Firms such as Telus, Bell and Rogers won’t face Canadian content rules
Marke Andrews
Sun
A Wednesday decision to exempt television programming on wireless devices from government regulation was greeted enthusiastically by one wireless service provider.
“We are very pleased,” said Janet Yale, executive vice-president of corporate affairs for Telus. “It’s a really good decision, not just for those of us delivering television over our cellphones and other wireless handsets, but for consumers.”
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruled Wednesday that television content on cellphones and other wireless devices falls within the CRTC’s New Media Exemption Order, which was issued in 1999. That means that companies like Telus Mobility, Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility will not be subject to Canadian-content guidelines the way network television is monitored.
In an interview Wednesday, CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen said the commission had the same choice it faced in 1999 regarding the Internet — either rule that mobile television must be licensed, or exempt it from regulation.
“We chose the latter because we didn’t know enough about it, we didn’t know where it was going to go as a service, and we didn’t know what impact it would have on broadcasters,” said Dalfen, who added that mobile TV has not yet had an adverse impact on broadcasters.
“Mobile TV falls within that new media exemption order based on the fact that it is delivered and accessed through the Internet,” said Dalfen. “But even if technology moves and they decide they are not going to use the Internet, we’re still not going to license it until further notice because, again, we don’t know where it’s going, what services it will be capable of, what the [receiver] sets are going to be like, what the viewer habits are going to be, when is prime time.”
Said Dalfen: “It’s important not to chill the technology, because we want to see innovation and we didn’t want to limit it by non-market forces until we found that viewing was drifting over to it. There is little sign of that happening.”
Dalfen said that if the CRTC finds that mobile television is having an impact on broadcasting “we may well revisit it.”
People with concerns can contact the commission through its website at crtc.gc.ca, until May 12.
Telus’s Yale agreed with Dalfen’s statement about leaving new media alone.
“This sends a signal that all service providers have real flexibility to experiment and innovate and invest, without fear of regulatory impediments that are going to jeopardize our ability to use this new technology to deliver innovative applications to consumers,” said Yake.
Consumers with Telus Mobility, Bell Mobility and Rogers Wireless are offered a selection of news and information packages (which include CBC Newsworld and The Weather Network) for their phones. Thus far, people are not downloading network dramas and sitcoms on to their cell phone screens.
Dalfen said the CRTC consulted with broadcasters before today’s ruling, stating the broadcasters suggested mobile providers could be exempt, but that they would like to see an exemption done “in a much more narrow way” than the 1999 Internet exemption.
“They established concern that there may be an impact, and that’s very similar to what the industry said in 1999,” said Dalfen
No one at Global Television or CTV was available for comment by press time.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006