Box rental, activation, the regional sports surcharge, the broadcast fee, the 4K upgrade — the headline figure is the beginning of the calculation rather than the end of it. Below, both sides are set out line by line so you can do the arithmetic yourself.
Based on Quebec cable bills between $80 and $150 a month (Bell, Vidéotron, Cogeco), measured against the $90 Duck annual plan (1 device).
| Line item | Cable television | IPTV Québec HD |
|---|---|---|
| Headline monthly price | $80 – $150 | $7.50 (Duck) to $12.50 (Raccoon) on the annual plan |
| Cost across twelve months | $960 – $1,800 | $90 to $150 depending on the server |
| Activation or install fee | $50 – $200 | Nothing |
| Equipment rental | $10 – $25 a month | Nothing — you use your own |
| Live channels | 200 – 500 | 10,000 to 30,000 depending on the server |
| On-demand titles | A limited selection | 40,000 to 150,000 titles |
| 4K feeds | $10 – $20 extra a month | Included |
| Minimum term | 12 – 24 months | None |
| Getting started | A technician visit, booked in advance | About five minutes, on your own |
| Kept over twelve months | — | $870 – $1,710 |
Cable television compared with an IPTV Québec HD subscription
Cable pricing is built around a promotional window. When it closes, the rate goes up, usually without much announcement. Here you pay once for a fixed length and that is the end of it — nothing renews on its own and nothing quietly reprices.
Two to five hundred channels against more than eighteen thousand. That difference is mostly international, regional and specialist coverage — the things cable either bundles into a higher tier or does not carry at all.
No twelve or twenty-four month commitment, and therefore no early-termination charge to negotiate your way around when circumstances change.
Cable ends at your front door. An account travels — the cottage, a hotel, a different country entirely. The same credentials work wherever there is a connection.
Most providers treat ultra-high definition as an upsell at ten to twenty dollars a month. Here it is simply the highest quality your connection can carry, on every plan.
No appointment window, no technician, no holes drilled in a wall. Install a player, enter three details from an email, and the list loads.
Films and series with no rental charge layered on top — as opposed to a thin selection where the newer titles cost extra each time.
Channels from more than fifty countries in over eighty languages, included rather than sold as a premium language pack at a steep monthly rate.
Cable charges per additional box. Multi-stream here is a setting on one account, not a second piece of hardware with its own rental line.
No broadcast fee, no regional sports surcharge, no equipment line, no activation. The price shown is the entire price.
« I was paying Vidéotron a hundred and forty-five a month with 4K and two boxes. I now pay less across the whole year than I used to in a single month, and I get considerably more than I did before. »
« Bell wanted a hundred and twenty a month for what was, honestly, basic cable. The channel count now is not really comparable, and neither is the bill. »
« Cogeco was ninety-five a month plus equipment on top. This runs on the Fire Stick that was already plugged into the television, so there is no extra box at all. »
A comparison table is only worth so much. The 24-hour trial opens the whole service, on your own television, at the hours you actually watch — RDS, TVA Sports, Radio-Canada and the rest. Run the same arithmetic with your Bell, Vidéotron or Cogeco bill in front of you.
No term to sign · Nothing renews on its own · Support every dayOne email a month: new tutorials, app updates and subscriber-only offers. Unsubscribe in one click.
Over 18,000 channels, TSN, RDS and Sportsnet in HD, movies and series — activated in 5 minutes, no commitment.
If it is not for you, you pay nothing more.
