Traditional phone and cable companies battle it out for business as they offer more services in common
Gillian Shaw
Sun
Fred Di Blasio, vice-president of consumer product marketing for Telus with some of the equipment used in the company’s new TV service that ensures subscribers never miss their favourite shows. Photograph by : Mark Van Manen, Vancouver Sun
The latest skirmish in the war to win the eyes and wallets of today’s digital consumer has come with the soft rollout of Telus’s new digital television service that has the traditional phone company taking on Shaw Communications in its core business.
The move comes after Shaw started poaching phone customers with its voice-over-Internet telephone service in parts of Alberta and Victoria.
This week’s announcement has Telus looking to sign up TV viewers, starting with Calgary and Edmonton and rolling out to B.C. by next fall.
At a time when the lines are blurring among traditional phone companies and cable TV firms, as they all fight to be the one-stop source for consumers’ entertainment and telecommunications dollars, Telus is taking a lead by turning your television into yet another Internet device.
At stake — depending on the latest estimate — is the more than $250 a month that household are shelling out for a smorgasbord of communications and entertainment offerings.
In a demonstration of the new Telus TV service at Telus‘ downtown centre in Vancouver Tuesday, Fred Di Blasio, Telus‘ vice-president of consumer product marketing, pointed to the IP connection as the differentiator the company expects will sell its new TV service.
First thing you’ll notice is the telephone alert. It flashes a caller ID on your TV screen so you can decide whether it’s worth taking the call.
“It is all digital,” Di Blasio said of the new TV service which is being rolled out gradually as Telus upgrades its subscriber lines to deliver the capacity Internet-protocol-based television demands. “It gives it a really crisp picture and a whole host of truly amazing features.”
On Telus TV, viewers will be able to set up a customized list of their preferred programs, much like their favourites list in their computer Web browser. The pre-school set will be able to hit a button on the handheld controller and find out every kid’s program that’s on at any given time. Likewise, sports aficionados can find out what games are playing in the categories’ listings that offer just one way of finding something to watch.
Worried about missing Survivor, or wondering when the next OC is up? Your television will text message you a timely reminder so if you’re in the middle of a meeting, or at the grocery checkout, you can drop everything to race back and catch your show.
If you run out of shows that pique your interest, the new service brings you video on demand — a digital version of your local movie rental shop where you can pay five bucks for a movie that will be available for viewing anytime over 24 hours and won’t sting you for a late fee if you forget that you have it.
Parents can guard their children’s viewing habits and at the same time their escalating television bill by blocking channel or rating programs they don’t want their kids to see and a password protecting access to such added cost features as video on demand.
Di Blasio said there are currently more than 300 movie titles available through VOD, but he said that number is constantly increasing.
“It just like watching a DVD, you can stop it, rewind or turn if off and come back later,” Di Blasio said.
In another nod to customizing for consumers, the service will shop around the networks if your favourite show isn’t playing at a convenient time and pick it up from another time zone if that works for your schedule.
A recording feature, now offered by Shaw at close to $600 in its high definition and personal video recorders, is not on the menu yet for Telus TV, but Di Blasio said the company is talking to vendors with a view to adding that capability in the future.
The pop up phone alert has been a hit in Alberta, according to Di Blasio.
“It’s a wonderful little bit of technology that people have glommed on to and they really like it,” he said.
Telus has made its customized ‘my Telus channel,’ a changeable entry page similar to its personalized ‘mytelus‘ Web site. For younger age groups, accustomed to a busy screen demanding heavy multi-tasking, it combines a live Internet feed with a TV window and various other features like text messaging. For the grandmother who sees it as just too much information, the screen can be simplified with the video feed taking over more screen space.
“You can personalize it to your neighbourhood so you can make reservations, order pizza,” said Di Blasio. “That is the unique advantage of having an IP network.
“In an IP environment your imagination is the only thing that stops you.”
The service requires a user to have Telus‘ high-speed DSL (digital subscriber line) Internet service, which costs about $30 a month and comes in various packages and options, starting at $22 for the most basic ‘essentials,’ version. Channels can be added in packs or at $2 a pop per month and the price of movies drops from its one-off $5 per video to four-packs as low as $10 when they’re included in a higher priced bundle.
Currently Telus TV offers more than 200 channels. High definition television is not yet available with the service but Telus promises that will come when more high definition programming becomes available.
The service works with conventional televisions but each TV requires it own Telus TV box that has to be wired in by a Telus technician. Like the modems that come with Telus‘ Internet service, pricing on the boxes depends on the length of the service contract. Signing a contract, anywhere from one to three years, gets you two free Telus TV boxes with their remote controls.
If you choose the month-to-month option, you can buy the boxes for $150 or rent them for $10 a month. Although the service is delivered through the same phone line that brings DSL and landline service to your house, it doesn’t interfere with those services.
TELUS TV:
Here is Telus‘ TV pricing, not including the telecom’s high-speed Internet service, which averages about $30 a month:
– Essentials: $22 a month
Includes 24 basic channels, from ABC to CBC along with 45 audio music channels and local radio stations, myTELUS and video on demand.
– Five Theme Packs: $25 a month
Includes a range of selections from Time Choice, Sports, Family, News and Lifestyle
– Combo 1: Essentials with five theme packs for a total of $47 a month
– Combo 2: Essentials, with five theme packs at $25 a month and a movie four pack for $14 for a total of $61 a month
– Combo 3: Essentials, with 10 theme packs for $45 and a movie four pack for $10 for a total of $77.
– Telus TV box with controller: Two per customer come free with contracts of one to three years; otherwise you can buy the box — one is needed for each television — for $150 or rent it for $10 a month.
– Individual channels: $2 per month.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005