Western Canada’s leading telecommunications carrier, Telus Corp., has released its ‘Optik’ IPTV service in the Northern BC city of Prince George.

The Optik service is comparable to digital cable or satellite television, offering approximately 480 channels, including 80 in high-definition. Basic subscriptions start at $50 per month, while HD packages start at a monthly rate of $75.

The Optik service uses Telus’ broadband internet network to transmit TV signals. In cities where Optik is not yet available, Telus offers a satellite television service in partnership with Bell Canada, which customers can bundle with telephone and high-speed internet services.

Telus currently has a total of around 266,000 satellite and IPTV customers throughout BC and Alberta.

Telus Mobility has revealed plans to launch two Windows Phone 7-based smartphones, the LG Optimus 7 and HTC 7 Surround, on November 8.

Both of these devices are designed with multimedia users in mind, featuring 3.8-inch displays 5-megapixel digital cameras, and 3G data capabilities. Telus plans to enable remote television recording on both devices, which will allow its Optik TV subscribers to browse programming on the go and record shows for later viewing at home.

“Windows Phone 7 allows TELUS to extend its already strong partnership with Microsoft into new product opportunities that yield tremendous value for the customers we serve,” commented Telus’ Chief Marketing Officer, David Fuller. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with HTC and LG, two of the world’s leading hardware manufacturers, to bring the best Windows Phones to Canadians.”

Both of these devices will be available starting next Monday, at a cost of $99 on a three-year Telus Mobility contract.

CityTV, a broadcast television network owned by Rogers Communications, has launched its own Apple iPad application, allowing Canadian iPad users to watch a wide selection of programming, including hit shows like Biggest Loser and 30 Rock, for free.

Additional features include schedules for CityTV’s Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto channels, notifications to remind users when their favourite shows are on, and the ability to share video links via social media websites.

Already, the CityTV software has become the most popular iPad application in Canada.

“Landing the top spot on iTunes Canada for iPad downloads, clearly confirms that audiences want access to content on multiple screens at their convenience,” commented Rogers’ senior vice president of digital media, Claude Galipeau. “This overwhelming response by Canadians validates Rogers strategy and its leadership of providing new entertainment solutions for audiences.”

The popular internet-based movie subscription service, Netflix, is now available in Canada, bringing a new player to the country’s fast-changing media and entertainment market.

“With our launch today in Canada, Netflix is focused on adding meaningfully to the entertainment choices available to Canadian consumers,” commented Netflix CEO and co-founder, Reed Hastings.

Although the service won’t compete on equal footing with cable TV by offering new content, it will carry thousands of TV shows and movies, including a wide selection feature films. Unlimited access is available for $7.99 and new users are being offered a one-month free trial.

Programming can be streamed to a computer or compatible television set via a broadband internet connection, or downloaded onto a web-connected Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii gaming console.

A week after buying broadcaster, CTV, Bell Canada has officially launched Fibe TV, a subscription IPTV offering similar to Telus Corp.’s Optik service.

The company has been testing Fibe TV in parts of Toronto and Montreal over the past few months, and will now launch the service commercially in several neighbourhoods of those cities. Five years from now, Bell anticipates that Fibe will be available to five million Canadian households.

“We’ve announced our intention of being Canada’s largest television distribution service by the year 2015 and this is the platform that will propel us to achieve that number one position,” commented the president of Bell’s residential services division, Kevin Crull.

In addition to the standard Canadian networks, Fibe TV comes with over 70 international channels, and 100 channels in HD.

“We went from black and white to colour and then to high-definition,” Crull said. “And you think of the size of each of those leaps, and now going to Fibe TV is an equally large leap for the product, and it’s just going to continue to evolve. It’s the platform, very much, of the future of this industry.”