Thursday, 06 July, 2006
Europe’s first high definition TV service over the Internet
Europe’s first high definition Internet TV service went live in the Netherlands during the FIFA World Cup.
IPTV set-top box firm Amino has been selected by Lijbrandt Telecom BV to supply its STBs for the first ever high definition (HD) IPTV service in Northern Europe.
The service was rolled-out in time for World Cup football matches and as well as HDTV, the service will also offer triple-play functions such as Internet access, TV and telephone services via a broadband connection.
Lijbrandt has created a network for this service with investment of €150-200m. It hopes to have 120,000 subscribers within three years.
“With World Cup matches attracting the interest they do, it was a great time to be able to roll out our service,” said Niels Jonkman for Lijbrandt Telecom.
Lijbrandt’s service shows more than fifty channels, three of which are currently in HD (including World Cup coverage). However, this Autumn, the BBC will provide three more channels - The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the National Geographic channels, all in HD.
“Amino’s STBs played an important part in allowing us to do this in time, due to their pre-integration and extensive pre-testing,” said Jonkman. Amino’s STBs are pre-tested with the main component providers, including middleware, browser and conditional access systems to ensure compatibility.
Comments
John | 11 July, 2006 - 16:33
Heh, that’s good to hear. People can watch it over the internet, is that better than a television though?
Scott Taylor | 12 July, 2006 - 9:27
I would say this service will be good in the next few years; at the minute its still sketchy..