Manitoba telco plans to bundle digital TV offering with telecom services

MTS Communications Inc. is banking that its advanced digital set-top box will help lure customers to the digital television service it expects to offer commercially by 2003. The subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., the province’s incumbent full-service telecommunications provider, also hopes that offering a bundle of digital TV, Internet, and telephony will encourage existing cable subscribers to switch to its service. "We will be able to offer multiple streams to multiple TVs within the home. That’s really the major thing that the extra bandwidth gives us," notes MTS marketing manager Pat Palanuk. "Whereas with satellite, you need to get a digital box for every television that you want to use. Or with the cable companies, you get digital on one set-top box and it’s analog on the other TVs." MTS is set to appear at a public hearing Feb. 4, 2002 in Winnipeg where the CRTC will consider its application for a broadcast distribution licence (CCR, Sept. 27/01) – Notice of Public Hearing 2001-13. The telco is seeking a regional Class 1 licence to serve the Prairies region (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) under the commission’s new regional licensing regime. But the telco has no plans to provide TV service beyond Manitoba. If licensed – and there’s no reason it won’t be – MTS plans to test its television offering with 200 customers in Winnipeg, followed by a commercial launch in the city and eventual expansion to Brandon MB. Palanuk would not reveal much more about MTS’ planned rollout, saying that it was too early to discuss future plans. The company will modify plans as it evaluates the trial results, she adds. In its application filed September 25 with the CRTC, and gazetted on November 30, MTS says that its service "would provide an additional option for customers." MTS notes that Shaw Cablesystems is currently the only cable television provider in Winnipeg and, combined with its Star Choice satellite TV unit, controls 87 per cent of households in the city. It adds that wireless cable operator SkyCable Inc. has only 1 per cent of households. Palanuk says that MTS will be able to compete better than SkyCable has not only due to its reliable technology but also because it is already connected to most homes in the province, offering telephone service. SkyCable had to start from scratch. "We already have a relationship with everybody in the province that we hope to leverage," she says. But convincing TV subscribers to switch from existing providers won’t be easy. Aliant Telecom Inc. has only managed to attract approximately 3,000 subscribers to its VibeVision digital TV service nearly two years after its launch. MTS plans to use VDSL (very high speed digital subscriber line) technology to roll out a 250-channel television service delivered via phone lines. Palanuk notes that VDSL provides more than twice the bandwidth of ADSL, the technology currently being used by Aliant. That capacity will allow for interactivity, such as email via the TV and t-commerce. "We are building other capacity into the box – things like video-on-demand and call display on your TV and home networking – those sorts of things are all on the evolution path. I’m not saying that they will be there on day one," Palanuk says. MTS is proposing to charge $17 for its basic television package. It plans to offer Canadian and U.S. conventional channels, English- and French-language specialty channels, 30 digital audio music channels, local radio stations, and 20 pay-per-view channels. Movie channels, the recently launched diginets, and a second set of U.S. 4+1 network signals for time-shifting purposes are also expected to be included. Packaging is expected to revolve around themes, but Palanuk cautions that packaging and pricing will be refined after MTS’ trial. Getting a broadcast distribution licence is important for MTS’ long-term plans, says Michelle Picard, who works in MTS’ public affairs and corporate communications office. "We want to be able to offer one-shop stopping. Customers want to deal with one company for paging, high-speed and their digital broadcast service." Picard adds that with cable operators now aggressively in the high-speed Internet game, with plans to deliver telephone service, it makes sense for MTS to enter the broadcast distribution market. In its application to the CRTC, MTS says it "believes that its proposed digital broadcast service will enhance customer acceptance of a full suite of digital services in the home market." It further points out that "broadcast distribution service is, therefore, a key component of the company’s plan to develop a multi-purpose terrestrial, digital broadband network in Winnipeg." Last September, MTS announced a three-year, $300-million deal to rapidly expand and enhance high-speed broadband and next-generation services to Manitoba residents (CCR, Oct. 13/00). Third telco to enter broadcasting MTS is the third telco to enter the broadcast distribution field. Aliant, the only telephone company currently offering a commercial TV service, provides service in Saint John and Moncton NB and the Halifax region (CCR, May 12/99 and Dec. 4/96). SaskTel has also been granted a licence to provide television service in Saskatchewan (CCR, March 14/01; Nov. 9/00 and Sept. 28/00). The Saskatchewan telco is currently testing its service with 80 employees in Regina and is targeting a commercial launch around the end of March 2002, according to a SaskTel official. For a related story, please refer to the Dec. 17 edition of CCR affiliate publication, Network Letter.

Manitoba telco plans to bundle digital TV offering with telecom services

News | 12/19/2001 5:00 am EST

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