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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 8 October 1991
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Public Notice CRTC 1991-104
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AMENDMENTS TO THE CABLE TELEVISION REGULATIONS, 1986 - REVISIONS TO SECTIONS 2 AND 18
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In CRTC - Public Notice 1991-68, dated 3 July 1991, the Commission announced proposed amendments to the Cable Television Regulations, 1986 (the regulations) to: revise section 2 by amending the definition of "basic monthly fee" to allow licensees to charge a supplementary monthly fee for each additional cable outlet in a subscriber's home, whether or not a terminal device is connected to the outlet; and add two new subsections following subsection 18(3.1) in order that there be consistency in the treatment of wholesale fees charged for programming services other than specialty services.
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In response to its notice, the Commission received sixteen (16) comments, only one of which pertained to the proposed amendment to subsection 18(3).
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Revision to section 2
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All but one of the fifteen (15) comments were in opposition to the proposed modification to section 2 which had been suggested by the Canadian Cable Television Association (CCTA).
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The main points raised in opposition were: the current home building industry has a practice of installing multiple cable outlets in new homes and thus cable companies may wish to impose charges related to the disconnection of some of these extra outlets; no definitions have been proposed for the terms "outlet" and "terminal device" in the regulations; a splitter might be considered as a "terminal device"; the regulation of fees for cable service should be similar to that of telephone and hydro services; usage of cable signals should be measured by meter; and subscribers should be given greater flexibility and choice of technology in providing their own internal distribution systems.
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Subject to the remarks set out below addressing the major concerns which have been raised, the Commission has considered all of the interveners' comments and has determined that it would be appropriate to enact the amendments to the definition of "basic monthly fee" proposed in CRTC - Public Notice 1991-68. As noted in that Public Notice, the amendment is consistent with long-standing industry practice respecting additional outlet charges.
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As noted above, several comments raised the concern that, if the amendment to "basic monthly fee" is adopted, subscribers will have to pay disconnection charges for unwanted additional outlets. In this regard, the Commission reminds cable licensees that, consistent with CRTC - Public Notice 1982-37 dealing with cable billing practices, section 17 of the regulations entitles licensees to disconnect cable service for non-payment of installation fees and basic monthly fees, but does not entitle them to impose disconnection charges. Therefore, since disconnection or disabling fees are not contemplated by the regulations, the Commission considers it unacceptable for a licensee to charge such fees with respect to the disabling or removal of additional outlets.
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The Commission notes that this amendment introduces the term "cable outlet" to the regulations. The Commission will interpret this term in accordance with current industry usage and its ordinary meaning. Typically, a cable outlet would be each active termination point of the internal wiring in the subscriber's premises, to which the actual terminal device, such as a television receiver, may be connected. In many cases, this termination point consists of a wall plate to which the actual device watched, used or listened to may be plugged in. Thus, for example, wall plates in different rooms of a house or apartment or in individual hotel rooms would be considered as "cable outlets".
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Addition of New Subsections 18(3.2) and (3.3)
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Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) supported the proposed amendment but requested further revisions to the regulations so that the same principle may apply to "pass-through charges" levied before September 1, 1986 (date of enactment of the regulations). CANCOM was concerned that failure to rectify this matter would provide incentives for licensees to drop CANCOM's signals and use the windfall profits to finance a microwave system or some other competing distribution mechanism for importing alternative distant signals.
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The Commission has decided not to enact the modification suggested by CANCOM as it would require substantial changes to the regulations, and it would involve a fundamental change to fee structures put in place since the enactment of the regulations.
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Nevertheless, the Commission shares CANCOM's concern and recently addressed it in Decision CRTC 91-765 dated 25 September 1991, authorizing Trillium Cable Communications Limited, licensee of the cable system serving Listowel, Ontario, to substitute U.S. signals received via microwave for those of CANCOM. In the decision, the Commission stated that it expects the licensee to reduce its base portion by the amount of the charges related to the provision of the CANCOM signals that it is no longer paying. In similar situations, the Commission intends to impose like expectations upon licensees.
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With these considerations in mind, the Commission has enacted the amendments to the regulations as they appeared in the schedule attached to CRTC Public Notice 1991-68. A copy of these amendments is attached to the present Public Notice. They were registered on 17 September 1991 (SOR/91-543) and came into force on that date. It is expected that these amendments will be published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on 9 October 1991.
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Allan J. Darling
Secretary General
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