Montréal, June 14, 2004 - Vidéotron is holding a press briefing this morning to demonstrate its WiFi service, which lets customers access the Internet quickly, easily and securely from any location with a Vidéotron wireless high-speed Internet access point. Vidéotron launched its WiFi service in November 2003, in line with its commitment to offering customers ever greater flexibility.
WIRELESS HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS SOLUTIONS
HOTELS
Through an agreement with i-hotel , Vidéotron's WiFi service is already available at 14 hotels in Québec, enabling business people and travellers to access the wireless highspeed Internet service from their notebook computers 24/7, quickly and securely. Once logged on, clients can download files of any size without losing their connection while walking between guest rooms and conference rooms or even riding the elevator.
LIST OF HOTELS WHERE WIFI SERVICE IS AVAILABLE:
Le Capitole de Québec, Hôtel Clarendon, Hôtel Val-des-neiges, Hôtel Le Méridien Versailles-Montréal, Château Versailles, Ramada Plaza Manoir du Casino, Hostellerie Les Trois Tilleuls, Hostellerie Rive Gauche, Best Western Dorval, Best Western Europa, Best Western Gatineau, Hôtel Château Joliette, Le Nouvel Hôtel & Spa and Hôtel/Motel Capri. Vidéotron is talking to other hotels about offering WiFi service at more establishments. Vidéotron's cable television service is also available daily in 43,838 hotel rooms across Québec. The confidence demonstrated by leading hotels attests to Vidéotron's state-of-the-art five-star service.
Simplicity itself
To access the WiFi service, subscribers need a wireless Ethernet network (WiFi) card. If they do not have a built-in WiFi adapter, they can attach a USB adapter. The process is simple: when the computer is powered on, a signal indicating that an access point has been detected appears. In the Vidéotron profile, the client unchecks the use a proxy server (for your LAN) option and is ready to start using the Internet.
COFFEE SHOPS, RESTAURANTS, PUBLIC PLACES
Vidéotron has also been offering a WiFi solution for coffee shops, restaurants and public places since January 2004. Owners of such establishments can promote customer loyalty and set themselves apart from the competition by installing WiFi access. To log on to the Internet, patrons buy time with their credit card (or a scratch card sold by the establishment), enter their user name and password on the Internet homepage, and then enter their Vidéotron high-speed subscriber number. Wireless high-speed Internet access will be available shortly in certain public places to serve travellers and other users. It will be offered free of charge for a limited time.
LIST OF COFFEE SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AND PUBLIC PLACES WHERE WIFI SERVICE IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
Restaurant Michelangelo (Sainte-Foy), Café du Globe (Sherbrooke), Hôtel Days Inn Sainte-Foy (lobby), Hôtel Clarion Sainte-Foy (lobby) and Château Mont-Sainte Anne (lobby). The service will be available at the Restaurant Saint-Julien and the St. James Club soon.
The Starbucks chain of coffee shops has chosen Vidéotron as its supplier of wireless Internet access and will install access points in its Québec establishments over the summer. Vidéotron wireless Internet access will also be available soon at the Old Port and an agreement should be signed soon with Central Station in Montréal.
Vidéotron's wireless high-speed Internet access service is compatible with notebook computers, hand-held computers and PDA devices. It can support high-speed Internet service to hundreds of users in a single room.
Vidéotron ltée, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development and Internet access services. Vidéotron is a leader in new technologies with its illico interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. Vidéotron serves 1,437,000 cable customers in Québec; including over 273,000 illico subscribers. Vidéotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed cable Internet access, with more than 460,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services.
