Videotron the most Quebecois Canadian company

Videotron S.E.N.C. 1 is one of Canada's leading telecommunications companies. Founded in 1964, it is active in the fields of cable distribution, Internet access, cable telephony, and wireless telephony in 

Videotron

most residential and commercial markets in Quebec, and also in the villages of Ontario. It is a subsidiary of Quebecor Media.

The company's main competitor is Bell Canada, which also offers residential and commercial services in Quebec.

From the beginnings to the 2000s ( Videotron )

Founded in 1964 by André Chagnon, Roger Jauvin, Pierre Hébert and three other shareholders under the name Télécâble Vidéotron ltée, the first cable network was built in the north of Montreal and in certain sectors of Laval under the direction of André Chagnon.

From 1966 to 1969, Videotron expanded and modernized by acquiring several small cable distribution networks in most regions of Quebec.

In 1969, the company offered the first pay-per-view service under the name of Sélecto-TV.In 1974, a two-way network was created in Saint-Jérôme, one of the first in the world at the time. In 1980, Vidéotron acquired Cablevision Nationale, thus becoming the largest cable operator in Quebec.

On November 20, 1985, in order to obtain funds for future investments, the company was listed on the stock exchange.

On July 14, 1986, Videotron acquired Télé-Métropole, the main private television station in Montreal (affiliated with the TVA network), and became one of the major players in the communications industry in Quebec. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the transaction on January 28, 1987.

In 1989, the company opened the first video rental stores under the Le SuperClub Vidéotron brand. The first fiber-optic network is created between the cities of Quebec and Montreal.

On January 24, 1990, Videotron launched an innovative interactive cable system called Video way.

In 1995, Videotron became an Internet access provider, offering a modem and cable service that had 638,000 customers in 2005.

In 1997, CF Cable TV, serving mainly English-speaking customers in the western territories of Montreal and Laval, was acquired by Videotron.

On March 29, 1999, Videotron launched its digital television service in Montreal.

Videotron

The Quebecor era ( Videotron )

The company was bought by Quebecor in August 2000, for the sum of 4.9 billion CAD. The transaction is concluded after a series of takeover bids putting in competition the Quebec group Quebecor, supported by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec and the Canadian cable giant Rogers Communications of Toronto. The CRTC approved the transfer of Videotron's operations on May 23, 2001, requiring in exchange that Quebecor sell the TQS network, another property of the group.

In 2001, Télé Numérique changed its name to Illico.

In 2003 Videotron launched a video on demand and high-definition digital television service.

In 2005, the company launched a residential cable telephone service in the greater Montreal area, which it gradually extended to all the regions it serves. That same year, the company merged its Videotron Telecom and Videotron ltée activities into a single company. In less than a year, Videotron has become the second-largest telecommunications provider in Quebec, after Bell Canada, with 163,000 subscribers.

In 2006 the company launched into mobile telephony but does not have its own network.

In 2007, Videotron opened a call center in Egypt through the company Xceed which also works for Microsoft or General Motors, in order to expand the company's ability to respond to inquiries and technical follow-up of clients.

In August 2007, Videotron revised its residential unlimited High-Speed ​​Internet service by limiting its Extreme High-Speed ​​Internet package, which was unlimited in terms of bandwidth since its creation in 2002, by introducing a consumption limit of 100 Combined upstream and downstream GB, with a charge of CAD 1.50 per additional GB. The new measure, which entered into force on October 1, 2007, is causing controversy among users9. A class-action lawsuit was also launched following this change in consumption limit by the Union des consommateurs du Québec10,11, with success.

As of December 31, 2007, Videotron had 1,638,000 subscribers to conventional cable television service, including 768,000 subscribers to the illico digital television service.

In 2008, Videotron rolled out Intern ( Videotron )

 

In 2008, Videotron rolled out DOCSIS 3.0 Wideband Internet technology to enable the launch on February 2008 of TGV 30 Internet and TGV 50 Internet access, allowing respective download speeds of up to 30 Mbit / s and 50 Mbit / s to meet the needs of customers. Internet users in search of very high speed.

In July 2008, Videotron announced that it had reached the figure of one million subscribers to its high-speed cable Internet service12. In October of the same year, Videotron injected 800 M CAD into its advanced wireless network.

In the spring of 2010, Videotron launched IllicoWeb, a television and video-on-demand service accessible via the Web. The company also announces that it should launch its new mobile phone system in the fall of 2010.

On September 9, 2010, Videotron launched its 3G + mobile telephone service. Subscribers can also watch TV (IllicoMobile) and program their personal digital recorder directly from their mobile phone (EnpMobile): all renamed Illico.

Videotron logo

On March 28, 2014, Videotron signed an agreement with Apple to add the iOS platform to its range of cellular telephones marketed, which included the Android, Windows, and Symbian platforms. Videotron reached the milestone of 500,000 customers for mobile telephony a little earlier in the year. A merger between the mobile networks of Rogers Communications and Videotron was made in the spring of 2014.

In June 2014, Videotron Business launched the very first North American package which includes a combined Voice and Data package in its package range [ref. necessary], to try to offer packages similar to European packages, more advantageous.

On April 7, 2015, Québécor, manager of the new Quebec City amphitheater, gave the name of the Videotron Center to this building.

In 2017, the company was ordered by the Court of Appeal to reimburse its subscribers, following its unilateral revisions of the contractual causes in 2007, providing for a limitation of internet speed14.

In September 2018, Videotron launched the test phase of Fizz, a low-cost MVNO supplier using its network.

On August 17, 2019, the CRTC imposed on Videotron and its two competitors, Bell and Rogers, a reduction in the resale price of their network to small independent access providers, due to numerous errors in the cost calculation methods. The decision, retroactive to 2016, after a first temporary decision in the same direction, has the effect of reducing prices by 1016.

On August 27, 2019, Videotron launched Helix, a new Internet and IPTV service based on Comcast's X1 platform.

In December 2019, Videotron formalized its partnership with Samsung for the deployment of its LTE-A and 5G access networks in Quebec and in the Ottawa region. This new step will allow Videotron to accelerate the construction of its new generation network and aim for gradual commissioning in 2020.