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OTTAWA – Jean-Pierre Blais, the head of Canada’s telecom regulator, took a swipe at two telecommunications giants for killing their nascent video streaming service in an age in which the Internet has disrupted traditional platforms and the “viewer is emperor.”

In a speech in Ottawa Wednesday, Blais revealed he was shocked at the September news that Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. planned to shutter Shomi, a joint venture in which the cable companies had sunk hundreds of millions of dollars.

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“Far be it for me to criticize the decisions taken by seasoned business people, but I can’t help but be surprised when major players throw in the towel on a platform that is the future of content – just two years after it launched,” Blais said, according to an advance copy of a keynote speech he was set to deliver at the International Institute of Communications conference.

“I have to wonder if they are too used to receiving rents from subscribers every month in a protected ecosystem, rather than rolling up their sleeves in order to build a business without regulatory intervention and protection.”