Is Optik all MPEG-4? It should be, since it's relatively new.
Shaw could theoretically do the same thing as Telus (i.e. IPTV, or whatever they're doing), just over coax. I think they'd have a much easier time getting multiple high-quality HD streams if they were to blow away all the old channels taking up space and just stream people what they watching. It wouldn't surprise me if that were in the works, but I suspect it'll take years for them to get the infrastructure in place for a massive rollout.
Ideally, they could take the Shaw-On-Demand concept and extend it to all content, making them like some sort of uber Netflix. At that point, the broadcast schedule of TV no longer matters, you just start watching whatever you want whenever you want (old episode or new), provided it's aired already (or is in-progress, as with sporting events). I somehow doubt the content providers would allow for such large-scale time-shifting, but I like the idea.
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