Decision
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Ottawa, 26 January 1984 |
Decision CRTC 84-45 |
Télécâble Laurentien Inc. |
Hull, Aylmer, Gatineau, Buckingham and Masson, Quebec - 832307300 - 832303200 - 832304000 |
Following a public hearing in Hull, Quebec on 15 November 1983, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announces that it approves the applications by Télécâble Laurentien Inc. for authority to acquire the assets of the broadcasting receiving undertakings serving Gatineau, Buckingham and Masson from Télécâble Vidéotron Ltée. The Commission also approves an amendment to the applicant's current licence to serve Hull and Aylmer, by adding Gatineau to its authorized territory, including the Touraine area it is already authorized to serve. The Commission will issue Télécâble Laurentien Inc. a separate licence to serve the Buckingham-Masson area upon surrender of the current licence. The new licence will expire on 30 September 1985, concurrent with the expiry of the licence to serve Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau, and will be subject to the conditions specified in this decision and in the licence to be issued. |
Télécâble Laurentien Inc., in operation since 1966, has now reached a penetration of more than 95% of all potential subscribers. At the hearing, the applicant described the transaction noted above as being a reasonable and necessary step in the growth of its undertaking, and emphasized the economic advantages and efficiencies that would accrue from the extension of its authorized territory into these adjacent areas, as a result of the consolidation of its resources and economies of scale. |
Télecâble Laurentien Inc. currently serves approximately 25,000 subscribers. The addition of the Gatineau and Buckingham-Masson areas will increase the total number of subscribers served by the applicant to approximately 40,000, which will make it one of the five largest cable television operators in Quebec. At the hearing the applicant stated that, as a larger corporate entity, it will be in a position to play a greater role within the National Capital Region, and will be able to commit additional financial resources to upgrade the technical quality of its service, and to improve and expand the range of programming services provided to subscribers. |
In view of the commitments set out below, and taking into account the past performance of the applicant, the Commission is satisfied that approval of this transaction is in the public interest and will benefit the subscribers and the communities served. In addition, the Commission considers that the applicant possesses the expertise and financial resources necessary to ensure that its consolidated cable television undertakings are well and efficiently managed. |
The applicant proposed an expenditure of approximately $300,000 for the purpose of integrating the Hull and Gatineau portions of its undertaking. This phase will involve replacement of the two existing head-ends with a new head-end, the establishment of a new administrative centre readily accessible to all subscribers, and the construction of two new trunk lines serving Hull and Gatineau. The applicant also undertook to extend service immediately to all residents within its authorized territories, including some 600 homes that are currently unserved in various parts of Gatineau and Buckingham. In particular, the Commission notes the applicant's commitment to provide service to the Côte d'Azur area of Gatineau as discussed in Decision CRTC 81-674. Télécâble Laurentien Inc. also proposes the expenditure of approximately $100,000 to increase the channel capacity of the Gatineau and Buckingham systems to 35 channels. The applicant stated at the hearing that it would complete all of the above projects by the end of 1984. |
As a second phase in the integration of the various systems, the applicant undertook at the hearing to standardize the signal distribution on the undertaking serving Hull, Aylmer and Gatineau during 1984; implementation of this phase would be the subject of subsequent applications for licence amendment. In this regard, the applicant proposed the use of a special programming channel for the distribution to subscribers of all the programs that are not locally-produced, but are obtained from other sources, including the Intervision service obtained through an agreement with the Vidéotron group. |
The Commission expects the applicant to submit an application which clearly outlines the services it proposes to distribute on this channel. |
Télécâble Laurentien Inc. also stated that, in co-operation with the two other broadcasting receiving undertakings serving the National Capital Region, it will implement the carriage, early in 1984, of six new French-language FM services to be received via microwave from the Montreal area. In Decisions CRTC 77-526 and CRTC 81-644, the Commission encouraged the applicant to increase the number of its French-language services as a means to redress the imbalance between the English and French-language FM services provided to its subscribers. This commitment is also in keeping with Decisions CRTC 83-706 to 83-708 of 25 August 1983 renewing the licences of Ottawa Cablevision Limited, Skyline Cablevision Limited and SOLV Signals Limited, in which the Commission again emphasized the need to establish a better balance between the English and French-language services available in the National Capital Region. The Commission considers the applicant's commitment to be an important step towards ensuring a greater variety of French-language services in the region. |
With regard to community programming, the applicant proposes to integrate the Hull and Gatineau community programming services into a uniform programming service commencing in July 1984. The applicant indicated, however, that bi-directional facilities will be installed when financial resources permit, thus allowing the production of live remote broadcasts, and the distribution of community programs to specific portions of the authorized territory, in keeping with the particular interests of each of the areas served. The applicant also undertook immediately to purchase a second vehicle to cover local events. The Commission notes the applicant's proposals regarding a potential increase in the number of hours of community programming and hiring of a community programming animator for the combined service areas. With regard to the Buckingham-Masson area, the Commission notes the applicant's commitment not to distribute any advertising material on the community channel, and to allocate a budget of approximately 10% of operating revenues to community programming in this area. The licensee must ensure that access to this channel is made available to all groups in the community. Télécâble Laurentien Inc. is controlled 100% by Bushnell Communications Limited (Bushnell) which, in turn, is wholly controlled by Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited (Standard). Through subsidiaries, Standard operates various other broadcasting undertakings, primarily in Ontario and Quebec. At the hearing, the Commission sought assurances concerning the degree of management autonomy accorded to Télécâble Laurentien Inc. under the corporate policies of Bushnell and Standard. The Commission acknowledges that under the business practices followed by Standard, the licensee's dividend payments to the parent company have not been increased for several years. The Commission notes the statement made at the hearing by Standard's president that the company will maintain its policy of retaining within Télécâble Laurentien Inc. all funds generated by its operations, and of reinvesting in the licensee company almost all of its profits. The President of the Télécâble Laurentien Inc. assured the Commission further that, for all practical purposes, he had complete autonomy with regard to the management of the undertaking. |
The Commission notes that the current applications do not constitute applications by Télécâble Laurentien Inc. for any amendments with respect either to the distribution of new services or to the fees currently authorized in the Hull-Aylmer, Gatineau and Buckingham- Masson areas. |
The new licence to be issued to Télécâble Laurentien Inc. to serve Buckingham and Masson will be subject to the following terms and conditions: |
The licence is subject to the condition that the licensee own and operate, as a minimum, the local head-end, the amplifiers and the subscriber service drops. |
The Commission approves, as a condition of licence, a maximum monthly subscriber fee of $8.00, including distant signal delivery costs, and a maximum installation fee of $15.00. |
In addition to the priority services required to be carried by regulation, the Commission approves the distribution of the signals of the following optional stations: CBFT, CBMT, CFTM-TV and CFCF-TV Montreal, CHRO-TV Pembroke, CICO-TV-24 Ottawa, WROC (NBC), WOKR (ABC), WHEC-TV (CBS) Rochester and WNPI-TV (PBS) Norwood, New York, CFQR-FM, CKFM-FM, CJFM-FM, CHOM-FM, CBF-FM and CBM-FM Montreal, CKOI-FM Verdun, CFGL-FM Laval and CHGA-MF Maniwaki. The Commission also approves the carriage of the programming of French television (TVFQ-99) and the CBC Parliamentary Television Network; this approval is subject to the condition that no advertising material be distributed on the channels used for the carriage of these special programming services. |
The licensee is authorized to distribute the discretionary pay television network services of First Choice Canadian Communications Corporation and Télévision de l'Est du Canada (TVEC) Inc. |
The boundaries of the authorized area will be specified in a schedule which will be appended to the licence. |
J.G. Patenaude Secretary General |
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