Broadband News

Orange broadband TV trials go national

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Garnet Roach garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

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Orange has reportedly taken trials of its much-delayed broadband TV service national, and a launch date is expected soon.

Although details are scarce, Mobile Today reported that the mobile phone and broadband giant was gearing up for a launch.

"Sky and Virgin Media already have a strong hold on the digital TV market"

The service was originally scheduled to surface in the summer of last year following trials in Leeds, but the launch date was pushed back to the end of 2007 and is still being trialled.

Orange's (www.Orange.co.uk) broadband TV has proved very popular in France and the company is hoping for similar success in the UK.

However, Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, warned that Orange could face quite a struggle to penetrate the UK IPTV market.

“Sky (www.Sky.com) and Virgin Media (www.VirginMedia.com) already have a strong hold on the digital TV market, and similar offerings from the likes of Tiscali (www.Tiscali.co.uk) and BT's (www.BT.com) Vision service have failed to gain significant customer bases, despite monthly packages from only £3 and sports deals with Setanta.

“Add to this the fact that Orange Broadband has been experiencing an ongoing customer exodus - losing 44,000 customers in the last quarter alone - and you can see what a struggle it will be for Orange to make a success of this service.

“It will have to come with something bigger and better than its competitors,” he concluded.