Vodafone on IPTV charge
September 1, 2010
Vodafone is entering the Spanish IPTV market with the launch in the last quarter of this year of an offer in direct competition with Telefonica-controlled Movistar TV (formerly Imagenio), the leading IPTV player with 750,000 subscribers. Meanwhile, Vodafone Deutschland plans to launch an IPTV service at the IFA trade fair this weekend, according to the German press.
The president of Vodafone Spain, Francisco Roman, said that the new service called Vodafone Internet TV will be launched before the end of the year and will include all DTT channels, several HDTV services and exclusive IPTV content. He gave no further details on content or price. The service will require an ADSL connection and set-top-box. The router will be compatible with the DLNA standard allowing subscribers to connect all the equipment via WiFi.
Vodafone is embracing a quadruple play strategy at a time when competitors like Jazztel, have pulled out of the IPTV for lack of critical mass.
According to the Handelsblatt newspaper Vodafone Deutschland chief executive Friedrich Joussen said that Vodafone’s IPTV service would be offered across Germany via hybrid set-tops that can pick up services offered via satellite or cable as well as delivered via broadband.
Joussen said the company had signed agreements with five major Hollywood studios. The service will be available to homes with an internet speed of 6Mbps and above. As in Spain, no prices were confirmed.