Tiscali has announced that it plans to add an IPTV service to its broadband package deal, offering 30 channels as standard alongside a range of FREE on-demand deals. This service will be available to ‘dual play’ Tiscali broadband subscribers in March, which will be followed up by the release of a HDTV supporting set-top box, due to come out in July.
Mary Turner, the chief executive for Tiscali UK stated that their TV service “gives customers broadband plus the channel choice they want and free on-demand programming, all for the price you would pay for a standard broadband connection.
This move from Tiscali comes at a crucial time, with the recent fanfare announcing the arrival of Virgin Media, and that both Sky and BT are also supplying ‘triple play’ packages.
Sky have the advantage of being a well established brand in the realm of non-terrestrial TV, and undoubtedly beat all of its rivals on this front in terms of choice – with over 100 subscription-only channels back up by another 200 plus free to air digital TV and radio channels – and seem unconcerned by the growing competition, having boldly announced that it intends to replace the three free Sky channels currently available to Freeview viewers with four subscription channels, including Premiership football coverage.
In spite of this, Tiscali and Sky broadband punters still have to pay BT a monthly fee for line rental, and BT still holds the largest stake in the UK’s broadband market. However, Tiscali’s free on-demand features may prove to be an attractive counter to the pay-per-view features of BT’s Freeview/online TV hybrid BT Vision.
Tiscali’s entry to the three-play fray promises to make things interesting in the coming months, with regard to how the bigger providers will react to new competition. With the increasing convergence of the communications market – internet access, telephony, television – consumers are now being offered a whole range of services offered by single providers; more competition will ensure that providers will be encouraged to keep prices down, which ultimately is great news for customers.
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