Novus (ftth carrier)

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Novus (home page) is a Fiber to the premises (FTTP) provider in parts of downtown Vancouver, currently the only one of its kind in Canada. Novus provides up to 50Mbit/s Ethernet (full-duplex) for $$179.95/mth 320GB limit, stepping down to 30Mbit/s for $89.95/mth 160GB limit, both have upload speeds of 10Mbit/s. There is no need for DSL or cable box. For most of the equipped condominiums in the area, you merely plug in your Cat-5/Cat-6 into the jack in the wall. Personal web page and on-line (as well as POP/SMTP) e-mail access is provided.

Novus also provides analog & digital TV (SD as well as HD) services. Basic packages start from $20/month for analog TV. The extra cost for HDTV is less than $3/month (free if you also subscribe to their internet service). You can use your own HDTV receiver or purchase one from Novus. There are no contracts required and you can cancel at any time.

For the average consumer, who will subscribe to both TV and Internet, it would cost about $52/month. This compares well to the base offering from Shaw, which is the same price but the TV and Internet package is significantly inferior. Shaw's TV bundle includes only 21 channels, several which aren't normally considered viewing channels (such as cpac or TV listings) [1]. The equivalent Novus cable package contains 33 channels [2].

The HDTV quality is very good, though it is not certain how it compares to Shaw's HDTV. There have been some rumors (unsubstantiated) that it is as good as over-the-air HDTV since they have sufficient bandwidth to provide the service. There are no obvious compression artifacts on the CBC, CTV, NBC and CBS HDTV channels (when the show is shot in HD). However, artifacts are noticeable even on the HD movie channels.