Thursday, June 14, 2007

Portugal Telecom starts IPTV

Portugal Telecom launched an 88 channel IPTV service. It also has more than 80% of the cable and satellite TV business in Portugal, under the TV Cabo brand. This IPTV service includes video on demand and HD service

It owns a subsidiary that accounts for more than 90% of the landline telephony and nearly 80% of the broadband in Portugal. This subsidiary is also a leading film distributor and owns 148 movie theaters. This subsidiary will be spun off as a separate company in September.

Portugal Telecom has invested over 10 million euros in the service, and will initially launch IPTV in three target markets -- Lisbon, Oporto and Castelo Branco -- but intends to roll out the service to the entire country, with more than 100 channels, in the coming months.

Other domestic operators such as Sonae.com, Cabovisao and Ar Telecom, have also launched IPTV services, but have not built up a significant subscriber base to date.

Cable in Portugal is in about 30 percent of the homes and satellite is in less than 10 percent of homes. About 3/4 of the cable subscribers are still using analog cable, which makes them vulnerable to IPTV.

In these market conditions, Portugal Telecom should do well, as long as it performs well and it markets the service well.

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