Bell Aliant is making its FibreOP brand even more competitive with area cable operators Eastlink and Rogers by upping all of its existing speed tiers for free.
Under the new plan, the service provider is increasing the speeds on three of its current levels for existing subscribers: 20/15 Mbps will increase to 50/30 Mbps; 50/30 Mbps will climb to 80/30 Mbps; and 80/30 Mbps will jump to 175/30 Mbps.
Each of these upgraded tiers is competitively priced.
The promotional cost for the standalone 50/30 Mbps tier is CAD 29.95 (USD 29) a month, while the 80/30 and 175/30 tier begin at CAD 29.95 (USD 29) and CAD 69.95 (USD 68), respectively. After the three month promotional period is over, the prices of the standalone offerings rise to CAD 69.95 (USD 68), CAD 84.95 (USD 83) and CAD 99.95 (USD 97).
"Offering the fastest Internet isn't just about bragging rights," said Andre LeBlanc, vice president, residential markets, Bell Aliant, in a press release. "It's about taking the technology to the next level."
FTTH has been a fruitful endeavor for Bell Aliant with one with over 100,000 subscribers to date. Its network currently passes over 650,000 homes and business, a figure that will rise to 800,000 by the end of the year.
While it won't release Q1 2013 earnings until May 1, it added 20,200 new FibreOP Internet customers in Q4 2012, ending the month of December with a total of 112,000 FibreOP Internet customers.
Upping the speeds for free is a certainly another way that Bell Aliant, which like its parent BCE (NYSE: BCE), can use to keep existing customers from churning to area cable providers such as Eastlink and Rogers.
By comparison, Eastlink offers speeds that range from 20-100 Mbps, while Rogers offers a range of speeds from 256 Kbps up to 150 Mbps on its existing cable network. However, it also is offering a 250 Mbps service in select areas over its FTTH network in selected areas for CAD 225 (USD 219) a month.
For more:
- see the release
Earnings roundup: Wireline telecom earnings in the first quarter of 2013
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