By Greg O’Brien
MONTREAL – Cogeco Connexion has begun rolling out its new IPTV platform, branded Epico, to select customers in its cable regions. Company CFO Patrice Ouimet mentioned the recently begun rollout at the 21st annual BMO Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday.
The company is taking a go-slow approach with the launch of the new service, as mention of it can’t yet be found on the Cogeco website. After successful trials with employees and their families, the company has only started connecting select customers during the past two weeks, said Ouimet.
He did not mention retail prices or a timeline for a full-blown launch in its regions and a company spokesperson declined to provide any further details at this time.
The new service is based off the MediaKind platform and its launch has been delayed for many months, at first because the company wanted to “get it right”, and after that because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new service will offer 4K capabilities, cloud-based DVR, and since its software is the Android TV operator tier platform, it will have a voice remote integrated with the Google assistant. It will also allow access to streamers like Netflix and is also less expensive for Cogeco than its current top end, TiVo-branded service, said Ouimet. It is expected to be a far easier, cheaper, install.
“This is something we’re just starting,” he added. “We have been running with a large group of employees for some time, and now we have live customers, but the idea is to do a lot more self-install, which is a win-win. Customers prefer to install themselves than having to schedule a meeting with a technician.”
Asked whether the company will launch the same technology in its U.S. cable systems, Ouimet said that decision has not yet been made, although he conceded the TiVo brand has some cachet among consumers in the States. “TiVo is more known as a brand name in the U.S. It’s been more active for a long time. So, we will have to decide what we do in the U.S.,” he said.
