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By Derek Craddock

NO MORE T.V.?

End of satellite partnership could mean no T.V. service for remote and rural residents

Jan 28, 2022 | 9:00 AM

Many residents of northern Saskatchewan could be without television service by this time next year.

Late last year, CommScope, a U.S. telecoms company announced it will be discontinuing support of its QT+ broadcast technology platform after Dec. 31, 2022.

Jay Thomson, the CEO of the CCSA said many remote communities in Canada have relied on satellite as it’s the only way to get a television signal.

“Typically, they don’t have, for example, a fibre connection that would provide broadband to them and therefore the ability to get signals that way. So, they’re stuck with accessing them through satellite. Now the service that Shaw has been offering for many, many years, has been one that has been very attractive to a number of companies, particularly across the north, as it is cost-effective, efficient.”

In a statement sent to paNOW, Shaw Communications said they’ve explored different options for its customers that will be affected by this change. Unfortunately, they said there are currently no viable replacements.

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“As a result, certain smaller cable companies that are customers of Shaw Broadcast Services will not be able to use QT+ to provide content to their subscribers,” the statement reads.

“While this was not the result of any decision by Shaw, our team has been in touch with impacted cable providers to work with them on a case-by-case basis and to explore potential options.”

Thomson said many options are still being explored, adding this situation further stresses the challenges Canada still faces in extending high-speed broadband services to rural areas.

“What they’re missing is access to fibre connection to provide high-speed broadband service into the community that could be tapped into, potentially, to get access to those signals so that you wouldn’t have to rely on satellite.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to connect 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2030.

Thomson is hopeful the federal and provincial governments hold true to that commitment but warns the transition is an expensive one.

“These companies have typically invested upwards of $100,000 or more dollars in the service that they’re currently offering from Shaw right now. Those could have been recent investments and so those expenditures could be lost, could be sunk and then to transition to another system, even if it in itself might be cost-effective, they’ve got all these sunk costs and they have no way to make up for it.”

If a solution can’t be found, Thomson said they will try to press the government and the CRTC to make sure Canadians in these rural and remote communities still get TV service next year.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @pa_craddock