Cutting The Cable In Canada–Bell Fibe TV (Part 2)
This is part two of a blog series on cutting the cable in Canada. You can read part one by clicking here.
One of the services I came across in my research was Bell’s Fibe TV service, and I have to admit that if it was available in my neighbourhood now then this contest might be over.
Those of you who know me also know that I’m in violent opposition to the anti-competitive tactics that Bell is using when it comes to Internet pricing here in Canada. However, even with that chip on my shoulder I’d have a hard time passing on this service.
Bell’s service is based on Microsoft’s Mediaroom internet tv platform, which takes all the best parts of Windows Media Center and packages them up for Internet TV service providers. The best PVR experience out there, true multi-room and multi-device content sharing, all of the latest high definition TV content, and the latest HD movies for rent.
Bear in mind that I haven’t actually used the service, so I’m sure there are some warts to be found, but based on what I know I’m giddy in anticipation. Let’s remove the giddiness though and apply some math.
From my current cable TV provider, I subscribe to a mid-grade package which includes most of the broadcast and basic cable channels but none of the premium channels (HBO, TMN, etc). I rent one set-top box, bought another on eBay, but I do not use or pay for their PVR. For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll assume that my family’s viewing patterns don’t change and that I would want to enable several TVs in the house with this service.
My Current Cable Bill: $56.99 before taxes
Equivalent Bell Fibe TV Bill: $35 before taxes
As mentioned above I don’t currently rent a PVR from my cable company, because it sucks, however in this case I would want to get the non-sucky PVR. The nice thing about Fibe TV is that you only need one PVR and the rest is shared to the TVs in your house. So let’s add $20 a month to that bill to bring it to $55.
And now you see why I’m giddy… looks like this has the promise to meet my needs and hit the magic number! Of course this is all academic, because it’s not available outside of small pockets in downtown Toronto and Montreal with no estimate on availability elsewhere. Pity.
The search continues…
For those who compare this to the price on Bell’s website… click on the terms & conditions and you’ll see that there’s a $5 bundle discount and a hidden $3 digital service fee. Add those to the posted price and you get $35.
Since Lubor cut his cable, I’m wondering if AppleTV, Boxee apps and Netflix will solve the problem… the biggest issue is that content stops at the Canadian border which is very very annoying. I would absolutely pay for Hulu like functionality if it were available. Lots of stuff is also available for free, but is geolocked in some manner or the other and presumably circumventing that is not a truly legal solution.
Does the FibeTV option require you to subscribe to Fibe Internet? If so, this skews the cost and brings along with it Bell’s draconian usage caps.