WINNIPEG – So much for the DSL disadvantage.
Cable – and to a lesser extent, satellite – companies have long said one of the advantages they have over DSL-pushed digital television delivered over the telephone companies’ legacy systems was that the thickness of their pipe to the home could deliver HD while DSL could not.
Yesterday, however, MTS TV launched seven high definition channels for its customers in Winnipeg.
"Our HD service provides the range to enjoy all of today’s hit shows and live sports with a crystal clear picture and amazing digital sound,” said Kelvin Shepherd, president, consumer markets for MTS Allstream, in the press release.
To receive MTS HDTV service, customers must sign up with MTS TV, have an HDTV capable television, and purchase an RG3000 HD residential gateway for $349 plus taxes and installation fee. The monthly charge is $4.99 per month for CBC HD from Toronto (CBLT); ABC HD from Seattle (KOMO); CBS HD from Seattle (KIRO); FOX HD from Seattle (KCPQ); NBC HD from Seattle (KING); PBS HD from Seattle (KCTS); and Rogers Sportsnet HD.
For those signing a two-year deal, MTS will waive the monthly service fee.
Shaw Cable, MTS’s primary competitor, offers 11 HD channels in Winnipeg; the ones above (although the U.S. nets are Detroit stations), plus Discovery HD, Movie Central HD, TSN HD and CTV HD.
It sells its basic HD digital box for $448 and its HD PVR box for $750 and doesn’t charge a monthly fee for HD programming.
