Montréal, July 17, 2006 – Videotron is again boosting Internet access speeds for its customers. Starting tomorrow, Tuesday July 18, residential subscribers to Videotron's Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service will get speeds of up to 20 Mbps for the same price, $79.95 per month. The change applies throughout Videotron's service area, a total of 2.4 million homes passed. The increase from 16 Mbps to 20 Mbps makes Videotron the first major telecom provider in Canada to offer service at this speed throughout its service area and cements its position as the clear leader in consumer Internet services in Québec.
Tried and true technology
"With speeds of up to 20 Mbps supported by advanced technology that has been tried and tested, we continue delivering on our promise to always be the fastest, period," said Robert Dépatie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Videotron. "Today's announcement also fulfils our commitment to offer our customers technological services tailored to their needs. We are pleased to see that our offerings are spurring the entire telecommunications industry to be more competitive and more cutting edge, which is good for all consumers across Canada."
After the launch of Videotron's 16 Mbps Extreme Plus service in March 2006, the Seabord Group consulting firm released Escape Velocity, a study of the fastest Internet services which compared the services available in Canada and abroad. It concluded that "Videotron's offering of 16 Mbps service provides it with both strategic and technical leadership in the Canadian market."
"We registered record growth in 2005 with 130,000 new subscribers to our Internet access services," said Mr. Dépatie. "As of March 31, 2006, we had 699,000 Internet subscribers. A Léger-Marketing survey found a customer satisfaction rate of 96.7%. Delivering 20 Mbps for the same price as 16 Mbps will help us maintain the very high level of satisfaction among our subscribers."
Meeting the needs of Internet users
With download speeds of up to 20 Mbps and upload speed of 1 Mbps, Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet is a solution tailored to users' needs, letting them transfer legally available bandwidth-hungry online content, images, videos and music faster than ever before.
Good news for video, music and gaming buffs
Multi-taskers will be well served by 20 Mbps download speeds on Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet, which can easily support several simultaneous activities, such as online radio and instant messaging. The new, faster Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service will also enhance the Internet experience of families that share a single Internet connection through a router.
Customers who are looking for more will find it: in addition to unparalleled speed, Videotron offers subscribers to Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet a selection of related services:
Six email addresses with virus checking and spam filtering. The customer can give the five other addresses to family members;
WebMail, which makes it possible to retrieve and send email from any computer;
10 hours of free dial-up access per month (certain conditions apply);
Opportunity to subscribe to Videotron Security Services, including virus checker, firewall, spyware protection, parental control and more.
Videotron subscribers have access to uninterrupted 24/7 tech support.
The price of Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service remains the same, starting at $79.95 per month.* The monthly data transfer limit is 20 GB** for downloads and 10 GB** for uploads.
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 and residential 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 March 31, 2006, Videotron was serving 1,520,000 cable television customers in Québec; including 512,000 illico subscribers. Videotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 699,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. In addition, Videotron provides residential telephone service to more than 227,000 customers in Québec.
* This offer is available to new residential subscribers to Videotron's Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service with a 12-month contract. Charges for extra monthly bandwidth use may apply.
** There is a $7.95 charge for each additional GB.
Tried and true technology
"With speeds of up to 20 Mbps supported by advanced technology that has been tried and tested, we continue delivering on our promise to always be the fastest, period," said Robert Dépatie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Videotron. "Today's announcement also fulfils our commitment to offer our customers technological services tailored to their needs. We are pleased to see that our offerings are spurring the entire telecommunications industry to be more competitive and more cutting edge, which is good for all consumers across Canada."
After the launch of Videotron's 16 Mbps Extreme Plus service in March 2006, the Seabord Group consulting firm released Escape Velocity, a study of the fastest Internet services which compared the services available in Canada and abroad. It concluded that "Videotron's offering of 16 Mbps service provides it with both strategic and technical leadership in the Canadian market."
"We registered record growth in 2005 with 130,000 new subscribers to our Internet access services," said Mr. Dépatie. "As of March 31, 2006, we had 699,000 Internet subscribers. A Léger-Marketing survey found a customer satisfaction rate of 96.7%. Delivering 20 Mbps for the same price as 16 Mbps will help us maintain the very high level of satisfaction among our subscribers."
Meeting the needs of Internet users
With download speeds of up to 20 Mbps and upload speed of 1 Mbps, Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet is a solution tailored to users' needs, letting them transfer legally available bandwidth-hungry online content, images, videos and music faster than ever before.
Good news for video, music and gaming buffs
Multi-taskers will be well served by 20 Mbps download speeds on Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet, which can easily support several simultaneous activities, such as online radio and instant messaging. The new, faster Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service will also enhance the Internet experience of families that share a single Internet connection through a router.
Customers who are looking for more will find it: in addition to unparalleled speed, Videotron offers subscribers to Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet a selection of related services:
Six email addresses with virus checking and spam filtering. The customer can give the five other addresses to family members;
WebMail, which makes it possible to retrieve and send email from any computer;
10 hours of free dial-up access per month (certain conditions apply);
Opportunity to subscribe to Videotron Security Services, including virus checker, firewall, spyware protection, parental control and more.
Videotron subscribers have access to uninterrupted 24/7 tech support.
The price of Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service remains the same, starting at $79.95 per month.* The monthly data transfer limit is 20 GB** for downloads and 10 GB** for uploads.
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 and residential 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 March 31, 2006, Videotron was serving 1,520,000 cable television customers in Québec; including 512,000 illico subscribers. Videotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 699,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services. In addition, Videotron provides residential telephone service to more than 227,000 customers in Québec.
* This offer is available to new residential subscribers to Videotron's Extreme Plus High-Speed Internet service with a 12-month contract. Charges for extra monthly bandwidth use may apply.
** There is a $7.95 charge for each additional GB.
