QUEBEC – Videotron Wireless hit the Quebec City market today as the fourth leg in the Quebecor division’s video, data and telecom stool.
As reported on Monday, the company officially launched its wireless phone service today with a number of different handsets and service plans. The one that might get the most attention is its $94.95 a month bundle of wireless phone, wireline phone, digital TV and Internet service.
Videotron Wireless, which is running on the Rogers Wireless network, will be available to the rest of its cable territories by the end of the calendar year. It will offer six handsets: Motorola’s L6, V360 and V190; and the Sony Ericsson W600, J300 and Z520.
For consumers, Videotron’s arrival in the wireless market will have the added benefit of stimulating competition by offering a new alternative, said the company at this morning’s press conference. Videotron is offering "a distinctive product in the Canadian marketplace, which currently has one of the lowest wireless penetration rates in the industrialized world," says the release. The company is confident of positive market response, especially from its 3.3 million existing customers (1,521,000 households).
Business customers Videotron is offering a plan for $68.95 per month which includes 300 any-time minutes plus Basic Internet service. For $83.95 per month, business customers will get three products: wireless service with 300 minutes of airtime, Basic Internet service and business cable telephone service. The business telephone service is also being launched today in Québec City area and will be gradually rolled out across the metropolitan area.
According to a recent study, Canada lags well behind the U.S. in wireless telephony. The gap has widened from about a year and a half in 2003 to two and a half years today, said the company, quoting Seaboard Group Research. "Limited competition due to the small number of players in the market, higher prices and lag in data transmission capabilities all help explain why Canada’s wireless industry is trailing major world markets," said the release.
"Québec is behind the U.S. market and even the Canadian market," said Videotron CEO Robert Dépatie. "This means there is strong growth potential for a company with a sound, attractive value proposition. By offering affordable new services such as cable telephone and wireless, Videotron has become a driver of change in the marketplace and is creating consumer-friendly trends across the country."
