Big telecom tries to flip last month’s public interest decision from the CRTC.
from OpenMedia and the Stop the Takeover Coalition
Big telecom company Bell is trying once again to take over Astral media, and gain more control over Canada’s media system. This comes only one month after the CRTC listened to Canadians and shot down the merger, saying that this concentration of power in Bell’s hands would not benefit the public.
Grassroots group OpenMedia.ca and the Stop the Takeover Coalition were thrilled to see the CRTC listen to Canadians and deny Bell’s takeover.
Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice.
Now, however, Bell is trying once again to persuade the CRTC to allow them to acquire Astral. The big telecom company has also launched a PR campaign seemingly targeted at Canadians, which OpenMedia.ca calls “manipulative and disingenuous". Bell is attempting to make the argument that their takeover would benefit Canadians, despite the fact that Canadians have already been clear that this is not the case.
Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice.
Canada's media system is already one of the most highly concentrated in the industrialized world. Canadians pay high prices for worse content and services because of a lack of competition and choice. OpenMedia.ca, the Stop the Takeover Coalition, and thousands of Canadians have argued that this deal will only serve to further that.
OpenMedia.ca Executive Director Steve Anderson says: “Canadians were clear that they want less of Bell shoved down their throat. Now that Bell has realized they don't have the public's support, they appear to be trying to spin us into accepting their anti-competitive control over our daily communications. I don't think it's going to work. Canadians are too smart for this.”
After denying Bell’s first application for a takeover, CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais stated in a release: “It would have placed significant market power in the hands of one of the country’s largest media companies. We could not have ensured a robust Canadian broadcasting system without imposing extensive and intrusive safeguards, which would have been to the detriment of the entire industry.”
Canadians can learn more about the Bell/Astral merger and take action at StopTheTakeover.ca.
About the Stop the Takeover Coalition
The Stop the Takeover Coalition comprises public interest groups and industry players who are coming together, based on a set of common principles, to oppose the proposed takeover of Astral Media by Bell and to promote public engagement through the Stop the Takeover campaign.
Some of the groups leading the coalition include grassroots citizen-engagment group OpenMedia.ca (the group behind the largest online campaign in Canadian history) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). They are joined by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), Canada Without Poverty and the CWP Advocacy Network, the Canadian Media Guild (which represents over 6,000 media workers, including those from CBC, Reuters, the Canadian Press, and Shaw Media), the Consumers' Association of Canada, the Council of Canadians (Canada’s largest citizens’ group), the Council of Senior Citizens' Organizations of British Columbia (COSCO), and Québec-based consumer groups Option consommateurs and Union des consommateurs. Learn more about the Coalition and its members.
© Copyright 2012 SGNews Contributor, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca
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