Posted: 04th Dec, 2006 By: MarkJ
Moneysupermarket.com's head of broadband, Jason Lloyd, has offered up some of his own critical comments regarding BT's new Internet TV product BT Vision:
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BT Vision is a combination of a Freeview set top box that delivers over 30 free to air channels with an inbuilt PVR, (personal video recorder) that can store up to 80 hours of TV and hundreds of music or picture files onto a hard drive. Essentially this part of BT Vision is free and will be covered by the monthly subscription to BT Total Broadband which you need to pay to qualify for BT Vision."
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The video on demand part of the service is charged for on a 'pay per view' or 'pay per download' basis and comes down via the BT Homehub. As I know you can't do this wirelessly so a user will need to move the BT Homehub into the living room, connect to a phone point and set top box and connect the set top box to the TV. If you want these services on other television sets around the house it could become complicated. Sky give users more set top boxes for each room, yet it's unclear how this is resolved technically with BT Vision at the moment."
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BT claim they will offer a difference to their rivals saying they will offer twice as much video on demand content at launch than Sky and the 'catch up' TV service will have more content than any of the current providers operating this service. This is due to the deals they have struck with several content providers and media owners, the retrospective football highlights of the FA Premiership is something of a coup and if it works properly this could be a clever move, as the deal could allow access to Disney content via video on demand."
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BT's entry into the market is exciting as it sets a new benchmark for the pay TV market that consumers are bound to appreciate but the biggest question remains unanswered: Will people pay for the video on demand content and what is the pricing structure? Whilst this is a brave move by BT entering into the pay TV market with some clever bits of functionality it's still looks like a retention product rather than a real competitor to Sky or NTL:Telewest (Virgin Media), and with Tiscali Homechoice entering the fray with a new range of TV bundles, this space is going to become highly competitive for BT."