Cogeco Cable Asks CRTC for Safeguards to Preserve Competition in

Cogeco Cable Inc. filed a brief today with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission asking the CRTC for specific safeguards to prevent abuse of the new conglomerate's dominant market position if BCE's acquisition of CTVglobemedia is approved.

The proposed transaction

Cogeco Cable notes that the proposed transaction would imply a very high level of concentration and vertical integration that would allow the BCE-CTVglobemedia conglomerate to disadvantage competitors in the Canadian communications industry and potentially inflate prices for services to the detriment of Canadian consumers. Cogeco Cable asks to appear at the CRTC public hearing to review the proposed transaction, scheduled to begin in Gatineau on February 1, 2011.

"Vertical integration raises a number of concerns regarding the relationships between the owners of content and the owners of distribution networks," said Cogeco Cable president and CEO Louis Audet. "The proposed level of concentration and vertical integration that would result from the proposed transaction risks compromising the CRTC's fundamental objectives for the Canadian communications industry of universal access to services, diversity of choice and content and ultimately affordable prices for Canadian consumers," added Mr. Audet.

In its brief, Cogeco Cable provides a comprehensive review of the consequences of the common ownership of BCE and CTVglobemedia, which would create an entity controlling both a large number of television and content services, including sports services and programs, and a major share of the distribution of such services and content across all wired and wireless distribution platforms in the Canadian market, allowing it to exercise undue market power in the Canadian communications industry.

The event the CRTC approves the proposed transaction

In the event the CRTC approves the proposed transaction, Cogeco Cable furthermore submits that BCE should be required to comply in every way with the CRTC's tangible benefits policy for the advantage of the Canadian broadcasting system, and not for its own business advantage.

Cogeco Cable is a telecommunications company and is the second largest hybrid fibre coaxial cable system operator in Ontario, Québec and Portugal. Through its two-way broadband cable networks, Cogeco Cable provides its residential clients with Audio, Analogue and Digital Television, as so then as HSI and Telephony services. Cogeco Cable as well provides to its commercial clients, through its subsidiary Cogeco Data Services, data networking, e-business applications, video conferencing, hosting services, Ethernet, private line, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), HSI access, dark fibre, data storage, data security and co-location services and other advanced communication solutions. Cogeco Cable's subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.