Three emergency alert service applicants compete for approval

The CRTC began weighing proposals for a nationwide all-channel alert (ACA) emergency system last week on May 1, with Pelmorex Inc., Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) and Bell ExpressVu all vying for the prize. "We have designed a properly managed and operated alerting system that is fully funded and sustainable over the long haul," Paul Temple, Pelmorex’s senior VP of regulatory and strategic affairs, told CRTC chairperson Michel Arpin and commissioners Helen del Val and Joan Pennefather. "This is a serious business. Lives are at stake and it has to be done right."In order to fund and sustain that system, however, Pelmorex asked that the licence it holds for The Weather Network/MétéoMédia be modified, which would allow it to broadcast emergency notices in addition to its weather information and forecasts, limit its mandated Canadian programming investment to money from The Weather Network/MétéoMédia only, and raise its wholesale rate by $0.08 per month per subscriber. Additionally, Pelmorex is asking for a distribution order under section 9(1)(h) of the Broadcasting Act, making carriage of the service compulsory.The rise in wholesale costs is due to the capital expenditures Pelmorex would incur to upgrade its facilities, maintain the service, and put the decoders necessary to receive and translate the alerts in every cableco headend. However, Pelmorex CEO and president Pierre Morrissette said the firm is open to implementing a variation on its plan – first suggested by Vidéotron ltée – to offer the service only to digital cable systems citing the CRTC’s digital cable migration policy framework that will see analog cable completely phased out by 2012 at the latest (CCR, Mar. 13/06).On the second day of the hearing, Edouard Trepanier, VP of regulatory affairs at Vidéotron’s parent company Quebecor Inc., told the commission that the majority of its subscription base would be receiving digital cable signals by the end of 2007; right now, between 35% and 40% subscribe to digital cable, he said."It is an idea we are prepared to explore," Morrissette said. "This model would allow us to lower our costs and our fee – the trade-off is that fewer Canadian homes would receive alerts in the short term."While Morrissette told the commissioners that licensing either of the other two competing applications would have "a very material impact" on Pelmorex’s service, both the CBC and Bell ExpressVu were more open to competition. "We are not seeking any form of exclusivity when it comes to public reporting," said Steven Guiton, the CBC’s senior director, strategic planning and regulatory affairs. Rather, he continued, the public broadcaster sees its proposed alert service as a template for others. However, he cautioned against making carriage of a service mandatory.As with Pelmorex, both the CBC and Bell ExpressVu applications would require revisions to the rulebook in order to proceed, in this case section 7(d) of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations, which currently requires programmer or network consent to insert emergency messages into programs. Unlike Pelmorex, however, the two other applications would fund the system not through an increase in the wholesale rate but rather through public funds that could eventually be made available through Industry Canada’s CANALERT initiative.Representatives of Bell ExpressVu echoed the CBC’s assertion that participation in the system should be voluntary rather than ordered. "At the moment the CANALERT initiative is very strongly supported and we would expect to capture all the major BDUs across Canada through that initiative using voluntary means," said ExpressVu president Gary Smith.After the formal presentation of each of the three firms’ proposals and questioning by the commissioners, the hearing moved to Phase II, allowing Pelmorex and Bell ExpressVu to each offer their criticism of their respective competing applications. The CBC elected not to make comments at this stage.Part of Pelmorex’s critique of the CBC application centred on the public broadcaster’s proposed use of technology based on the Emergency Alert System used in the US, a system Temple said offers less capacity for carrying information and was less flexible and adaptable. "The CBC’s proposal to serve BDUs, apart from being competitive, is in our view flawed," he said. "The technology they propose to use is inferior for use by cable. In today’s world the EAS system is in many ways like using a Commodore 64. It will work, it has been around for 10 years, but it is not the best technology."Meanwhile, Bell Canada VP of regulatory law David Elder slammed the Pelmorex proposal’s wholesale rate increase, as well as the Mississauga-based firm’s request for compulsory carriage. "ExpressVu submits that Pelmorex’s proposed emergency warning service is not a broadcasting service, is not integral to the broadcasting services currently provided by Pelmorex, does not require a broadcasting licence, and could not properly be the subject of a mandatory carriage requirement imposed pursuant to section 9(1)(h) of the act," he said.On May 2, the second day of the hearing, the various interveners – representing a diverse range of organizations, from charities and aid agencies to broadcasters and cable companies – made their 10-minute submissions. Not surprisingly, there was much disagreement over which of the applications was best-suited for use in Canada – or whether any should be approved at all.Ken Engelhart, VP of regulatory affairs for Rogers Communications Inc., told the commissioners that Rogers Cable already has the capability to disseminate emergency alerts issued by various government authorities, and doesn’t need Pelmorex to do so. "Pelmorex will be charging us $2 million a year for their EAS solution," he noted, referring to Pelmorex’s proposed wholesale rates. "This is a lot of money for something that we could do ourselves for far less."However, as with the CBC and Bell ExpressVu applications, Rogers Cable would require revisions to its licence in order to distribute the emergency alerts. "Right now, if we consider section 7(d), we are actually forbidden from doing an alerting service," Engelhart noted. "We couldn’t do one, save and except getting all 500 channels on the 500 channel universe to consent."Representatives of Canada’s biggest English-language broadcasters then took their turn, presenting arguments against all three applications. A coalition of CTV Inc., CanWest Global and CHUM Ltd. listed five reasons for their opposition, including their belief that broadcasters already offer timely information on emergencies through their news coverage, and that broadcasters already co-operate with authorities during such events. "I think what’s driven the system, in all honesty, has been the competitive nature that exists at this table," said Rick Brace, president of CTV. "We’re out every day to try and beat each other to a story."Brace also said that mandatory participation in an emergency alert system that could override broadcasters’ programming would jeopardize their integrity and independence, and that any ACA system should be publicly funded, not paid for by the private sector or consumers. Finally, he declared that the whole process was premature, and that broadcasters hadn’t been properly consulted.However, commissioner Pennefather disagreed. "I think there is evidence on the record that the consultation has occurred," she told the broadcasters. "Whether it’s to your satisfaction or not we’ll leave it to the record to decide." She also noted that many of the interveners from emergency management and aid organizations who had spoke earlier said an ACA system was too important to entrust to for-profit private corporations.The next interveners vehemently attacked the broadcasters’ assertions. "The voluntary nature of the present system of media based public alerting has regularly shown to be unreliable," said Alain Normand, president of the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers. "It is left at the whim of the media owners."Normand said that news outlets are driven by profit and competition – as alluded to by CTV’s Brace – and as such are drawn to the most sensational news, namely after an emergency occurs resulting in severe property damage or loss of life. "Very rarely do they come in before when there is a warning," he said.Normand’s co-intervener Kevin Duffy, assistant deputy chief at the City of Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services, said that concerns raised earlier about distributor and broadcaster liability for incorrect content or misuse of the system could be allayed by the CRTC or another representative of the federal government simply ordering compulsory participation in the ACA system. "If they are required to do it, it is pretty tough to sue somebody for putting a message on that someone else told him to put up there and has jurisdiction to tell them that," he said.When asked by commissioner del Val if they supported the Pelmorex application exclusively, Normand and Duffy said that they’d lent it their support because Pelmorex had been in contact with them and expressed a desire to work with them. "However, one system does not preclude the other," Normand said. "Emergency managers are ready to work with any organization that has a plan."

Three emergency alert service applicants compete for approval

Broadcast | May 5, 2006

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