The IT Nerd

It appears that the Rogers/Shaw merger which is already being opposed by the Conservative Party Of Canada is also opposed by a whole lot of Canadians. Open Media put out a press release on Friday saying that a petition opposing the merger has surpassed 61,000+ Canadians. According to the press release, OpenMedia and a number of other civil society groups have issued a joint statement, warning Canadians of the merger’s dire implications, encouraging them to speak out.

Clearly Canadians are responding to this and don’t want this merger to go through. The question that you have to ask if the Canadian Government is listening.

The news dropped this morning that Rogers Communications has signed a deal to purchase Shaw Communications in a transaction that’s valued at $26 billion.

This transaction will create Canada’s most robust wholly-owned national network, and as a result of the combined teams and enhanced capacity, will generate more choice and competition for businesses, as well as realizing the full benefits of next generation networks for Canadians and Canada’s productivity. Once the transaction is complete, the companies plan to invest $2.5 billion in 5G networks across Western Canada, which is expected to create up to 3,000 net new jobs.

It also will likely remove Shaw Communications and Shaw owned Freedom Mobile from the telco landscape in Canada. So that cannot be good for Canadians. But Rogers did say this:

The combined company is committed to continue offering affordable wireless plans, with no overage fees, that meet the budgets and needs of Canadians. As part of this commitment, Rogers will not increase wireless prices for Freedom Mobile customers for at least three years following the close of the transaction

That may be cold comfort for Freedom Mobile customers who hear this news. You can fully expect this deal to get a lot of scrutiny given the fact that it will result in less choice in the telco landscape. Which by extension is not good for Canadians. And you can also expect that other telcos, AKA Bell might have something to say about this. But if this deal goes through, it would make Rogers top of the food chain in the Canadian telco space.

This press release popped up today to announce that any Canadian with any ISP can get Shomi starting today:

Starting today, Canadians can subscribe directly to shomi to access the service through their Internet provider. And shomi is accessible on the platforms Canadians want – tablet, mobile, online, Xbox 360, Apple TV, Chromecast, as well as set-top boxes for Rogers and Shaw TV subscribers. The service is also on offer to other cable providers and ISPs. New members get to try their first month of shomi for free when they subscribe, then enjoy non-stop streaming for just $8.99 per month.

This happened quicker than I thought it would. I say that because when Rogers and Shaw (who both run Shomi) said that they were going to do this (likely because the CRTC pretty much forced them to), there was no timetable attached to it other than “this summer.” It also puts some pressure on Bell’s CraveTV to respond as they have said that they would do the same thing at the start of next year. Now they may not be able to wait.

If Shomi which is owned by Rogers and Shaw thought that their announcement this week that their service would be open to all Canadians would stop the CRTC from taking a look at their behavior, they likely need to think again. According to the Financial Post, this happened:

While Shomi plans to make its subscriptions available to all Canadians sometime this summer, a complaint alleging that the video streaming platform and its two owners are in violation of telecommunications laws remains “unchanged and live” and before the industry’s national watchdog.

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumers’ Association of Canada (PIAC-CAC) challenged a sales tactic employed by Shomi that limits the service’s use to only existing cable or Internet subscribers of its co-owners, Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. The advocacy groups contend that Shomi, Rogers and Shaw have been in “clear violation of the prohibition against unjust discrimination and undue preference” since the streaming service became available last November.

Despite Shomi’s plans to eventually lift the restriction, PIAC wrote to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that the news unveiled Wednesday was short on key details – such as a firm launch date and whether an active TV subscription is required – and asked if the regulator still planned to render a decision specifically on whether tying Shomi to a specific Internet service has been violating the Telecommunications Act and the Broadcasting Act. 

Indeed, the process will continue, a CRTC spokeswoman confirmed. Submissions are due Monday.

It sucks to be Shomi. Now I did mention the fact that there was no firm launch date for Shomi’s plans and I thought that was lame. Clearly so does PIAC. But I have to admit that the need for an active TV subscription is something that I had not considered. After all, I would like to believe that if Shomi says that it’s open to all Canadians, that means everyone and not someone who subscribes to cable. Clearly I was naive. Thus the CRTC is likely to have real fun with this.

My advice? Shomi might want to put a date to their plans as well as open it up to anyone with an Internet connection before the CRTC does it for them.

How times have changed. Either because it wanted to actually gain market share, or because the CRTC threatened to force them do it, Shomi which is the streaming service owned by Rogers and Shaw is now available to all Canadians:

Canada, make room on your couch and time in your schedule – shomi™ is moving in! Following a successful beta launch in November 2014 to Rogers and Shaw Internet or cable customers, shomi is now coming to all Canadians across the country this summer! We’re moving in and unpacking great stuff to watch – including exclusive series not available on other streaming services, celebrated Canadian content, human-curated collections, plus fun kids and family programming. And we know it’s not just about the living room TV experience: shomi is accessible on the platforms Canadians want – tablet, mobile, online, Xbox 360, Apple TV, Chromecast, as well as set-top boxes for Rogers and Shaw TV subscribers; the service is also on offer to other distributors.

This is a good move on their part (though the lack of a specific date in terms of when it will be available to all is kind of lame) because I found that Shomi was hard to take seriously because you needed a Rogers or Shaw subscription to get it. That completely defeats the purpose of a streaming service. And the fact that they had exclusive shows that Netflix didn’t wasn’t enough of a reason for me to jump on board. Now I have to admit that I am seriously considering it. If they add support for other streaming media players such as Roku, I’ll likely sign up.

Now, does anyone want to take bets on how long it takes CraveTV which is Bell’s answer to Shomi to do the same thing? Assuming that Bell is smart enough to make that move?