The Bell Canada and Telus Multimedia video trials hearing wrapped earlier this month with the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting one of the few broadcast lobby groups making an appearance in Hull, Que., and coming out with some interesting commentary.

Speaking in support of the telcos’ applications, Friends took the cable companies to task on several points, accusing them of ‘rear-guard actions to delay the onset of competition,’ and of playing their distribution monopoly card to inhibit broadcasters from intervening at the hearing.

Considering testing advanced substitution, promotional channels for Canadian services and navigational systems are theoretically of interest to the broadcasters, but the fact that even the ‘normally loquacious’ Canadian Association of Broadcasters did not ask to appear is cause for concern, says Friends spokesman Ian Morrison.

Although some of the potential intervenors plead simply an avalanche of items on their agendas and the lack of time to appear, Friends contends that cable representatives pressured the owners of the recently licensed digital specialty licensees into ‘lying low’ for the hearing. ‘They have a stranglehold on the digital licensees.’

Friends also questions the absence of the regularly present Rogers Cablesystems cameras in the hearings chamber. ‘Are these hearings too unimportant? Are they as cash-strapped as their short-sellers maintain? Could it be that they do not believe it is in their interest for the public – and for journalists – to know what they intended to argue in the room this week?’ Morrison asked.

A spokesperson for Rogers says the cableco generally broadcasts only policy hearings, normally opting out of taping licence hearings because they’re geography-specific.

Bell is proposing to spend $70 million to test multiplexed services in 7,000 homes in London, Ont., and Repentigny, Que. With crtc approval, testing will begin early this summer.

For its part, the cftpa came out in support of the telcos’ applications. cftpa president Elizabeth McDonald, expressing appreciation to Bell for demonstrating its commitment to high-quality Canadian productions through a number of initiatives, singled out Bell’s underwriting of a cd-rom that will be launched at the new children’s programming venue at natpe in May as an example. The cd-rom will be used as a marketing tool to showcase Canadian kidvid.

At the same time, McDonald also urged the crtc to apply the established commitment of 5% of gross revenues to a Canadian production fund to the trial. Bell has proposed this commitment should only be necessary when the service offerings are a commercial undertaking.

Says McDonald: ‘While it would appear that Bell Canada has put together a `benefits package,’ including financial support to the cftpa’s cd-rom project to demonstrate a commitment to the development of Canadian cultural products, the cftpa contends that these applications do not provide financial support for the creation and development of Canadian television programming from the traditionally underrepresented or underfinanced categories.’

A decision on the trials is expected before the end of April.