Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in ...

in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the

Mediaroom Mediaroom is a collection of software for operators to deliver IPTV (IPTV) subscription services, including content-protected, live, digital video recorder, video on demand, multiscreen, and applications. These services can be delivered via a rang ...

platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on September 13, 2010. It is also available in Manitoba and

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundla ...

, where Fibe TV is re-packaged, being offered by

Bell MTS Bell MTS Inc. (formerly Manitoba Telecom Services) is a subsidiary of BCE Inc. that operates telecommunications services in Manitoba. Originally established as Manitoba Government Telephones after the Government of Manitoba purchased the Manito ...

and

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atlantic provinces and a few othe ...

with similar services and integrated with Bell Fibe TV."FibreOP is transforming into Fibe"
/ref>

History

Bell began researching for a new television solution in 2004 in order to penetrate into urban markets where building owners restricted the installation of satellite dishes. The launch of Bell ExpressVu for Condos (VDSL service) proved to be ineffective since that service did not allow for customers to benefit from HD programming and PVR options. In 2006, after much research was done, Bell started testing

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...

technologies in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

, and

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

with Bell employees using the

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. ...

platform. In October 2007, Bell finally launched a pilot project of IPTV branded as Bell Entertainment Service in select areas and buildings of Toronto. Most of the features that are now available with Fibe TV were offered with Bell Entertainment Service. Some key traits of Bell Entertainment Service were internet and TV charges being billed as one service, "White Glove" customer service and media sharing. After finalizing testing for the new IPTV service in the following years, Bell finally rolled out a contained launch in Toronto and Montreal under the "Bell Fibe TV" brand name in June 2010 followed by an official launch later that year in September. On July 19, 2016

stated that its FibreOP TV service available in Atlantic Canada would be integrating with Bell Fibe TV in Ontario and Québec."FibreOP is transforming into Fibe"
/ref> On September 6, 2016, Bell announced a change to their Fibe TV service. Beginning in 2017, Bell Fibe TV customers would no longer be required to also sign up for Fibe Internet service in order to access their Fibe TV service.

Availability

Bell Fibe TV is currently available in select areas of Ontario and Quebec. It is also available in

, where Fibe TV is re-packaged, being offered by

with similar services and integrated with Bell Fibe TV. FibreOP has been rebranded as Fibe."FibreOP is transforming into Fibe"
/ref> There is constant ongoing expansion in provinces. Those noted being offered by Bell in Ontario and Quebec include: ¹Fibe TV in Almonte and Carleton Place is only available in areas that are served by

FTTH Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...

Hardware

Bell Fibe TV receivers are manufactured by Arris formerly

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

. The four models that are currently being offered to subscribers are the HD PVR (VIP2262), 4K PVR (VIP5662), 4K PVR (VIP7802 android tv) wired HD Receiver (VIP2202), and wireless HD Receiver (VIP2502). The HD Receivers can only view programming and do not contain a hard drive; however, they are able to record and access recorded programs through the networked whole home PVR. Previous models included the VIP1232, VIP1216 and VIP1200. The PVR includes an internal 1TB

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with mag ...

for recording programs. The PVR and wired HD receivers can be connected to the network through either a

coaxial cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ) is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a p ...

Category 5 cable Category 5 cable (Cat 5) is a twisted pair cable for computer networks. Since 2001, the variant commonly in use is the Category 5e specification (Cat 5e). The cable standard provides performance of up to 100 MHz and is ...

and the wireless HD receiver connects using 5 GHz 802.11n.

Features

Features of Bell Fibe TV include the following: * Whole Home PVR: a brand name also used by many of Bell's competitors. It describes a system where all receivers in a household are connected together via a local network. This allows viewers to record, pause and playback content from any room in the house. **Fibe TV PVRs can store up to 320 hours of HD content or 150 hours of 4K content with the 4K PVR (5662) or 160 hours of HD content with the 2262. Hours-capacity is doubled for SD (standard definition) 480p channels 1-999. * Fibe TV On Demand: a VOD service with over 1000 titles, including movies & TV series * Ability to search for programs by title, cast members, or a simple keyword search. The electronic program guide has 14 days worth of listings and allows viewers to customize the display to show their favourite channels. * Picture in picture browsing and channel surfing: viewers can watch one channel and browse other channels or channel listings. * Changing channels happens with virtually no delay compared to satellite service. * For every standard definition channel subscribed to, customers receive the HD version (when available) at no extra charge in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Since the programming options are different in Québec, HD channels are included in "The Basic" package but need to be selected separately for any "A La Carte" option. * TV based apps such as Netflix, Youtube (4K PVR only), Stingray Music, TSN Extra, or The Weather Network.

Channels

Bell Fibe TV provides up to 500 channels (fewer in Atlantic Canada, about half the number available in Ontario) including all major Canadian and US networks, popular specialty services, PPV, sports packages, over 85 international services and over 115 high-definition channels. Key services include: * Fibe TV on Demand: Crave, HBO, Treehouse, and YTV. Also providing rental movies from current releases to 2 decades back. * Crave: A Canadian subscription video on demand service for cable and satellite subscribers. * English-language premium movie channels: Crave, Super Channel, and HBO Canada *

Super Écran Super Écran is a Canadian premium television network owned by Bell Media. It airs a mix of commercial-free films and television series. Films are primarily sourced from the United States and Canada, while the television series mostly consist of ...

: A French-language premium movie service. * Several sport-themed premium services: beIN Sports (HD & En Espanol HD), March Madness HD,

MLB Extra Innings MLB Extra Innings is an out-of-market sports package distributed in North America by satellite provider DirecTV since 1996 and by most cable providers since 2001. The package allowed its subscribers to see up to 80 out-of-market Major League Bas ...

(SD & HD),

NFL RedZone ''NFL RedZone'' (stylized as ''NFL RedZone from NFL Network'') is an American sports television channel owned and operated by NFL Network since 2009. As a "special" game-day exclusive, it broadcasts on Sundays during the NFL regular season from ...

(SD & HD), NFL Sunday Ticket (SD & HD),

NHL Centre Ice NHL Centre Ice is a Canadian digital cable subscription out-of-market sports package controlled and distributed by Rogers Communications through Rogers Cable as of 2014. It is offered by three national satellite television service providers, Be ...

(SD & HD) and Sportsnet World (SD & HD) *

Vu! Vu!, also operating as Bell TV On Demand, is a Canadian English and French language pay-per-view and Video on Demand provider that launched in October 1999 and is owned by Bell Media. Vu! is the largest PPV service provider in Canada and is avail ...

: pay-per-view featuring 50 English-language channels and 22 French-language channels * Six adult pornography channels (Bell's thirteen

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

pornographic channels are unavailable on Fibe TV) * Over 150 international channels in over 27 different languages including CPAC, TLN, and

Omni 2 CJMT-DT (channel 40) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of two flagship stations of the Canadian multilingual network Omni Television. CJMT-DT is owned and operated by Rogers Sports & Media alongside sister Omni out ...

* 68 radio channels; 47 Stingray Music digital music stations and 19 Canadian commercial radio stations, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

's KUOW-FM

Internet service

Bell Fibe TV used to require a Bell Internet subscription. It is now possible to subscribe to Fibe TV without also subscribing to internet (Bell references it as "Dark TV"), but it is not possible to do so via Bell's website at the moment. The speed listed for the Internet connection remains unused for the television service.

Simultaneous streaming

with 4K

With the 4K PVR, it is possible to watch or record up to 10 different channels simultaneously, 4 of which can be at 4K resolution. Up to 6 shows can be recorded simultaneously.

with HD

With the HD PVR, it is possible to watch or record up to 4 different channels simultaneously but only up to three in HD. So to view four different channels, one of them must be in standard definition. The HD PVR can record up to two shows simultaneously. Note that the same channel playing on two or more receivers only counts as one channel, as receivers that gets tuned to a channel already playing on another receiver will reuse the same video stream.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell Fibe Tv Bell Canada IPTV companies of Canada Companies based in Montreal 2010 establishments in Quebec