Rural TV service provider concerned Rogers won’t honour contract once merger with Shaw is finalized

The Canadian Communication Systems Alliance (CCSA) wants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to stop Rogers from shutting down the satellite delivery of television signals it receives from Shaw.

In a press release, CCSA says Shaw delivers TV signals to rural and Northern cable companies with no other way of accessing them.

A critical component of the delivery is HITS-QT Plus, an essential program for operators who use satellite signals.

At the Rogers-Shaw hearing the CRTC held in November, Rogers told the CCSA they would maintain the service, Jay Thomson, CCSA’s CEO, said. The CRTC added it would hold Rogers to account.

But not long ago, Shaw said HITS-QT would shut down, according to a press release from the CCSA says. The move threatens to shut down TV services for 10,000 rural and Northern Canadians across 30 communities.

The news of the shutdown was shared “just prior” to the CRTC’s decision to approve the Rogers-Shaw merger.

In that decision, the CRTC ruled Rogers must honour all contracts it inherits from Shaw, and now the CCSA is worried promises to maintain the service won’t be a part of it.

“We call on the CRTC to honour its commitment to keep Rogers from allowing that to happen,” Thomson said. “Otherwise, thousands of rural and Northern Canadians could be deprived of television service in a matter of months.”

MobileSyrup has reached out to Rogers and the CRTC for comment and will provide an update once available.

Source: CCSA