Белл Спутниковое ТВ: История и Современное Состояние

Bell Canada's satellite TV service
Canadian satellite TV provider

Bell Satellite TV (; formerly known as Bell ExpressVu, Dish Network Canada and ExpressVu Dish Network and not to be confused with Bell's IPTV Fibe TV service) is the division of BCE Inc. that provides satellite television service across Canada. It launched on September 10, 1997. As of April 2017, Bell Satellite TV provides over 700 channels (including over 430 SDTV, 200 HDTV and 80 audio channels) to over 1 million subscribers. Its major competitors include satellite service Shaw Direct, as well as various cable and communications companies across Canada. Bell Satellite TV for Condos launched as Bell ExpressVu for Condos in 2004. It was a VDSL service for select multidwelling units (condominiums and apartments) in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. It later evolved into an IPTV service. Since 2010, this service operates as Bell Fibe TV and is delivered over FTTN or FTTH technology. By the end of the decade, Fibe TV became Bell's main television service offering, with over 75% more subscribers compared to satellite TV. Bell Satellite TV services were also repackaged and resold by Telus as Telus Satellite TV, in areas where the latter company's Optik IPTV services are unavailable.

ExpressVu was conceived in 1994, at the time of American DSS systems launch, as a consortium of Ontario based Tee Comm Electronics, Canadian Satellite Communications (Cancom), Vancouver based Western International Communications (WIC) and Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), with a projected startup date of late 1995. High technology development costs and delays placed Tee Comm in a severe financial position, prompting the remaining partners to pull out in 1996. Instead, U. S. satellite TV provider Echostar Dish Network was chosen to provide the receivers and uplink equipment. The Hughes DirecTV system had already been optioned to Power Broadcasting, in Canada; it has since been withdrawn. Tee Comm on its own managed to launch the first DBS service in Canada, AlphaStar, in early 1997; however, in a matter of months the company went bankrupt and the service was discontinued, leaving thousands of consumers with useless receivers (although with some reconfiguration, could be used to receive unencrypted FTA channels). ExpressVu launched service in September 1997, initially as "Dish Network Canada", followed by "ExpressVu Dish Network", in both cases using the Echostar logo.

Bell took over full ownership of ExpressVu by 2000. The ExpressVu name was retired in August 2008 along with the Today Just Got Better advertising campaign. Bell's television services as a whole are now simply called Bell TV. When disambiguation is required, the satellite service is called Bell Satellite TV. Plans have been shelved for any additional ExpressVu satellite expenditures assuming pending CRTC and Industry Canada approval for Dish Network to use all 32 transponders on Nimiq 5. As a result of this, SES has announced that they will not be replacing the ill fated AMC 14 now that Dish Network has cut this deal with Telesat & BCE for Nimiq 5 usage. In 2009, Telus reached a deal to resell a re packaged version of the Bell Satellite TV service in parts of Alberta and British Columbia known as Telus Satellite TV. The agreement was designed to allow Telus the ability to "instantly" offer a quadruple play of services in markets where it has not yet deployed its IPTV services, while also allowing Bell to increase its television market share in Western Canada. The Telus branded service co exists with the Bell branded version of Bell Satellite TV, which is still offered in the markets that Telus Satellite TV is offered. As of March 31, 2018 Telus Satellite TV is no longer available to new customers. Current subscribers can update their channels by calling 310 MYTV (6968). https://www. telus. com/en/tv/satellite

In 2012, Bell changed satellite plans in Ontario. They are now sold in packages called "Good", "Better" and "Best" similarly to its competitor Rogers Cable in that region. Channels in the "Best" tier can still be purchased in theme packages, and existing customers with older plans are grandfathered. This also does not affect other regions such as Quebec, where there are different types of plans. Along with these changes, Bell discontinued sales and rentals of its final standard definition television (SDTV) receiver, the 4100 model. Customers who still have an older SDTV with an AV input (or peripheral modulator) can use an HD receiver, but the quality will be limited to 480i due to technical limitations.

Bell Satellite TV broadcasts from two geostationary satellites: Nimiq 4 and 6. Nimiq 4 was launched on September 19, 2008, and Nimiq 6 was launched on May 17, 2012. Both satellites follow an equatorial path, giving coverage to most of Canada. Nimiq is an Inuktitut word for "that which unifies" and was chosen from a nationwide naming contest in 1998. The two satellites are owned and operated by Telesat Canada. Bell's uplink site is located in North York, Toronto, Ontario. Nimiq 4, located at 82° W primarily serves Bell's high definition television content. Nimiq 6, located at 91.1°W primarily serves Bell's standard definition television and radio content. Each satellite has 32 Ku band transponders. A transponder usually has enough bandwidth to broadcast approximately 10 channels. Because HDTV requires more bandwidth, some transponders typically broadcast only 4 5 channels. LyngSat provides a listing of channels on Nimiq 4 and Nimiq 6 broken down by transponder.