GATINEAU – Internet protocol television (IPTV) is officially on ice for 2008 at Bell Canada.
During Monday morning’s hearing into the acquisition of Bell by a group led by the Ontario Teachers pension plan, CEO George Cope confirmed what was already an open secret, that it has no plans to deliver digital television terrestrially over the Internet backbone until 2009 at the earliest.
CRTC vice-chair telecom Len Katz was inquiring about including the value of Bell’s terrestrial cable license (to be served using IPTV) in the calculation of transaction benefits. Cope confirmed that Bell, with a digital TV service already successful in market (Bell ExpressVu) it can afford to watch from the sidelines for now.
“We have been working on IPTV for some time,” said the CEO, who pledged to “monitor developments in North America” but that it is not part of the company’s capital plan in 2008. Other NA telcos with IPTV or a version of digital terrestrial television include Verizon, AT&T, Telus, MTS, SaskTel and Aliant.
“(IPTV) is a commercial intent but not a core of our strategy for 2008,” added Cope.
– Greg O’Brien
