MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s Videotron now has over 636,000 local telephony customers, the company announced this morning.
Three years to the day of the company’s launch of the service, the cable company’s voice over IP phone customer list continues to grow at a pretty amazing rate.
Powered by a very low price, at year end, there were more than 636,000 residential and business subscribers to Videotron cable telephone service, a year-over-year increase of 238,500, or 60%, announced the company.
In 2006, there was a net increase of nearly 235,000 in the number of consumers who opted for it. Between October 1 and December 31, 2007, 62,500 Québec households chose Videotron cable telephone service, compared with 53,700 in the same period of 2006.
"We are very proud of the resounding success of our cable telephone service over the last three years," said Robert Dépatie, president and CEO, in the release. "When we introduced this alternative at the beginning of 2005, we became the first company to create real competition in the both the local and long-distance markets. The result was a decrease in prices that significantly benefited consumers."
Videotron’s cable telephone service was initially launched on Montréal’s South Shore and then gradually rolled out to Videotron’s entire service area. In 2006, Videotron Business Solutions introduced its cable telephone service for small businesses with one or two lines. Last December, it enhanced the product by introducing a four-line service.
2007 also saw the roll-out of new applications, such as Videotron’s soft phone, and video phone functionality will be added in the near future.
"Even after the deregulation of the local telephony market ordered by regulatory authorities, the popularity of Videotron’s cable telephone service did not wane – on the contrary," said Dépatie. "It is an indication that we have a functional product and a highly reliable, robust network that delivers the goods."
All of Videotron products – cable telephone service, digital television, Internet access and wireless telephone service – showed strong growth in 2007, continued the release.
As of December 31, 2007, Videotron’s cable television service had 1,638,000 customers, a year-over-year increase of 65,700 (including an increase of 21,800 in the fourth quarter). The customer base for illico Digital TV grew by 47,900 in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone, bringing the total to 768,000, for an annual increase of 144,500 or 23%. In 2006, the number of illico subscribers increased by 38,400 during the fourth quarter and 149,000 for the entire year.
At the end of 2007, Videotron’s cable Internet access services had 933,000 customers, a net increase of 34,000 in the fourth quarter alone, compared with 37,500 in the same quarter of 2006. Over all of 2007, the subscriber base grew by more than 141,000, for an annual increase of 18%, compared with 154,000 in 2006.
In its wireless division, Videotron had activated 45,700 phones on its wireless telephone service as of the end of the fourth quarter, a quarter-over-quarter increase of 7,000 and a year-over-year increase of 33,900. The company did not release its total number of wireless subscribers. Videotron has an MVNO agreement with Rogers Wireless to use the Toronto-based company’s wireless network.
However, as we’ve reported, Videotron has said it wants to have its own wireless net.
