EE launches home TV service in UK The EE TV service can be watched on up to four separate screens at once Mobile network EE has announced a TV service that lets up to three phones or tablets be used to watch different live programmes in the home simultaneously, while a television screens a fourth. The facility is powered by a set-top box, which also lets content broadcast over the past 24 hours be replayed, even if recordings were not scheduled. The service is included in the price of EEs broadband and landline packages. One expert called the move hugely significant. EE TV includes more than 70 Freeview channels, including BBC One, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, Sky News and Al Jazeera. In addition, it offers apps for YouTube, Daily Motion and Rakutens subscription TV and movie service Wuaki.tv, among others The set-top box contains a one terabyte (TB) hard disk, which the firm said could store up to 25 days worth of standard definition content and five days worth of high-definition shows. Mobile customers of the UK network who do not use its home internet service can subscribe for £9.95 a month. But bearing in mind that this is the same price charged for the companys basic broadband facility - excluding an additional £15.75 monthly fee for a required telephone line - it provides them with an incentive to switch. EE said that the free set-top box it is providing was worth £300 With EE TV, not only can you watch different streams of live and recorded content, on multiple screens simultaneously, but your mobile becomes the remote, said EEs chief executive Olaf Swantee. This gives each viewer the chance to watch, queue and view what they want, when they want. One industry watcher said he expected the firms competitors to respond in kind. Its a logical move from EE and one thats in direct response to BT launching its mobile service next year, said Paolo Pescatore from the consultancy CCS Insight. With EEs broadband business posting good quarterly subscriber growth it has a strong subscriber base to cross-sell to, and puts it in a far stronger position than other quad-play providers - Virgin Media and TalkTalk. Todays announcement [also] puts the pressure on others to accelerate their own quad-play plans. Customers can use their smartphone or tablet to control EEs set-top box However, he added that he believed EE TV needed to offer a better range of content if it wanted to succeed. EE has taken a sensible approach with its TV service as it doesnt want to be embroiled in bidding wars for premium content, Mr Pescatore said. However given the exclusion of Netflix, EE must strongly consider forging agreements with other key rights owners including BSkyB for its Now TV service. The company must also strengthen the range of on-demand services as this is becoming increasingly important to consumers as underlined by Netflixs growth. EE said its platform would include an ever growing range of content applications over time.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:48:27 +0000
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