Posted: 20th Sep, 2004 By: MarkJ
It's been reported by the
Daily Telegraph that BT is to begin trials of a broadband ADSL based Video-on-Demand (VoD) service. Uniquely this will be integrated into a new range of Freeview (digital terrestrial) TV set top boxes (STB's):
The telecoms giant will this week begin trials of the box, initally dubbed "BT Freeview Plus", which will provide customers with digital TV through a conventional TV aerial and video-on-demand through a broadband internet connection.
It will become the central element in BT's "new wave" strategy, which seeks to replace declining revenues from traditional services, such as fixed-line phonecalls, with new services such as broadband internet.
The hybrid TV/internet device will cost marginally more than existing Freeview boxes, which retail at around £50. But customers will be able to pay to download films and thousands of programmes using their BT broadband internet connection.It's not the first time we've heard about this, although it is a clearer indicator of BT's intended direction.
However, not everybody has their TV close to the phone line and how could BT's own increasingly capped broadband services (let alone those of other providers) keep up with strong VoD usage?