Montréal, November 7, 2008 – Videotron continued to register strong growth in the third quarter of 2008, posting substantial customer base increases for its four major products: cable television, Internet access, cable telephone service and wireless telephone service. It was the 13th consecutive quarter of growth for all the Company's services.
Our business strategy, based on always delivering the best possible customer experience and advantageously priced service bundles, continues to pay off, said Robert Dépatie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Videotron. The growth logged in the last quarter again confirms our leadership position in Canada's telecommunications industry and is a strong vote of confidence from our customers.
Booming popularity of illico Digital TV
As of September 30, 2008, there were 1,691,500 subscribers to Videotron's cable television service, including 876,700 subscribers to illico Digital TV. The number of subscribers to Videotron's cable television service increased by 31,000 during the quarter and by 53,000 on a year-to-date basis, compared with 44,000 during the same period of 2007. Year-to-date customer growth for illico Digital TV total 109,000, compared with 97,000 in the same period of 2007. Videotron remains the only Video on Demand provider in its service area with a catalogue of more than 2,300 titles.
Milestone for cable Internet access service
Videotron's cable Internet access service crossed an important threshold during the quarter, passing the million-customer mark on July 18, 2008 and reconfirming Videotron's position as the uncontested Internet access leader in its service area. As of September 30, 2008, there were 1,031,400 subscribers to the service, an increase of 98,000 since the beginning of the year.
Consumers continue flocking to cable telephone service
Videotron's cable telephone service also sustained its success during the third quarter. Québec households and organizations had activated a total of 797,900 phones on the service as of September 30, 2008, an increase of 55,000 during the quarter and 162,000 since the beginning of the year.
A new chapter for Videotron
Videotron completed its line of products by adding wireless telephone service in 2006 as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, or MVNO, utilizing wireless voice and data services provided by Rogers Wireless across its GSM/GPRS network. Since that service was introduced, Videotron has activated a total of 58,600 phones, including 14,000 since the beginning of 2008.
On October 22, 2008, Videotron and Quebecor Media confirmed their intention to invest between $800 million and $1 billion over the next four years to develop their own Advanced Wireless Services ("AWS") network. The new, state-of-the-art High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network will enable Videotron to bring Québec consumers and small businesses an unprecedented offering of advanced wireless telecommunications services. The project will also create approximately 1,000 jobs at Videotron over the next two years.
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, cable telephony and wireless telephone service. Videotron 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. As of September 30, 2008, Videotron was serving 1,691,500 cable television customers in Québec, including 876,700 illico Digital TV subscribers. Videotron is the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,031,400 subscribers to its cable modem service as of September 30, 2008. As of the same date, Videotron had activated 58,600 lines on its wireless telephone service and was providing cable telephone service to 797,900 Québec households and organizations.
