Canada’s Shaw Communications announced a voice-controlled television product on Wednesday that it hopes will help it stem years of market share losses to western Canadian telecom rival Telus.
The product, named BlueSky TV, is available in Calgary and will expand to other markets in coming months, Shaw said in a statement.
The product is powered by Comcast’s X1 (CMCSA) technology, which is making its first foray outside of the United States.
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Fellow cable company Rogers Communications (RCIAF), a major television provider in eastern Canada, said in December that it had scrapped development of its own internet-based television platform in favor of X1, which it does not expect to introduce until 2018.
Cable companies have struggled to respond to telecom rivals’ internet-based TV services, which have eroded their market dominance.
Shaw (SJR) began offering aggressively priced high-speed internet in mid-July and recently added wireless to its product mix through its purchase of Wind Mobile, which it has renamed Freedom Mobile.
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The Calgary-based company said BlueSky would be available for as low as C$99.90 ($75.85) a month for 12 months when coupled with its high-end internet on a two-year plan.
Shaw is due to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.
