Tiscali plans to launch an IPTV service in Italy in October 2007. It has received rights to broadcast RAI content. RAI is the primary TV broadcaster in Italy. Tiscali has an IPTV service in the UK . It has a total of 3.3 million customers in Italy and the UK, with 2 million subscribing to ADSL .
The Italian market is heating up. Wind in Italy is also considering an IPTV service and has signed on with Microsoft for a trial of its Mediaroom software.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
25,000 FastWeb Subscribers Take Sky
FastWeb reported its second quarter earnings. It is now 82 percent owned by Swisscom. It has significantly decreased the level of detail in its reporting. It now reports that it had 1.2 million total subscribers and the end of 2Q07, an increase 45 thousand. It stated that 82 percent of these total subscribers are residential subscribers. The company made no statement about the number of IPTV subscribers.
During the quarter FastWeb completed executing its agreement with Sky that allows Sky to offer FastWeb broadband services and FastWeb to offer Sky satellite TV services over its broadband network. It stated that more than 25 thousand of its subscribers have subscribed to the SKY service. I think that this is about 10 percent of its IPTV subscribers.
The company also discussed its triple play self install gateway. This gateway supports MIMO WiFi, SIP based VoIP, connection to the home phone wiring, and a WiFi enabled set-top box.
The company also stated that it is developing a home multimedia that will permit access of TV content from the PC. This system is based on the UPnP.
I believe that FastWeb's IPTV service is lagging its overall broadband service in growth. The company's strategy has been to maintain a higher price for the TV service to make it profitable in itself rather than to use it to promote its broadband service.
During the quarter FastWeb completed executing its agreement with Sky that allows Sky to offer FastWeb broadband services and FastWeb to offer Sky satellite TV services over its broadband network. It stated that more than 25 thousand of its subscribers have subscribed to the SKY service. I think that this is about 10 percent of its IPTV subscribers.
The company also discussed its triple play self install gateway. This gateway supports MIMO WiFi, SIP based VoIP, connection to the home phone wiring, and a WiFi enabled set-top box.
The company also stated that it is developing a home multimedia that will permit access of TV content from the PC. This system is based on the UPnP.
I believe that FastWeb's IPTV service is lagging its overall broadband service in growth. The company's strategy has been to maintain a higher price for the TV service to make it profitable in itself rather than to use it to promote its broadband service.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Does Free have 2.6M IPTV subscribers now?
Free in France announced added 122 thousand broadband subscribers in 2Q07 giving it a total of 2.6 million. It also announced that due to its MPEG-4 deployment all of its broadband subscribers and not just its 2.1 unbundled subscribers can now receive its IPTV service. According to this announcement then, Free now has 2.6 million subscribers capable of using its IPTV service.
According to its release, it was number two after France Telecom's Orange in the number of new ADSL subscribers and ahead of Neuf Cegetel. Orange added 246 thousand subscribers and Neuf Cegetel added 67 thousand. Neuf Cegetel has the second largest broadband subscriber base at 3.0 million.
In the first half of 2007 Free added a subscription video on demand service that includes access to a set of films and TV services for a fixed monthly fee. It also added the TV Perso service that allows its subscriber to broadcast live or pre recorded content to the TV's of other Free subscribers.
Free is continuing to progress well. Its TV service is an important part of its offering. I will clarify what its IPTV subscriber base actually is and create a post when I know something more. Until then, I will use the 2.6 M number cautiously.
According to its release, it was number two after France Telecom's Orange in the number of new ADSL subscribers and ahead of Neuf Cegetel. Orange added 246 thousand subscribers and Neuf Cegetel added 67 thousand. Neuf Cegetel has the second largest broadband subscriber base at 3.0 million.
In the first half of 2007 Free added a subscription video on demand service that includes access to a set of films and TV services for a fixed monthly fee. It also added the TV Perso service that allows its subscriber to broadcast live or pre recorded content to the TV's of other Free subscribers.
Free is continuing to progress well. Its TV service is an important part of its offering. I will clarify what its IPTV subscriber base actually is and create a post when I know something more. Until then, I will use the 2.6 M number cautiously.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Qwest Says No to IPTV
Outgoing Qwest CEO, James Noteabart, stated that Qwest would not pursue a video strategy similar to Verizon's FiOS or ATT's U-verse under Qwest's next CEO: "Why in the world would you go do that and incur all that expense when you've got YouTube and the direction the world is heading and can still do the broadcast model with more HD than anywhere else with DirecTV. I can't find any logic for us doing it."
Qwest was an IPTV pioneer under Joseph Naccho and implemented a large trial in Phoenix and another outside Denver. Both trials are still in operation and appear to support well over 50 thousand subscribers.
It is not clear what Qwest's future will be without an aggressive fiber broadband plan similar to ATT's or Verizon's. Its wireline business is shrinking and its long haul business is in a highly competitive market place.
Qwest was an IPTV pioneer under Joseph Naccho and implemented a large trial in Phoenix and another outside Denver. Both trials are still in operation and appear to support well over 50 thousand subscribers.
It is not clear what Qwest's future will be without an aggressive fiber broadband plan similar to ATT's or Verizon's. Its wireline business is shrinking and its long haul business is in a highly competitive market place.
IPTV Key to UTStarcom's Turnaround
UTStarcom stated that its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV system is a key element in its strategy for returning to profitability. The company stated that many of its IPTV deployments in China are undergoing expansion. The company estimates that its IPTV platform is serving an estimated 310,000 subscribers currently. UTStarcom is also beginning to win IPTV business in India.
UTStarcom is currently the only IPTV system being used by China Telecom, including its Shanghai Telecom subsidiary. It shares the business at China Netcom with ZTE. IPTV growth in China will be very large, which puts the company in a good position in the future.
UTStarcom is currently the only IPTV system being used by China Telecom, including its Shanghai Telecom subsidiary. It shares the business at China Netcom with ZTE. IPTV growth in China will be very large, which puts the company in a good position in the future.
Telefonica's O2 at 40,000 IPTV Subscribers
Telefonica's O2 TV, an IPTV service in the Czech Republic by Telefonica O2 Czech Republic, has passed 40,000 subscribers. The acceptance of this service was helped by a new triple play service as well as the country's from analog to digital TV transmissions. The service is seen as an attractive way to make this switch. O2 TV offers 38 television channels and 17 radio stations in digital quality as well as a video on demand offering that includes movies and TV programs.
This is a very good result for a small country. It appears that the service is on its way to becoming quite successful.
This is a very good result for a small country. It appears that the service is on its way to becoming quite successful.
France Telecom has 872K IPTV Subscribers
France Telecom announced that it had 872 thousand IPTV subscribers at the end of 2Q07. This is up 104 thousand in the quarter and up 282 thousand since the beginning of the year. It also had 16 thousand subscribers in other European countries. It will be running an IPTV trial in the UK in 2H07.
France Telecom should end 2007 with at least 1.1 IPTV subscribers. It is seeing a nice acceleration in its IPTV service and added over 500 thousand subscribers in the last 12 months. The repricing that was implemented in June 2006 has had a very strongly positive effect.
France Telecom should end 2007 with at least 1.1 IPTV subscribers. It is seeing a nice acceleration in its IPTV service and added over 500 thousand subscribers in the last 12 months. The repricing that was implemented in June 2006 has had a very strongly positive effect.
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