Bell Mobile TV is a

mobile television Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satellite broadcast. Regular broadcast stan ...

service available to Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada customers. As of Q4 2013, there are 1 230 000 customers with Mobile TV, or over 15.8% of Bell's mobile customer base.

History

2000s: Early versions

Early versions of Bell Mobile TV used the slower CDMA network.

2010s: new HSPA+ version and tablet support

The Bell Mobile TV was launched for Bell

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s on October 18, 2010. Support for

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being com ...

and Virgin Mobile Canada customers was later added.

2015s: Version 5.0

Version 5.0 was launched on Android devices in December 2014 and on

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

in January 2015. The new app introduced new usage metering to allow users to track their viewing time. The application added support for the newer operating systems such as iOS 8 and Lollipop. The video on demand section of the app had an overhaul to allow better navigation of content.

Crave TV Crave (initially named CraveTV) is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily American-based se ...

content was included as a section of Bell Satellite TV app.

Hardware

Early iterations of Bell Mobile TV only supported CDMA handsets with the

Evolution-Data Optimized Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO, EVDO, etc.) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. EV-DO is an evolution of the CDMA2000 (IS-2000) standard which su ...

(EV-DO) technology. In the 2010s, support for these older devices was discontinued in favor of faster HSPA+ handsets and technology. Devices capable of Bell Mobile TV include

hardware such as the iPhone and

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

, but not the iPod Touch or the Apple TV. Newer Android and BlackBerry handsets and tablets sold by Bell or Virgin

Services

Mobile TV

Service plans for Mobile TV cost $5 per month and include 5 hours (formerly 10) of access to all live and on demand channels, with additional hours costing $3 each. If any hours are unused, they cannot be rolled over to the next month. As of April 29, 2015, Bell Mobile TV usage is counted as part of subscribers' overall mobile data usage. As compensation, subscribers will also receive 5 hours of Mobile TV access over Wi-Fi.

Channels

Bell divides its Mobile TV channels into several themes. Although each previously incurred separate charges, Bell's current rates include access to all channels without having to choose specific themes: * HBO: '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

'', ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

'' and ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The ser ...

'' * Sports: TSN, TSN2, RDS, RDS2, ''NFL'',

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...

, NFL RedZone, ''

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

'' and CBN * English entertainment: CBC, CTV,

CTV 2 CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional cab ...

Stingray Juicebox Stingray Juicebox is a Canadian music specialty channel owned by Stingray Group. It is a commercial-free channel that broadcasts music and music videos aimed towards children and teens. The channel was first established in 2001 by Craig Media a ...

, MTV,

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...

, YTV, bpm:tv,

B4U Music B4U Music is an Indian Hindi music channel owned by the B4U Network Limited. The channel broadcasts a mixture of contemporary Bollywood, Indipop, Bhangra and international music. Programs include celebrity interviews, artist profiles, concerts ...

, ''

CTV Comedy Channel CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octobe ...

'', ''

A.Side TV A.Side TV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Blue Ant Media. Originally focusing on music and pop culture programming, the channel currently broadcasts general entertainment programming. History As AUX (2009-2016) Originat ...

'' and ''

Makeful Makeful (formerly known as BiteTV) is a Canadian pay television channel owned by Blue Ant Media. It has transmittered from 299 Queen Street West since at least 2012. The channel was first launched on March 5, 2005, as BiteTV, and primarily aired ...

'' * French entertainment:

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

and V * News: BNN,

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

, CTV News Channel,

CP24 CP24 is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by Bell Media, a subsidiary of BCE Inc. and operated alongside the Bell-owned CTV Television Network's owned-and-operated television stations CFTO-DT (CTV Toronto) and CKVR-DT ( ...

(Ontario only),

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, NDTV 24x7 Channels and programming in ''italics'' are On Demand. These channels are also available Live, with the exception of Aux, Bite, Comedy, and all HBO offerings.

Criticism

In 2011, the CRTC ruled in a complaint by

Telus Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) is the wholly owned principal subsidiary of Telus Corporation, a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian national telecommunications company that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services ...

that Bell could not use the Mobile TV service to tie exclusive mobile rights to television content (specifically,

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

and NFL games) to its own services without offering them to competing providers. In December 2013, the CRTC received a complaint alleging that Bell's original pricing structure for Mobile TV was a violation of the undue preference rules in the Telecommunications Act; as the service charged by hours viewed, counting separately from overall mobile data use, it was considered to be an effective subsidy on Bell-owned content transmitted over the mobile network that does not apply to any other competing video services. On January 29, 2015, the CRTC ruled that Bell had violated the undue preference rules with its mobile TV offerings, and ordered the company to change its pricing structure by April 29, 2015. Effective April 29, 2015, Bell Mobile TV usage counts towards subscribers' overall data usage.

References

External links

Bell Small Business Mobility Solutions
{{Bell Canada Mobile television Bell Canada