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ISP abandons IPTV service
Tuesday 30th December 2008, by Daniel King
Struggling internet service provider (ISP) Tiscali has announced that it will be closing its broadband-based television service in Italy.
The move has prompted concerns that similar action could be taken in the UK at some point in the near future.
Customers in Italy received very little warning about the cancellation of the service, which is set to end on January 15th 2009.
Those who have paid for the internet protocol television (IPTV) will receive a refund for their December subscription fee.
No reason has been given for the decision, but it is believed that it is because there are not enough subscribers to make Tiscali TV a viable enterprise.
The UK service is usually offered as part of a triple-play bundle alongside broadband and voice products.
When it first made the service available to the UK market, it promised 200,000 subscribers by the end of 2008, although it has struggled to reach this target.
Tiscali is not the only firm to have problems with IPTV in the UK as Orange shelved plans for a service for the second time in November 2008.
One of the problems facing smaller ISPs or those trying to break into this market is that BSkyB and Virgin Media are currently the dominant forces.
They offer a range of broadband, television and talk bundles, particularly Virgin Media.
It now has a 50Mbps broadband option and the ISP has one of the fastest average real time download speeds.
There have been rumours that Tiscali was going to be taken over by Vodafone, The Carphone Warehouse and, most recently, Sky.
However, none of the deals have worked out and Sky recently withdrew from negotiations with the company.
Categories: Broadband, Broadband Products, Tiscali
