In the war for Canadian direct-to-home satellite superiority, Star Choice Communications and rival Bell ExpressVu have launched aggressive bids to pilfer subscribers from one another.

First, ExpressVu introduced a 46-centimeter dish July 1 to coincide with its move to the new, high-powered nimiq satellite. The new dish will retail for $249 after programming rebate. The nimiq will allow ExpressVu to offer 200 tv channels, plus its own 30-channel pay-per-view service.

‘We needed a strategic, competitive advantage that is sustainable,’ says Michael Neuman, ExpressVu president and ceo. ‘In this business the best advantages are dish size and more programming.’

In addition, ExpressVu began offering its system free to any Star Choice subscribers who trade in their old systems.

Star Choice reciprocated by unveiling a new elliptical dish and offering it to subscribers who trade in their ExpressVu dishes. Star Choice is also expanding its tv lineup by 50 channels and will begin offering hdtv content in the fall.

So far, only a handful of subscribers have made the trade from either dth, says Bruce Barr, Star Choice vp of sales and marketing. ‘It’s a zero-sum gain,’ he says.

Still, both sides predict record numbers of new customers in coming months. Star Choice, with 200,000 subscriptions, has already seen record activation levels in recent weeks. ExpressVu has been adding up to 20,000 new customers every month to its base of 230,000 subscribers.