The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ruled today that Bell Mobility cannot sign exclusive content deals (such as it has done with the NHL and the NFL) and not offer this content to other mobile providers. Such a move gives it an unfair competitive advantage.
“Canadians shouldn’t be forced to subscribe to a wireless service from a specific company to access their favourite content,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. “Healthy and fair competition between service providers will promote greater choice for Canadians.”
The decision follows a complaint from Telus Communications after it was unable to come to terms with Bell to offer this content to its customers.
Bell now has 30 days to provide the CRTC with a report explaining how Telus can be given access to its NHL and NFL content at reasonable terms.