CRTC Hearings Start Today
The public hearings in regards to television in Canada have started today and will continue for six weeks.
Issues discussed will be basic cable rate maximums, channel packaging and the options to pick and pick individual channels, internet based television broadcasting, and whether off the air television should continue.
Unfortunately I had attempted to “cut the cord” and get my local channels off the air here in Ottawa and failed because of numerous issues caused by the broadcasters themselves, as explained in a previous blog post. But i’m hoping the CTRC will consider continuing off the air television broadcasts and attempt to fix the associated issues.
I’m hoping they will consider moving all digital broadcasts off the VHF band to the UHF band and allow the use of sub-channels, which would allow CTV 1 and CTV 2 to broadcast on one channel, for example. But I get this feeling that the broadcasters are going to try to end off the air television altogether, which would be rather annoying.
Yes, a reduction of basic cable to $20-$30 would be good. But I suspect this will result in some channels being removed from the basic cable line-up, especially now that some of the providers are pushing exclusivity.
What i’d personally like to see is must carry status for music networks that feature Canadian music videos and live performances by indie bands and lesser known acts. And yes, I know these stations have pretty much packed their schedules with “reality programs”. But is an hour or two per day too much to ask for ?
I’m going to keep an eye on this issue for the blog but if you want more details on what’s going on at the CRTC, click here or tune in on CPAC live weekdays at 9AM Eastern.
Cloud Services & PVRs At Risk ?
Ottawa professor Micheal Geist has posted an interesting entry on his blog about the potential risks for Cloud services and the usage of personal video recorders in Canada after the passing of Bill C-11.
Apparently telecommunication giants Rogers and Shaw and voiced some concerns about provision 31.1 (5) in Bill C-11 :
Subject to subsection (6), a person who, for the purpose of allowing the telecommunication of a work or other subject-matter through the Internet or another digital network, provides digital memory in which another person stores the work or other subject-matter does not, by virtue of that act alone, infringe copyright in the work or other subject-matter.
Concerned about the vagueness of this provision, the Liberal Party Of Canada had attempted to introduce an amendment in committee but failed.
On March the 26th, the House Of Commons will be in session and the amended version of Bill C-11 will likely pass through its third reading shortly after.
Shaw Discusses Video Service
It appears that Shaw customer will not be able to rent films online from this company’s Movie Club service without it counting against their monthly allotment of data unless they rent this content via their set top box.
The video on demand service, which is currently available in Standard Definition, costs $12 per month and a high definition service will be made available shortly, for $5 more per month according to this press release.
Netflix users have been complaining that the cable companies are imposing limitations on this popular service, giving their own movie rental services a competitive advantage by removing or reducing their own service’s impact to their customer’s allocated monthly transfers.
Public Consultations on UBB
Both the CRTC and Shaw are holding public consultations on Usage Based Billing :
The Fleecing of Internet Users In Canada
As you may or may not already know, the days of the unlimited internet died in Canada this month.
Gone are the days where one wouldn’t need to worry about limits and extra charges because Shaw and Primus have decided to go the way of Bell and Rogers. They have decided to use caps and extra fees.
When I had originally joined Bell Sympatico years back I had a relatively inexpensive plan and unlimited internet for years.
The speed of the connection was o.k but this was prior to the higher resolution videos on Youtube, the site I frequent the most, and eventually I wanted to upgrade to a faster connection.
Unfortunately when I was offered the faster connection, at a cheaper price, I was introduced to capping. I was limited to a 60 gigabite amount with optional extra gigabites for a few dollars more.
I was not informed that I would have my uploads and downloads limited to 60 gigabites so I was disappointed. But I had never surpassed 40 gigabites anyway, so I managed it.
A year or two back Bell contacted me once more. They were offering a faster connection and more discounts. But this time I scrutinized the offer and found out they were going to reduce my uploads and downloads to 40 gigabites.
Yes, they were going to take $10 off my bill. But I would then need to pay $5 of it back to get extra gigabites to cover the higher amount of transfers I was now at because of chatting and the 720p videos on Youtube.
I of course explained the situation and the salesperson concured that it wasn’t in my best interest to take this offer.
If I had taken the offer I wouldn’t have able to try Netflix. I wouldn’t have had the chance to view many of the 1080p videos on Youtube, which can add up quite quickly.
To save broadband I view most of the videos at 480p. But since the introduction of widescreen video it still adds up. And I would find it impossible to limit my usage to 25 gig cap that is currently being offered to some Bell customers so I wont be changing my plan soon.
Unfortunately for us Canadians, it appears that we are doomed to have the most expensive Internet fees in the world, as determined by Harvard in eary 2010.
Our infrastructure is aging, resulting in additional expendatures, and WIMAX will not be possible until 2012, well after the Analog to Digital transition of Canadian television networks.
Then there’s the issue that WIMAX could be controled by many of the major players like Bell and Rogers, who own some of the television networks.
Are they going to offer competitive rates with WIMAX or play monopoly to pad their stock value ?
Will they play the illegal download card as an excuse to cap WIMAX transfers and/or whine about their landline expeditures ?
I don’t know but i’m sure we’re going to need to fight at least one of these issues to try to keep our prices from skyrocketing.
So much for the promises of inexpensive access.