News Corp associate BSkyB the largest DTH satellite TV supplier in the UK with over 8 million customers, will launch a triple play based on its Easynet unbundled DSL network bought in 2005, offering voice and internet access and some of Sky’s TV content, over a broadband line.
It will offer this under an entirely different name Picnic, which we expect will be a new parallel strategy to its existing pattern of offering Sky customers free VoD services, and using broadband to push Sky’s existing brand.
Since Sky bought Easynet for $373 million it has added Sky Broadband and Sky Talk, and built out coverage to 70% of the UK population. The service will have to be given the okay by the UK regulator before it can be finalized.
The idea will be to make the service as simple to subscribe to as possible, with options to choose 1, 2 or 3 services in any combination, with transparent discounting for multiple services, and using ADSL as well as ADSL2+ class broadband lines at up to 16 Mbps.
Like many other IPTV hybrids in the UK, the system will issue its own set top which is compatible with the 64 Freeview DVB-T channels, and which will act as a Home Gateway for the rest of the services. The set top will use H.264 compression and initially offer 3 TV channels, which presumably will be delivered over DVB-T broadcast rather than broadband.
Sky said that TV services can be supplied on a set top or a PC, and set top makers will be responsible for the specification of their set tops and add extra features such as PVR function of the receipt of pay-TV services from other providers. Picnic won’t subsidize set tops and has contracted with Sagem to be the first manufacturer of set tops.
Picnic will announce details and pricing options, and a full channel line-up nearer its launch later this year.