Foxtel who face losing customers to new IPTV services from Telstra, Google and Apple has moved to expand their offerings with a new IPTV service the only problem is, that users of the service have to connect a modem to their existing HD iQ2 set top box, or go out and spend close to $200 on a Poweline device.
The new service allows consumers to access content similar to what BigPond Movies delivers via a Foxtel HD iQ2 set-top-box. The content will consist of TV episodes and movies with the bulk of the content being catalogue movies.
Users will be able to access the content via the existing Foxtel user guide.
Foxtel said at as of today all iQ2 set-top-boxes will start receiving a software upgrade which will automatically upgrade their existing TV Guide automatically.
Foxtel CEO, Kim Williams AM, said, “Foxtel has been investing in its technology to build on the suite of services available to our subscribers and with the launch of On Demand, Foxtel has moved to the internet and completed its offering which includes HD, 3D and Internet TV to become the home of entertainment”.
The T Box offering which is available for as low as $259 to existing BigPond customer’s delivers all TV channels including HD Channels as well as access to over 1,500 movies from as low as $3.95.
With the new Foxtel service consumers are going to have to pay up to $100 a month for a subscription and then pay an additional fee for movies. On top of this consumers are going to have to pay for a PowerLine kit if they do not have an Ethernet or modem connection close to their existing Foxtel PVR.
Foxtel claim that they will have access to 5000 movies and TV episodes by 2011.
The new service lets subscribers download entire TV series Each TV episode is available for $2.95 and some children’s programming will be available for $1.95 per episode such as Ben 10 (The Cartoon Network) and Dora the Explorer (nick jr).
Movies available are available for $3.95 each.
New release movies which will be available in October include Date Night, Kick-Ass and Hot Tub Time Machine. The will cost $5.50 and new release HD movies will cost $5.95 each.
Foxtel said that once a title has been viewed the rental period will begin – the rental period is 48 hours for movies and an extended rental of 10 days for TV episodes, which will increase to a 60 day rental period from December. Inside the rental period you can watch the movie or TV show as many times as you like.
When a program has been purchased and starts downloading, the progressive download technology means you can start watching a show before it has completely downloaded.
Foxtel subscribers must have an eligible ADSL/cable broadband service with an available Ethernet port. Foxtel recommends a minimum broadband speed of 1.5MB per second. The iQ2 set-top-box uses broadband internet to retrieve content and the iQ2 must be connected to the internet at all times.
