Following a period of employee trials, national carrier Rogers has officially begun to roll out its Ignite TV IPTV platform.
According to a Rogers customer service representative who spoke with MobileSyrup over the phone, the carrier began rolling out the service to subscribers in Ontario two days ago.
“As the next phase of our launch plan, we’re excited to start rolling out Ignite TV in a targeted way to our customers in Ontario and to deliver a product that will offer the best entertainment and home connectivity experience,” a Rogers spokesperson told MobileSyrup via email.
Rogers has yet to formally launch its Ignite TV advertising campaign.
What is Ignite TV?
Described by Rogers as an “effortless internet TV experience,” Ignite TV aggregates a multitude of different entertainment services onto a single platform.
Not only does it allow subscribers to watch television channels, users also have access to YouTube and can choose to add their Netflix accounts as well.
The ‘Instant On Demand’ feature allows Ignite TV subscribers to consume episodes of television shows as soon as they finish airing live.
‘Restart’ allows subscribers to go back to the beginning of shows that are currently airing and watch them from the beginning.
Additionally, the Ignite TV app lets subscribers watch television on the device of their choice, while also allowing them to watch Cloud PVR recording on their laptops, tablets and smartphones.
The Ignite TV app is available for download on both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store.
Furthermore, Ignite TV services like ‘SportsApp’ gives subscribers the opportunity to record games, watch live games, and even keep track of scores and other game information.
Services like ‘KidsZone’ ensure that children only consume age-appropriate content, while providing guardians with a suite of parental controls.
In addition to content consumption, the Ignite TV Voice Remote provides users with search recommendations, a search directory and, of course, voice search.
The Voice Remote also allows for users to search for content through Netflix.
Ignite TV pricing
To sign up for the platform, users must purchase a specific Rogers internet and television subscription.
While a Rogers spokesperson told MobileSyrup that the carrier isn’t publicly advertising pricing, the Rogers customer service representative said that subscribers can choose from eight different Ignite TV packages that specifically include use of the new IPTV platform.
- Starter package with 500Mbps internet: $164.99
- Starter package with 1Gbps internet: $179.99
- Select package with 500Mbps internet: $174.99
- Select package with 1Gbps internet: $189.99
- Popular package with 500Mbps internet: $189.99
- Popular package with 1Gbps internet: $204.99
- Premium package with 500Mbps internet: $204.99
- Premium package with 1Gbps internet: $219.99
Each package also comes with home phone service that provides subscribers with unlimited Canada-wide calling.
While users don’t need home phone services to use Ignite TV, opting out of home phone service doesn’t save any money upfront. Additionally, if subscribers decide they want to include home phone service at a later date, they’ll be charged an additional $49.99.
The internet and TV bundles Rogers are currently advertising do not include Ignite TV, another representative specified.
The future of the smart home
Rogers president and CEO Joe Natale has previously stated the company’s intention to position Ignite TV at the centre of the future smart home.
“It’s important that what we have to offer isn’t just [television],” said Natale, during the Rogers Q1 2018 investors call. “[It needs to be a] really strong first step towards smart home, video entertainment, Wi-Fi…all the things that will come afterwards.”
Natale also told investors during the Q1 2018 call that approximately 5,000 employees have requested Ignite TV service during the platform’s employee trials.
Additionally, Natale said that the service had been installed in approximately 1,400 homes among its Ontario employees.
Ignite TV is build around Comcast’s X1 platform. Rogers first revealed plans to launch an IPTV platform in July 2016.
However, the company later announced that it had shelved its proprietary IPTV platform, opting to utilize Comcast’s technology.
Regional carriers Shaw and Videotron both use Comcast’s technology to deliver IPTV services.
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