Tiscali UK revealed its plans for the launch and national roll out of Tiscali TV, following the acquisition of the Homechoice IPTV service in August 2006. Tiscali TV will launch on 1 March 2007 when over 40,000 Homechoice subscribers will become Tiscali TV customers and will offer broadband plus TV for £14.99.
Tiscali TV is currently available in London and Stevenage but will be available outside London in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newcastle during April and May, and in areas of Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool by mid-year. By the end of 2007 Tiscali TV will be available to a footprint of over 10 million UK homes. The roll out will continue through 2008 and the TV service will be available to Tiscali's entire unbundled local loop network by the end of 2008.
The Tiscali TV pack offers consumers over 30 digital TV channels including all of the free digital channels from the BBC, Channel 4, Five and ITV, including E4, BBC Three, fiveUS and ITV2, also a 'Replay or Catch-up' service allowing subscribers to watch over 50 hours of key BBC programmes up to seven days after they have been broadcast, and access to a further 100 hours of on-demand programming including complete series of Dr. Who, Friends, Sex and the City and Prime Suspect. Tiscali TV is free to all subscribers who buy the 2Mb broadband product in Tiscali TV enabled areas. Subscribers can also access over 1000 movies on demand to watch instantly with prices ranging from £1.99 to £3.49 per movie.
In addition subscribers can upgrade to the 'Big Pack' adding an extra 25 channels and 1000 hours of on-demand TV programmes. They can also choose the award-winning Music or Kids packs which include VMX with 5000 music videos and Scamp the exclusive pre-school channel. Tiscali TV has the most on-demand content available from one provider.
Tiscali will also offer the UK's best value 'triple play' package. For £19.99 the customer will get 2Mb broadband, the TV pack, line rental and free weekend telephone calls. This compares favourably with the entry-level cable triple play package at £30.
The company will also launch a new set top box in July 2007, with a 160Gb, Hi-Definition enabled, personal video recorder (PVR), allowing subscribers to record any shows they choose and watch in Hi-Definition if they have an HD TV.
Mary Turner, Chief Executive Tiscali UK says: "Tiscali TV will give our subscribers real value for money, choice and flexibility - things that are core to our brand values. We believe there is a real gap in the market for our TV product. The success of Freeview has shown that customers want more than five channels but don't necessarily want to pay a high monthly subscription. Our TV service gives customers broadband plus the channel choice they want and free on-demand programming, all for the price you would pay for a standard broadband connection".
Tiscali TV is delivered into your house via a landline broadband connection so there's no need for cabling or a satellite dish on your building. All you need is a phone line to the house.