BT sets up move into broadband TV with Microsoft deal

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 29-Jun-05, 11:00

LONDON - BT has advanced its plans to offer TV over broadband, announcing it expects to launch a service next summer, having signed a deal to use Microsoft technology.

Trials of the service are scheduled for next spring, and negotiations between BT and content providers such as the BBC are ongoing.

BT would provide the service through a set-top box capable of receiving Freeview channels. It will deliver video-on-demand and exploit the interactive capability of broadband.

Gavin Patterson, the group managing director of BT Retail, said the service would complement free and paid-for broadcast TV.

"There is an opportunity to complement broadcast TV with on-demand content, catch-up TV and some of the interactive experiences you get through broadband," he said.

However, NTL and Telewest will not welcome the competition to their "triple-play" TV, phone and broadband-over-cable services.

BT is to use Microsoft's IPTV Edition technology, which the software company said allows the integration of TV services with PCs, phones and games consoles.

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