Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE) has introduced its new wireless receiver it says will enable its Fibe TV customers to extend service up to five additional TVs throughout their home without having to install cable inside each room.
New and existing Fibe TV customers can connect the Fibe TV wireless receiver transmitter an existing home networking modem, which can also work a whole home PVR, by paying a $7 a month rental fee or purchasing the device for $197 (Canadian dollars).
For Bell, the receiver will help differentiate its growing IPTV offering from cable operators such as Videotron, which offers its own quad play of video, wireline voice, broadband data and wireless services.
The telco has made ongoing strides with its Fibe TV service, one that's now available to over 3.3 million households with plans to extend to an additional 1 million by the end of 2013.
Fibe TV has become a much-needed revenue engine in Bell's wireline business, helping to offset ongoing voice revenue losses. In Q1 2013, it added 47,463 new Fibe TV IPTV customers in Q1 2013, up 41.9 percent sequentially and 147 percent year-over-year.
Similar to fellow Canadian telco Telus (NYSE: TU), the growth of Fibe TV has also helped drive broadband growth. Although it added 13,000 new broadband subscribers during the quarter, it lost another 11,000 broadband DSL customers that opted to purchase a bundled package from a cable competitor.
For more:
- see the release
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