p2pnet news view | TV:- “Cash-cows say mooo” says p2pnet frequent poster Luvie in an email.

She’s talking about Bell Canada’s latest move to milk Canadians every chance it gets.

Bell Canada is already ripping its customers off and now it says it’s hiking the price of its satellite television service.

At a time when, say economists, Canada is about to feel the effects of the George W. Bush recession, which is causing so much misery around the world, “Bell’s television customers are receiving bills informing them of the increase, typically about $4 a month,” says the CBC, going on:

“The increase is based on programming, with customers who are subscribed to many channels facing a bigger hike than those with less.

“Customer service representatives are saying the increases, which also apply to customers in the midst of term contracts, are in order to bring the company’s pricing in line with competitors and to pay for continuing investment and service maintenance. One representative told CBCNews.ca the hike would help pay for service on the new Nimiq 4 satellite, which launched in September.”

Consumer groups accuse Bell of double-dipping, to put it politely.

Bell already has a $3-a-month “digital service fee” to help pay for the same investment and maintenance, says the story, going on to quote John Lawford, legal counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, as asking:

“How can you split off one fee and say, ‘We’re just using this fee to improve this part of our business?’ Overhead is overhead. The more you split fees, the more you can raise them because they look like they’re for different things.”

Bell officials did not return a request for comment.

Says the CBC »»»

Internet experts also questioned Bell’s logic in regard to the company raising prices to compete with rival providers. Bell’s real competition isn’t cable providers such as Rogers Communications Inc. and Vidéotron Ltd., but the internet — where a growing amount of programming is free and legally available, said Darren Meister, associate professor of information systems at the University of Western Ontario in London.

“It would not surprise me if [personal video recorder] sales are hitting a plateau because people are just using free services on the web. It’s the ultimate in time-shifting,” he said. “I have heard people saying, ‘Why am I not just watching all of my television on the internet?’”

Lawford said there isn’t much consumers can do to avoid the prioce increases given that neither the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission nor the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services deal with television pricing, adds the story.

[The cash cow in the pic is Dean MacAdam's. But his original didn't include Bell. He lives in North Carolina with his "beautiful wife and 2 children who make him smile". And he’s an amazing illustrator. Check out Mikey. You’ll also recognize these people and this guy. ]

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CBC – Bell hiking satellite TV prices, November 24, 2008

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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