Metro Vancouver residents will have access to Canada’s fastest residential broadband service next Friday when Novus Entertainment launches its Net 200 tier providing 200Mbps service over a fiber optic network for $279.95CDN per month.  Customers currently paying $179.95 for the company’s 60Mbps plan will also receive a free upgrade to 100Mbps service on that same date.  No word yet on what the new usage limits will be, but Novus previously limited its 60Mbps plan to 360GB per month, unfortunate for a plan that carries such a premium price.  Novus charges 50 cents for each additional gigabyte above their various plan allowances.  Novus’ upload speeds are the same as its advertised download speeds.

Novus Entertainment has wired fiber optic cable in 33,000 large multi-dwelling units in parts of greater Vancouver, providing broadband, telephone, and television competition for incumbent cable provider Shaw Communications.  The two companies were embroiled in a nasty price war last year, with Shaw slashing prices to as low as $10 per month for video, phone, or Internet access.  To date, Novus has 9,000 subscribers, 8,200 of which subscribe to the company’s broadband service.

“We noted a recent survey by Harvard University which found that Canadians’ access to superior broadband performance and infrastructure ranked poorly among developed countries,” said Donna Robertson, Co-President and Chief Legal Officer of Novus Entertainment Inc. “While these results are disappointing, this provided Novus with the opportunity to not only take this challenge head on and provide customers with superior Internet speeds, but to also set us apart from the competition.”

Vancouver is the home of Novus Entertainment

Novus’ Net 200 will be available in selective buildings that are configured for 200 Mbps technology. With the vision of becoming one of Metro Vancouver’s major Internet and communications service providers, Novus continues to expand its service in Vancouver and Burnaby and plans to launch services in Richmond in 2010.

“Canadians want a service provider that delivers a fast Internet connection to meet their growing needs at a reasonable cost,” said Doug Holman, Co-President and Chief Financial Officer of Novus Entertainment Inc. “Yet they’re paying among the highest prices for some of the lowest speeds. Novus’ superior fibre-optic network allows us to provide our customers with best-in-class, reliable and consistent transfer speeds that the incumbents simply can’t offer.”

Shaw probably cannot match Novus’ 200Mbps service tier on their non-fiber optic cable network, but will likely continue to compete heavily on price with discounts that stun Canadians outside of metro Vancouver.  Shaw’s pricing in Novus-wired buildings is as much as $60 less than in other areas where Novus does not compete.

Novus also owns some wireless spectrum covering Alberta and British Columbia, so eventually the provider could mount a competitive challenge in the mobile telephone market, at least in western Canada.  There are rumors the company could partner with an eastern Canadian spectrum holder like Public Mobile, which owns spectrum covering southern Ontario and Quebec.  Neither company has launched service, and probably won’t for the rest of 2010, but could eventually provide additional competition in the overpriced Canadian mobile phone market.