BELL OFFERS UP FREE INTERNET SERVICE
By Adnews Staff
Bell Canada began offering select long-distance customers free access to Bell's Sympatico Internet service this week. Any customer spending an average of at least $15 a month on long-distance calls is eligible for the offer which comes with two options. The first gives customers Bell's five-hour-per-month Sympatico Internet service free of charge. The second option gives customers 100 hours of Sympatico service for $24.95, which is the regular cost for 60 hours of service. Both offers last for twelve months from the time a customer signs up and are available until Aug. 15. Kristen Olsen, advertising manager at Bell Canada, told Adnews the company has three reasons for making the offer. The first is to give added value to its long-distance customers, the second is to give Bell users access to leading-edge technology and the third is to win back Bell customers who have defected to other telephone providers. Bell began promoting the offer with Quebec and Ontario TV ads that kicked off earlier this week. Print ads in both markets will follow next week. BBDO Canada of Toronto handled the Ontario campaign, while Cossette Communication-Marketing of Montreal created the Quebec campaign.