Foxtel chief executive Richard Freudenstein has confirmed that its OTT movie streaming service Presto will be available from March 13th. The service was announced in September 2013 with the intention of launching by the end of the year.

The initiative is seen as a pre-emptive strike against mooted similar initiatives by Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment and any possible launch by Netflix. It will also better equip Foxtel to compete with IPTV players such as Quickflix and Fetch TV.

The company was forced to admit to delays, and late January, a Foxtel spokesman said: “This is a complicated platform to put together and there have been a few technical issues. We’re double checking everything to make sure it’s completely working before we launch it. We’re aiming to launch it in the next couple of months but we haven’t got a specific date at this stage.”

Speaking at the 2014 Australian Broadcasting Digital Media Summit in Sydney, Freudenstein said that Foxtel had received “fantastic” feedback since its initial announcement and anticipation from Australians, hungry for a new way to experience great movies, when and where they want, and free from ad-breaks, continues to grow. “We’re looking forward to Presto taking the stage in the coming weeks,” he added.

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