http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Doc...A-1698B08DF007
By : Tony Glover
19/10/2006
TISCALI is to challenge BT by launching its own internet television service in Britain just before Christmas, after BT Vision is due to go live.
At first glance, Tiscali’s bid for Britain’s internet TV market looks ill-judged. BT has a better-known brand, more customers with broadband connections and recently signed a clutch of impressive content deals with partners such as Universal Films. BT will launch this autumn, with a
full-scale marketing campaign in the spring.
Tiscali hopes to differentiate its service through its electronic programme guide (EPG). It says the greatest challenge to any internet TV service is how to guide users through the sea of film and video content on the internet.
The Sardinia-based internet service provider intends to offer adult users a personal profile system that keeps a record of their preferences and learns to alert users to content that could be of interest. Each customer will gain entry to the EPG service by having a personal identification number (PIN) entered on the remote control handset.
“This will be the most advanced EPG on the market and will contain some features that our rivals will not develop for some time,” chief executive Tommaso Pompei said in an interview with The Business.
Mary Turner, head of Tiscali’s UK arm, said: “When so much choice is potentially available, there is the obvious problem of children accessing unsuitable material on internet TV. But there is also a danger of them not being able to find the programmes available.”
Adults will be given a guide that lists a choice of programmes. The children’s guide, called Scamp, will use pictures and icons to allow the child to access suitable material. Children will have their own internet TV service, a niche market Tiscali believes competitors have overlooked.
The service will also include a separate, brightly coloured remote control handset specifically designed for children. Other members of the household will share the main remote control, using individual PIN numbers.
Tiscali’s new internet TV service so far comprises a content library of 7,000 videos and films. Pompei likens the service to the music download service offered by Apple. “The service will be like an iPod on TV,” said Pompei.
The company has just published its business plan for 2007-2010, which will concentrate its efforts on its core business in Italy and in Britain, where the group’s overall customer base exceeds 3m users, of which roughly half are broadband users.
Tiscali also has plans to extend next year’s triple play offering of TV, fixed-line phone and internet access to include mobile telecoms. Tiscali has started preliminary partnership talks with Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile phone unit 3 Italia.
In its 2007-2010 business plan, Tiscali said it expected to reach agreement with an existing mobile operator in Italy by the end of the year as part of the group’s expansion to offer combined fixed/mobile services.
The company is studying opportunities to become a virtual mobile operator.
By : Tony Glover
19/10/2006
TISCALI is to challenge BT by launching its own internet television service in Britain just before Christmas, after BT Vision is due to go live.
At first glance, Tiscali’s bid for Britain’s internet TV market looks ill-judged. BT has a better-known brand, more customers with broadband connections and recently signed a clutch of impressive content deals with partners such as Universal Films. BT will launch this autumn, with a
full-scale marketing campaign in the spring.
Tiscali hopes to differentiate its service through its electronic programme guide (EPG). It says the greatest challenge to any internet TV service is how to guide users through the sea of film and video content on the internet.
The Sardinia-based internet service provider intends to offer adult users a personal profile system that keeps a record of their preferences and learns to alert users to content that could be of interest. Each customer will gain entry to the EPG service by having a personal identification number (PIN) entered on the remote control handset.
“This will be the most advanced EPG on the market and will contain some features that our rivals will not develop for some time,” chief executive Tommaso Pompei said in an interview with The Business.
Mary Turner, head of Tiscali’s UK arm, said: “When so much choice is potentially available, there is the obvious problem of children accessing unsuitable material on internet TV. But there is also a danger of them not being able to find the programmes available.”
Adults will be given a guide that lists a choice of programmes. The children’s guide, called Scamp, will use pictures and icons to allow the child to access suitable material. Children will have their own internet TV service, a niche market Tiscali believes competitors have overlooked.
The service will also include a separate, brightly coloured remote control handset specifically designed for children. Other members of the household will share the main remote control, using individual PIN numbers.
Tiscali’s new internet TV service so far comprises a content library of 7,000 videos and films. Pompei likens the service to the music download service offered by Apple. “The service will be like an iPod on TV,” said Pompei.
The company has just published its business plan for 2007-2010, which will concentrate its efforts on its core business in Italy and in Britain, where the group’s overall customer base exceeds 3m users, of which roughly half are broadband users.
Tiscali also has plans to extend next year’s triple play offering of TV, fixed-line phone and internet access to include mobile telecoms. Tiscali has started preliminary partnership talks with Hutchison Whampoa’s mobile phone unit 3 Italia.
In its 2007-2010 business plan, Tiscali said it expected to reach agreement with an existing mobile operator in Italy by the end of the year as part of the group’s expansion to offer combined fixed/mobile services.
The company is studying opportunities to become a virtual mobile operator.
