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On August 4, Bell Canada announced it was taking the CRTC to court to stop Canada's largest conventional networks from charging cable and satellite companies for their TV signals.
Bell, which owns Canada's largest satellite service, Bell TV, alleged in documents filed with the Federal Court of Appeal that the broadcast regulator has overstepped its jurisdiction and asked a judge to intervene.
The move came after the CRTC said in May it would let large conventional networks negotiate with cable and satellite carriers on compensation for their signals. If an agreement on compensation for the networks could not be worked out, the matter would be sent to an arbitrator.
The CRTC argued it has not explicitly approved the fees, but is only opening the door for the two sides to negotiate. Bell, however, argued that the regulator has effectively paved the way for the networks to collect, since an arbitrator would ultimately impose a settlement on both sides. That couldn't be done without holding a public hearing, Bell argued.
" 'No proceeding has been held by the CRTC, other than the proceedings in 2007 and 2008 to consider the appropriateness of requiring the payment of fee-for-carriage,' " Bell said in the court documents.
After CRTC's announcement this week to push its fee-for-carriage hearings back to November, however, Bell said that it will withdraw its court appeal.
Sources: Marketing, 08/10/2009, Cartt, 08/11/2009
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