Regulators: Bell is Cheating

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission has found BCE Inc., AKA Bell Canada, in breach of rules.

It's been revealed that the major Canadian telco has been giving access to television programming, including live sports, exclusively to their own subscribers—which goes directly against a strict ban on such anti-competition activity. As CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein noted, “Canadians shouldn’t be forced to subscribe to a wireless service from a specific company to access their favourite content."

The official ruling came after Telus in January issued a formal complaint that Bell was withholding NHL and NFL content from rival carriers to gain a competitive advantage. At the time, Telus' head of regulatory affairs wrote, "The inability to offer this premium content is having, and will continue to have, a material adverse impact on Telus." But Nauby Jacob, a vice-president of Bell, merely responded with, “We are not in a position to engage in discussions regarding NFL and NHL mobile content."

Meanwhile, just last week, Bell partnered with Rogers to buy a majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. In that deal, Rogers and Bell execs insisted vigorously that content would be available to other distributors on commercial terms.

It has not yet known what potential punishment Bell may face for its violation.