns mostly Class 1 systems, he says it has felt the pinch of increasing amounts of paperwork being requested in various government and CRTC processes. In a speech before the Conference Board of Canada earlier this month (CCR, Oct. 10/02), Tory said that the vigilance of business leaders was needed "to keep the focus of governments and regulators on the really big issues, and away from the kind of minute regulation which seems to be making a comeback." "I don’t want to get particular," Tory says when asked for examples of the increased regulatory burden. "We’re being asked for more reports on matters of small importance." Customer retention key goal In his speech, Tory also pointed out that the number one goal of Rogers was customer retention. He tells CCR that the best way reduce customer churn is to ensure maximum reliability in the product offering. He turns aside suggestions that Rogers’ recent price increases for basic cable in some of the larger cities it serves, such as Toronto and Ottawa, following deregulation has alienated customers (CCR Update, Feb. 6/02, Dec. 6/01, Oct. 11/01, May 24/01). "The areas where we increased rates were well below the national average," he says. "We did receive some letters, but it was time the rates were adjusted..." Tory believes that retaining customers is important because they are the foundation upon which the cableco will build the suite of new products that will produce future growth. Rogers has fared better recently than Canada’s other big cablecos in retaining customers, losing just 7,000 net basic cable customers in the past two quarters. This compares to a net loss over the same period of 47,679 customers for Shaw Cablesystems, 55,000 for Vidéotron ltée, and 24,507 for Cogeco Cable Inc. Rogers has also had two consecutive quarters of strong digital cable growth, adding 109,500 digital households over that period including 63,400 in the most recent quarter ended September 30 (CCR Update Oct. 17/02). Tory admits, however, that actually having people pay for more channels is much more important than the number of digital boxes deployed. "We need lots of people buying lots of channels," he says. "In hindsight, we probably launched too many of the new digital channels all at once. Sixty is a lot of additional channels for people to get to know and pick from. But the good news is that viewers have more choice."

“Minute regulation” diverting CRTC from big concerns, overburdening firms: Tory

News | 10/24/2002 4:00 am EDT

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