CRTC attempts to clear up subscriber rules for DTH

Earlier this year, the CRTC begged off on ruling whether or not DTH providers should be allowed to offer service at two separate addresses on one account until after a public consultation. Last month, the commission released another public notice outlining the results of its analysis, but now it’s deferring a decision on the complaint that sparked the whole process until additional comments have been heard. The lengthy process "is really making a mountain out of a molehill," says Ken Stein, senior VP of corporate and regulatory affairs at Star Choice Communications Inc., which was the target of a complaint filed by Vidéotron ltée in December last year. He adds, however, that the company will submit additional comments when the commission does hear the complaint. At issue is Star Choice’s "second address service," which allows subscribers owning more than one dwelling – a permanent home and a cottage or ski chalet, for example – to install dishes and receivers at both addresses but only pay for one monthly subscription. Stein says that Star Choice’s policy is to allow consumers to take their DTH service with them, provided they call as they’re moving between addresses to discontinue service at one venue and initiate it at the other. The company says that only a very small percentage of its subscribers actually avail themselves of the option. But Vidéotron says the practice is being abused, and subscribers are using the policy to service addresses they don’t reside at, such as in-laws’ or other family members’ homes. The Montreal-based cableco dubs the practice "account stacking," and says it contravenes the definition of subscriber laid out in the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations. Following up on Vidéotron’s complaint, the commission issued Public Notice 2006-41 on March 31 calling for comments on the practice (CCR, May 5/06). At the time, it made it quite clear that the notice and Vidéotron’s complaint were two separate matters. Those comments were presented and analyzed in Public Notice 2006-133, released on October 20. In it, the commission ruled that the regulations don’t expressly prohibit the practice. However, it continued, "notwithstanding that the practice does not appear to be widespread at this time, the commission finds that… could have significant negative effects on broadcasters and on the broadcasting system in general, especially if it were to be adopted on a wider basis." Predictably, Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu filed interventions in favour of account stacking. On the other side of the fence were Vidéotron, Rogers Communications Inc., the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the National Broadcast Reading Service (NBRS). Most important for broadcasters was the issue of wholesale rates: Star Choice’s second address service may be depriving broadcasters of subscription revenue, the CAB and NBRS argued. Those objections led the CRTC to issue two additional notices – Public Notice 2006-134 and Public Notice 2006-135 – which updated the linkage requirements for DTH BDUs and the distribution and linkage requirements for Class 1 and Class 2 BDUs respectively. Both expressly state that where a BDU provides service to a single subscriber at more than one dwelling, wholesale fees must be remitted for each dwelling. Still outstanding, however, is Vidéotron’s original complaint, and the commission hasn’t even hinted as to when it might decide that matter. Nevertheless, it’s a certainty that Star Choice’s regulatory experts are already hard at work hammering out a new policy that will work around the CRTC’s determination in PN 2006-133. "We just have to determine what we’ll do in a way that’s consumer-friendly, in light of what the commission said," Stein says.

CRTC attempts to clear up subscriber rules for DTH

News | 11/07/2006 5:00 am EST

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