True Service | CRTC dismisses Bell complaint

Yes, Videotron favors its Hélix subscribers to access its new Vrai service, and at the same time disadvantages those who choose the Internet service. But these privileges “are not undue,” said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which on Monday dismissed a complaint from its competitor Bell.

Karim Benessaieh
The Press

Launched on August 21, 2021 by Videotron, owned by Quebecor, the Vrai service was quick to attract the wrath of Bell, which filed a complaint with the CRTC three days later. At the time, Vrai, which brings together lifestyle content and reality shows, was a specialized channel offered only to subscribers to Videotron’s cable television, Hélix. It costs them $7 per month.

Bell, at the time, complained that this exclusivity “deprives Canadian consumers who are not Videotron subscribers of a new VOD service [vidéo sur demande] in French” and causes him “an undue competitive disadvantage”.

A few weeks later, on September 15, this complaint lapsed: Videotron offered Vrai to all Internet users, regardless of their service provider.

A “hybrid” service

However, the price of this internet subscription was higher than that reserved for Hélix subscribers, $15 instead of $7. While on Helix, you could access the content with five devices at a time, the internet subscription only allowed one device. Finally, if Vrai became a simple channel that you could tune directly to your TV with Helix, you had to make do with a website and the application. QUB on the Internet. The content could then be rebroadcast on a TV via AirPlay or with a Chromecast.

This difference in treatment between Helix subscribers and those on the Internet is the main reason for a new complaint filed by Bell on November 17, 2021 before the CRTC. Quebecor, on behalf of Videotron, defended itself by assuring that “the manner in which the Vrai service is offered increases flexibility and choice for consumers, who are free to choose the platform that best meets their needs. “. The contents are exactly the same, whether you are on Helix or on the internet, it was specified.

The Vrai service was created on the basis of new regulations established by the CRTC in 2015. At the time, we wanted to allow Canadian broadcasters to compete with American video-on-demand platforms like Netflix with a new formula, hybrid video-on-demand services (VSDH). Essentially, these new channels benefit from an exemption and are no longer bound by the usual content obligations. They may be offered exclusively by a cable television service such as Videotron, but must in return be accessible to everyone via the Internet.

Reasonable price ”

The Vrai service, believes the CRTC in its decision on Monday, does not violate the rules established in 2015 for this type of channels, even if “Videotron is probably seeking to promote its Helix interconnected technology to its own subscribers”.

“The Commission finds that the preference and the disadvantage are not undue”, decides one.

The organization accepts the explanations of Quebecor, which affirms that “the differences between the offers of the two platforms are explained by certain technical limitations, as well as by issues relating to the negotiation of content rights”. The higher cost of $8 for the Internet offer “is not unreasonable” and compares to other Canadian online streaming services. “The consumer has the capacity to examine the various offers and to make a choice”, notes the CRTC.