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[BT] [Kingston Interactive Television] [World Callnet] [Future TV] [Microsoft?]
BT had a video on demand trial as far back as 1995 with 2,500 homes in Colchester and Ipswich using fibre. Currently, together with Yes TV, it is trialing video-on-demand to 400 homes in West London using ADSL (Asyncronous Digital Subscriber Line) technology running at 2.3Mbit/s. Paying £30 per month they will also have access to the internet and email. With ADSL the telephone line is always on and whilst not in use, BT can push information to the TV. In reality, it has been reported that a third of ADSL installations are failing to deliver.
In July 2001 BT will be allowed to transmit television broadcast signals down its lines but at the same time will loose its local loop monopoly. In Spring 2000 BT will role out ADSL nationally starting with 400 exchanges in major cities serving 6m consumers. This will be over the local loop copper wires, providing broadband services into homes though the speeds and costs will be less than ISDN. Subscribers need to be within 5km of an exchange and their line needs to pass a line test. However, in reality their own role out was incredibly slow and they received much criticism from rivals who said BT was being slow to open up the exchanges. When a consortium of finance houses under the Earth Lease name offered £8bn for the local-loop many thought BT should take it. It would help with BT's huge £16.5bn debt and hopefully the new owners would open up the network. BT said it was not interested as it was busy demerging its mobile phone business. Commentators said BT thought Earth Lease was not a serious proposition. Later Earth Lease met the regulator Oftel to discuss the proposal and also discuss obtaining an operator's licence.
As at mid 2001, BT's own ADSL broadband service has about half of the 100,000 UK broadband users, with its OpenWorld service (512kps) having 45,000 subscribers and its Home Choice service (2.3Mb/s) with 7,000 subscribers. This compares with Deutsche Telekom's 500,000. Fearing that a lower cost ADSL service from BT could penetrate its cable subscriber base, in late 1999 NTL announced that it too would provide ADSL (see NTL targets SMEs). Telewest also announced high speed telephony services. Morgan Stanley estimates that ADSL will generate 45% of the UK's internet traffic by 2010, with cable accounting for 25%.
In May 2001, BT confirmed the company was looking at providing entertainment over broadband. BT did have a stake in BSkyB's Open interactive service but sold that in mid 2001.
In July 2001, BT signed a marketing agreement with BSkyB and ITV Digital. It will re-sell their digital TV packages bundled with telephony services at a price that it asserts will undercut the cable company's (NTL and Telewest) similar packages.
In Hull is Kingston Interactive Television (KIT) which went live in October 1999. It offers true video on demand under the brand name Yes Television as well as interactive services. It is owned by Kingston Communications, the UK's only telecommunications company owned by a local authority since 1904. It has 170,000 subscribers. In July 1999 it was floated with the council retaining 45% ownership and many of Hull's citizens are also shareholders. It has a national licence from Oftel and plans to offer the service nationwide when ADSL becomes available. In February 2000, Kingston Communications announced a joint venture with BSkyB to distribute it's entertainment and multi-media services using ADSL. BSkyB will also provide management and marketing as well as content. When BT's monopoly on the local loop ends in July 2001 then the service could be offered nationwide.
Yes TV offers video-on-demand and digital television services. In March 2000 it announced plans for a London listing with an estimated company value of £600m later revised to £810m - a high figure given the use of new and unproven technology and the dependency on BT to role out DSL. It had invited Warner Bros International and Buena Vista International to each take a 10% share. In the previous year the company made operating losses of £5.1m on just £178k turnover The flotation was to raise over £200m capital for expansion into high-speed internet access and e-commerce and news services for digital TV viewers. It is working on video-on-demand pilot services with BT in West London and with Kingston Communications DSL service in Kingston upon Hull as well as other schemes in Cardiff (with NTL who later pulled out) and Ireland (with Eircom).
In April 2000, a day before the flotation, it announced a delay giving no reason but rumour had it than Kingston Communications was thinking of pulling out of the partnership. A month later it annouced the flotation was going ahead but with a 25% cut in its offer price. Only those who registered for the earlier float will be allowed to participate. However, this was not enough and on 19 May 2000 the company announced that the floation had flopped blaming the general free-fall of technology stocks. It said it would be meeting private investors.
World Callnet plans to launch its modem based M@iTV service in 2000. Set-top boxes will cost £50. Although there will be no monthly subscription charge there will be an access charge at the 0845 local cost call rate. When announced in December 1999, no value added service providers had been retained.
This interactive television company, has created MiTV, an interactive service providing email, internet access, audio and video facilities, particularly on-demand services. It has struck a deal with Spain's leading cable supplier ONO to provide the service to its 4.3m customers and many British holiday makers. Talks are apparently also underway with an Irish cable operator and a UK telecom operator. A basic subscription costs £8 per month with additional pay-as-you-go costs for services such as video-on-demand. FutureTV has a deal with Mondex to certify a smart card that can be topped up directly from the customer's bank account. The service is continually personalised to the customer. For example, a video recorder option that remembers customer's favourite programmes. Eventually, advertisements will be tailored and targetted.
Microsoft has long promoted its Web TV standard since 1997 but has made little impact in the UK other than supporting Telewest (see Cable). On the global scene, Microsoft continues to try to influence standards, not just on PCs but also in set-top boxes. For example, Microsoft has signed an agreement with NDS Group, Murdoch's News Corp's pay-TV arm, whereby NDS will licence software from Microsoft so that both companies can sell interactive TV services. Many in the industry view such developments with alarm, fearing that it may be a Trojan Horse to eventually control content and access.
Today, most PCs come with multi-media facilities such as DVD and Dolby Stereo. Many have TV and Radio tuners allowing users to watch TV broadcasts whilst working, playing or surfing. Also, within recent years the quality and compression of streaming audio and video and the faster modems is allowing users to access A/V material over the web at a time and place to suit them. for example, there are thousands of web radio stations, some exclusive to the web and some belonging to terrestrial broadcasters. These offer both live and recorded material.
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