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 Ahead of their home opener tomorrow night, Bell has announced the introduction of a Montreal Canadiens mobile app for the Android, Blackberry and iOS platforms.

Unfortunately for most Canadians, including most Montrealers, the app will be unavailable to them because Bell is restricting its use to Bell Mobility customers.

By restricting to only Bell Customers, the company has continued the trend in Canada where major wireless providers such as Bell, Rogers and Telus are force to take out wireless plans in order to view content. Rogers has done much the same with mobile apps it has released over the last several years.

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 The practice of requiring consumers to purchase a service in order to make use of another product or service is known as "tying" and is considered illegal in many countries.

For example, in the United States, most states have laws against tying, which are enforced by state governments. In addition, the United States Department of Justice enforces federal laws against tying through its Antitrust Division.

With the recent purchase of CTV by Bell and the Global Network by Shaw, its likely Canadians will see more of these "tied" applications be produced in the future.

For those in Canada that are "tied" to the Bell Mobility service, the app will provide news and official team statistics, and will enable users to vote for a game’s three stars.

For the first time in Canadians’ history, the three stars of the game will be selected by fans, rather than by members of the media, with voting online or by mobile phone.

Discuss in Digital Home's Bell Mobility forum .