Expressvu president Ted Boyle will announce Aug. 1 that the launch of the Canadian direct-to-home satellite service is being delayed until late fall.

The decision comes on the tail of months of fighting for the right to beam down Sept. 1, as per the crtc’s original dth Exemption Order. Boyle is not expected to set a new launch date, but sources say it could be as late as November before the service is up and running.

Expressvu was expected to announce its programming lineup Aug. 1, but a public announcement will be delayed for at least two weeks, made possibly on Aug. 23 when it files its application for licence to the crtc.

Expressvu has put on a brave face for several months, sticking with its Sept. 1 goal in spite of growing indications of technical problems which have now put the breaks on the launch. There is industry speculation that Expressvu is having difficulty lining up programming deals with broadcasters, and that too is holding back liftoff, although Boyle flatly denies this. At press time, only one affiliation agreement had been formally sealed with a broadcaster.

The core of the technical roadblocks is the lack of availability of transponder space on Telesat’s Anik E1 satellite. Expressvu is currently testing on one transponder on Anik E1, enough space for only 12 channels. Although it is first on the waiting list for transponder space being freed up as broadcasters digitize their signals, it’s a slower process than originally anticipated, ‘and I’m not going to try and launch with two transponders and 25 services,’ says Boyle.

The other technical concern is the manufacturing of the set-top box computer chip, a new technology produced by a scarce number of companies. Tee-Comm Electronics, part owner in Expressvu along with bce in Montreal and Vancouver-based WIC Western International Communications, is in overdrive to produce 50,000 before the Christmas buying spree.

The goal is still a nation-wide launch, says Boyle, refuting the rumor that Expressvu will localize its launch in Quebec, despite the low number of available boxes and anticipated market potential of 2.5 million households. The 50,000 possible units are a far cry from the projected market, but there will be a lead time for people to buy the product, he says.

Quebec may be a starting point because it’s less cabled than the rest of the country, but availability in major markets across Canada will follow within a couple of weeks of a Quebec launch if that’s where they begin, says Boyle.

Every broadcaster on the eligible services list has been approached and has an agreement in principal with Expressvu, says Boyle. He won’t identify the single broadcaster that has closed a deal, but says it is taking up one-quarter of Expressvu’s signal cost and is the most important contributor in terms of revenue, making it likely one of the pay-per-view networks, Viewer’s Choice or Home Theatre.

According to Boyle, there is no major roadblock between the dth distributor and the broadcasters, with the exception of a&e and The Learning Channel, which are hesitating to sign with an unlicensed service.

Lawyers are currently dealing with the situation.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether affiliation agreements with the broadcasters are sealed or not by the time Expressvu goes to air because the government directive to the crtc makes clear broadcasters are obligated to sell to the dth providers, who in turn are able to pick up the broadcasting signals it chooses to carry in the same way the cable companies do, says Boyle.

Formal agreements haven’t been signed because negotiations started a short time ago and dth providers need to ensure they’re getting the best cable rates from the broadcasters.

‘(At this point) they’ve signed their affiliation agreements and I haven’t signed them back yet. I will soon, under the advisement of my lawyers who have got them all,’ says Boyle.

Broadcasters say negotiations have been generally positive although they have been slowed down by the parliamentary process and technical problems at Expressvu’s end. But there may be difficulties brewing over access issues.

One broadcaster questions whether a dth service has legal access to the channels without a formal affiliation agreement. ‘We own the channel. Access rules don’t relate to the Copyright Act, and we don’t really know what the rule is on that one. I don’t think the crtc knows yet either,’ he says.

Lise Plosse, crtc senior communications officer, says any access problems of this nature that crop up will be addressed by the crtc, likely in the dth licensing processes. ‘But it’s really more of a business issue than a regulatory issue. We can’t force the dth people to carry a signal, nor a broadcaster to be carried.’

However, Boyle remains adamant that broadcasters will have no choice but to beam up as part of Expressvu’s package. ‘The government directive was clear that they must sell to us at the best possible cable rates,’ he concludes.