As of this month, Bell has offered a $3.4 billion dollar deal to buy out Astral Media, Canada’s largest media broadcaster. While the CRTC is on it’s third day of hearings on whether or not the deal should go through, Bell’s competitors are fighting in opposition against the contract. BCE is one of Canada’s largest telecom company, owning CTV television , former Chum radio group and other specialty TV channels. “If Bell is allowed to own both CTV and Astral, it will have overwhelming control over television on all screens in Canada,” said Pam Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers. Rogers representatives also argue that it will be impossible for them to launch new services without paying the high costs of content owned by Bell, which would ultimately cut the services they can provide to their customers on their mobile devices. In a less competitive perspective, the deal will not only crumble Bell’s competitors, but also extinct media diversity, provide unreasonable market share to Bell and reduce employment opportunities.
In business, everything is about competition. Is it reasonable for Rogers to oppose the Bell-Astral deal? Yes, they need to protect their business, but is their argument valid enough to protect the media society as a whole? On the other hand, is it wrong for Bell to expand their company? When do we need to stop businesses from growing too much?
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