Bell Aliant Makes TV Even More Social with New Twitter App - FibreOP Continues to Deliver Best TV Experience in the Market

Great TV with a side of Internet please - 73 per cent of Atlantic Canadians want to watch TV while they surf the web and use apps like Facebook and Twitter for TV

HALIFAX, May 23, 2012 /CNW/ - Bell Aliant Inc. (TSX: BA) brings the best social TV experience to Atlantic Canadians with a new Twitter app for FibreOP^TM TV. The app integrates the best Twitter features with regular TV programming on the biggest screen in the home.

The Twitter app for FibreOP TV is the latest in a line of firsts for Bell Aliant's FibreOP network which includes its Facebook app and covering an entire city with fibre-to-the-home technology. The way we watch TV is changing and customers want to bring the Internet experience to the biggest screen in the house. A recent TV Trends study by Bell Aliant and Ipsos Reid found 73 per cent of Atlantic Canadians want to watch TV while they surf the web and use apps like Facebook and Twitter for TV. Fifty-nine per cent like to chat online while watching their favourite shows.

"FibreOP is the only network that brings the best of social media and the Internet to Atlantic Canadian TV screens. Customers' reaction to our social TV experience has been phenomenal. Today over fifty per cent of our customers are using the Facebook app and they want more," said Andre LeBlanc, Vice-President Residential Services, Bell Aliant. "FibreOP was designed to be future proof and we will continue to deliver new services and apps that will create the best TV and Internet experience in the market."

To coincide with the American Idol season finale, Bell Aliant is hosting a "Tweet on Your TV" contest. Customers can enter the contest by following @Bell_Aliant on Twitter, logging on to the Twitter app on their TV, tuning into American Idol and using the app to tweet the show they are watching. Customers who tweet that they are watching American Idol will be placed in a draw to win free FibreOP for a year ($1,000 value). To access the Twitter app on FibreOP TV, customers need an active Twitter account and a Bell Aliant Internet connection. The app supports up to five unique Twitter accounts per household.

Today, 140 million active Twitter users tweet 340 million times per day. In Atlantic Canada, 25 per cent of online users are also on Twitter. Bell Aliant's Twitter app is free for FibreOP TV customers and offers these popular features:

1. Tweet what I'm watching: Share instantly on Twitter what show is being watched;
2. Post a Tweet: Post any tweet using the remote to enter text;
3. Following: Read a Twitter feed while watching a favourite show;
4. TV Tweets: View tweets about a show being watched; and
5. TV Trends: Discover trending topics from across Canada.

Additional Statistics:

• Atlantic Canadians spend 18 hours per week watching TV, and one in three spend 15 hours per week on the Internet;
• 71 per cent would give up chocolate, but not coffee, to keep their TV service;
• The idea of social TV has hit the mark in the Atlantic provinces:
• 83 per cent of Newfoundlanders;
• 75 per cent of New Brunswickers;
• 72 per cent of Nova Scotians; and
• 71 per cent of Islanders would like to use their TV to browse the Internet or access social media apps.

Bell Aliant's future-proof FibreOP network is the only 100 per cent fibre-optic network that connects straight to customers' homes so everything works faster, easier and better. FibreOP is number one in customer satisfaction because it delivers the fastest Internet, video sharing and the ultimate high-definition TV experience.

FibreOP Internet offers the best Internet service, including the fastest speeds with up to 250 Mbps download and 30 Mbps upload service. With those speeds and no data caps, it can meet consumer demand for multiple simultaneous users, bandwidth and the ability to share large multimedia files faster than ever before.

FibreOP TV is the best TV service and gives customers the quality they expect - amazing picture quality and the most popular channels. It also offers features not available anywhere else including the Whole Home PVR to record and pause live TV from any room in the home, Ultimate Video-on-Demand with the most HD movies. FibreOP TV offers the most popular apps including Facebook and Twitter TV apps.

FibreOP for business is the only 100 per cent fibre-optic network that connects straight to businesses, providing superior speed and reliability so customers can get the most from their work day.

By the end of 2012, Bell Aliant will have invested approximately half a billion dollars to extend FibreOP to approximately 650,000 homes and businesses in its territory. Bell Aliant continues to expand its FibreOP footprint, and has recently begun builds in Sussex and Woodstock, New Brunswick; Yarmouth and Bridgewater, Nova Scotia; and Sudbury, Ontario. Additional community launches are planned throughout 2012.

Find out more about the new Twitter app on FibreOP TV by visiting www.bellaliant.net/twitterontv or calling 1-866-FIBREOP (1-866-342-7367).

Sources:
Ipsos Reid Atlantic Consumer Monitor Spring 2012 - The Atlantic Consumer Monitor is a syndicated, online survey conducted annually by Ipsos Reid with a sample of 1,427 Atlantic Canadians (19 years of age or older). Interviews were completed between March 8 and 26, 2012 using Ipsos' own proprietary online household panel.
comScore Media Metrix March 2012, comScore Mobilens March 2012

About Bell Aliant
Bell Aliant is one of North America's largest regional communications providers and the first company in Canada to cover an entire city with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology with its FibreOP services. Through its operating entities it serves customers in six Canadian provinces with innovative information, communication and technology services including voice, data, Internet, video and value-added business solutions. Bell Aliant's employees deliver the highest quality customer service, choice and convenience.

Video with caption: "Twitter App for TV Demo". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20120523_C9823_VIDEO_EN_14046.mp4&posterurl=http://photos.newswire.ca/images/20120523_C9823_PHOTO_EN_14046.jpg&clientName=BELL%20ALIANT%20INC%2E&caption=Twitter%20App%20for%20TV%20Demo&title=BELL%20ALIANT%20INC%2E%20%2D%20Bell%20Aliant%20Makes%20TV%20Even%20More%20Social%20with%20New%20Twitter%20App%20%2D%20FibreOP%20Continues%20to%20Deliver%20Best%20TV%20Experience%20in%20the%20Market&headline=Bell%20Aliant%20Makes%20TV%20Even%20More%20Social%20with%20New%20Twitter%20App%20%2D%20FibreOP%20Continues%20to%20Deliver%20Best%20TV%20Experience%20in%20the%20Market

Image with caption: "Andre Leblanc, Vice President Residential Services, demonstrates new Twitter app for FibreOP TV (CNW Group/BELL ALIANT INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120523_C9823_PHOTO_EN_14040.jpg

Image with caption: "Andre Leblanc, Vice President, Residential Services and Mark MacMurtry check out the new Twitter app for FibreOP TV (CNW Group/BELL ALIANT INC.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120523_C9823_PHOTO_EN_14042.jpg

Sarah Levy MacLeod
Bell Aliant Corporate Affairs
855 487 5026
[e-mail]