BCE Inc’s Bell Canada Ltd, the telephone company that serves the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, has launched an interactive screen-based phone that provides access to banking, movie reviews, sports scores, even David Letterman’s top 10. The Vista 350 phone was developed by a joint venture owned by another BCE company, Northern Telecom Ltd, with Bruncor Inc, and it costs the equivalent of $221 to buy or $7.32 a month to rent. The Direct Access service is free to users of the Vista 350 telephone, which has an eight-line display, which will feature advertisements when the phone isn’t in use. While telephone banking and some other services will be available throughout most of Ontario and Quebec, information services, such as weather, horoscope and movie listings, will initially be available only in Toronto, London, Ontario, Sherbrooke, Quebec and Montreal. The Sports Network provides the scores, and Cineplex Odeon Corp is also involved. The company is billing the Vista 350 as an alternative to the Internet for customers without home computers. Users can pay bills, transfer money between accounts or find mutual fund – unit trust prices, look at current movie listings and order tickets if the film is playing at a Cineplex Odeon. Six retailers, including Hudson’s Bay Co’s Zellers, and four financial institutions, Canada Trust, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada and Desjardins have signed so far, but others are expected soon. Trials of an accessory for the telephone that will give access to cash via transfers to a Smart Card – Mondex, presumably, are under way in Guelph, Ontario, and they are expected to run to the end of next year.
