Replacement Remotes

Bell ExpressVu is the division of Bell Canada that provides satellite television service across Canada. more...

Home
Car Alarms & Security
Factory, OEM Car Security
Installation Manuals
Keys, Transponders
Other Car Alarm
Relays, Sensors
Remote Entry/Alarm Combos
Remote Start/Alarm Combos
Replacement Remotes
Standard Car Alarm Systems
Car Amplifiers
Car Audio In-Dash Units
Car CD Changers
Car Electronics
Car Electronics Parts &...
Car GPS Devices
Car Installation Products
Car Portable Appliances
Car Radar, Laser Detectors
Car Signal Processors
Car Speakers & Speaker...
Car Subwoofers & Enclosures
Car Video & Navigation
Other Car Electronics
Wholesale Car Audio Lots

It launched on September 10, 1997 and as of 2004 it has been providing "ExpressVu TV for Condos", a VDSL service provided to select multidwelling units (condominiums and apartments) in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Bell ExpressVu provides over 400 digital video and audio channels to, as of March 2006, over 1.7 million subscribers. Its major competitors include satellite service StarChoice, as well as various cable and communications companies across Canada, such as Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, and Videotron.

Bell Canada constructed the name ExpressVu for its universal recognition by both English and French speakers. Anglophones--and Bell's own English-language advertisements--pronounce the name as "express view", while francophones understand "vu" as the past participle of the word "voir", "to see".

ExpressVu was conceived in 1994, at the time of American DSS systems launch, as a consortium of Ontario-based Tee-Comm Electronics, Canadian Satellite Communications (Cancom), Vancouver-based Western International Communications (WIC) and Bell Canada (BCE), with a projected startup date of late 1995. High technology development costs and delays placed Tee-Comm in a severe financial position, prompting the remaining partners to pull out in 1996. Instead, U.S. satellite-TV provider Echostar Dish Network was chosen to provide the receivers and uplink equipment. The Hughes DirecTV system had already been optioned to Power Broadcasting, in Canada; it has since been withdrawn. Tee-Comm on its own managed to launch the first DBS service in Canada, AlphaStar, in early 1997 however in a matter of months the company went bankrupt and the service was discontinued, leaving thousands of consumers with useless receivers. ExpressVu launched service in September 1997, as "ExpressVu Dish Network", using the Echostar logo. In 2000 Bell took over full ownership of ExpressVu.

Satellites

ExpressVu broadcasts from four geosynchronous satellites: Nimiq 1, 2, 3 and 4iR. All follow an equatorial path, giving coverage to most of Canada. Nimiq is an Inuktitut word for "that which unifies" and was chosen from a nationwide naming contest in 1998. The three satellites are owned and operated by Telesat Canada (a BCE corporation). ExpressVu's uplink site is located in North York which is in the Toronto area.

Nimiq 1 was launched on May 20, 1999 and contains 32 Ku-band transponders at 91° W. Nimiq 2, launched in December 29, 2002, also includes 2 K-band transponders. Nimiq 2, launched in December 2002, provides HDTV, international programming, and all newly released channels. It occupies the 82° W slot. Nimiq 3 went online on August 23, 2004. Originally called DirecTV3, it is an old DirecTV satellite moved to a new orbital slot near Nimiq 1 to offload some of the transmitting work from the original satellite. In February 2006, Nimiq 3 was moved behind Nimiq 2 to support it, while another satellite, Nimiq 4i (formerly DirecTV2), took Nimiq 3's spot behind Nimiq 1. Nimiq 4i was replaced with Nimiq 4iR as it ran out of fuel on April 28, 2007 and was de-orbited. Nimiq 4iR is temporary and will be replaced by a newly launched satellite in 2008 which will take the name Nimiq 4. Both Nimiq 3 and Nimiq 4iR feature 16 Ku-band transponders. From the time of service launch in 1997 to the switch to Nimiq in 1999, ExpressVu used the already crowded Anik E2.

Read more at Wikipedia.org