Vidéotron

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Vidéotron Limited is an integrated communications company active in cable television, interactive multimedia development, video on demand, wireless communication and Internet access services, serving Quebec, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Quebecor.

Vidéotron serves 1,553,000 cable television customers in Québec; including over 585,000 "illico" (digital cable) subscribers. Vidéotron also provides high-speed cable Internet access, with 769,000 subscribers to its cable modem and dial-up services, the most in Québec and nearly 340,000 cable telephony subscribers as of November 2006. Vidéotron was the only Internet Service Provider to hand over personal information of its subscribers to Canadian Recording Industry Association.

[edit] History

1964: Vidéotron, under the name "Télécâble Vidéotron ltée.", establishes their first network of cable television in north Montréal and parts of Laval, with an initial subscriber base of 66. Their first president is André Chagnon.
1966 - 1969: Vidéotron acquires and upgrades cable television networks across Quebec.
1969: Vidéotron offers the first à la carte cable television service under the name of Sélecto-TV.
1974: Bidirectional cable television debuts in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, a world first.
1980: Vidéotron acquires Câblevision Nationale to become the largest teledistributor in Quebec.
November 20, 1985: Vidéotron's initial public offering with the Montréal Stock Exchange.
1986: Vidéotron acquires Télé-Métropole, the largest private French-language television company in North America.
December 3, 1988: A subsidiary was incorporated under the name Protectron for home security services via their existing cable network.
1989: The SuperClub Vidéotron stores, now the largest chain of video clubs in Quebec, debut. A network of fibre-optic cable is built between Montréal and Quebec City.
1990: Vidéotron launches its first Vidéoway terminals in Quebec, the first system of interactive television in North America.
1995: Vidéotron enters the Internet era: in the next year, they acquire an Internet portal, InfiniT.com, which becomes one of the most popular on the Internet for French-speaking web users.
1997: CF Cable, which operates primarily on the western end of the Island of Montréal, southern Laval and Northern Ontario, is acquired by Vidéotron. The Northern Ontario division was subsequently sold to Regional Cablesystems.
1999: Digital television is launched in Montreal in the spring, following to Hull and Quebec City in the autumn.
2000: Rogers Communications strikes an agreement with the Chagnons to purchase Vidéotron. Citing cultural sovereignty concerns, the second-largest shareholder, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, invokes its right to veto the purchase. After months of legal proceedings, Quebecor, which gained the Caisse's support, acquires Vidéotron instead.
2001: Protectron becomes an independent Canadian Company and is no longer a part of the Vidéotron family of services.
23 May 2001: The CRTC approves the transfer of broadcasting licences from Vidéotron to Quebecor. The interactive television service illico launches.
2002: On may 8th 2002 till march 2003 a strike then a lock-out for Vidéotron Ltee employes take place. The main conflicts between the employer and employees where wages, working conditions and more importantly the transfer of 664 technicians to a subcontractor where wages and working conditions were lower. The employer changed its position on the transfer of the technicians, but gain substantial rights. Vidéotron obtained the right to send 40% of the installation and repair services to subcontractors. Wages would be frozen until 2005, and the workweek was extended 2.5 hours.
2003: Video on demand and high-definition television become available.
2005: Telephone services through cable with Cable telephony technology launches. (They do NOT use voice over IP)
2005: Parent company Videotron Telecom, is merged.
2006: Vidéotron launches wireless service. (Using Rogers existing infrastructures)
~2008: Vidéotron plans to re-establish home security services.
~2010: Vidéotron plans to completely eliminate the analogical signal from their cable lines.

During its existence, Vidéotron has also been active in the United Kingdom, Africa, and the United States. One of its previous subsidiaries, Videotron Telecom, was financed by the well-known Carlyle Group.