Article content

An Ontario-based telecommunications company is expanding into Alberta, offering home phone, Internet and television packages to consumers seeking an alternative to big players such as Shaw and Telus.

VMedia — a small Internet service provider based in Toronto — received permission last year from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to offer its Internet-based TV services across the country. In addition to Alberta, it will also roll out services this month in B.C., Quebec and Manitoba.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ontario's VMedia enters Alberta, will take on Shaw and Telus for home telecom services Back to video

The three-year-old VMedia, which has 18,000 subscribers in Ontario, is the only “triple-play” company (phone, Internet and TV) available everywhere in that province as an alternative to Rogers and Bell. Its TV services are offered through a set-top box that allows customers to access both traditional HDTV content as well as streaming services such as Netflix.

“We are offering choice, we are offering competition,” VMedia co-founder George Burger said in an interview. “I think it’s very important for companies like VMedia to be able to provide an alternative with better prices.”

There are no details yet about VMedia’s Alberta prices, but the company says consumers can expect to pay up to 25 per cent less for its TV services than the packages offered by the big telecoms. In Ontario, VMedia offers customers a “premium basic” TV package with 60 channels for $44.95 a month and a “basic” package with 40 channels for $29.95. The company also offers a “skinny” package for $17.95, putting it in line with the CRTC’s new rules mandating small cable packages and “pick and pay” capabilities.