Montreal: Videotron’s transformation into an integrated communications company took another step forward this month with the introduction of a digital pager with voice-mail service.
The pager launch is in partnership with PageNet, the North American paging industry leader, which is providing network and equipment support.
Jean-Paul Galarneau, general manager, communications, says Videotron’s extended service region capacity is the major competitive advantage.
Videotron’s Pronto Flx pager service offers local zone coverage extending from Rimouski, Que. to Ottawa, from the Saguenay region to Kingston, Ont. with additional geographic coverage also available. He says the coverage area is almost three times more than that offered by the competition.
Videotron’s digital pager with voice-mail service is being marketed to consumers, especially families, teens and the self-employed.
Pager penetration is at the 5% level in Quebec. The category is dominated by Bell, which has more than half the market, and Cantel, which holds less than 20%. Galarneau says there is room for growth in the Quebec market, projected at 20% a year for the next five years, especially among non-business consumers. He says pager penetration is at the 13% level in the u.s.
Videotron’s pager (manufactured by Motorola) is being marketed through direct response to Videotron’s 1.1 million cable-television subscribers at the 20% reduced cost of $8.95 a month. It is also being sold in over 100 Super Videotron retail outlets.
Galarneau says the pager’s low price makes it an effective extension of the telephone. ‘A father can say to his 14-year-old daughter, `If you’re not home by 10 p.m., I’m going to page you.”
Galarneau says 80% of all long-distance calls by Quebecers are made within the province, adding it is this `captive’ feature of the local market which is the basis of a range of bundled services which Videotron, Pagenet and other partners intend to introduce in the future.
The launch ad campaign from Publicis-BCP uses daily newspapers, and French tv.
PageNet services nine million customers in North America.
