Australia's second-largest DSL broadband provider, iiNet, and Israeli provider of semiconductors for multimedia Wi-Fi home networking applications, Celeno, have signed a deal that will enable iiNet to deliver IPTV services wirelessly.
The deal will allow iiNet to deliver IPTV, video on demand and other interactive services to iiNet's subscribers over an in-home Wi-Fi connection, reducing the need for truck rolls and extensive in-home wiring.
The iiNet service launched in mid-2010 with partner FetchTV and has been pushing other, bigger competitors for market share. iiNet's FetchTV offers over 30 free movies a month on demand, VoD, PVR with room for 550+ hours of recorded content, a selection of TV channels to compliment free-to-air channels and add-on options.
In May, the company said it would be rolling out a wireless bridge product that would be complementary to the company's existing BoB range of ADSL routers and its set-top box service.
"We look at this as closing a chapter in a way. We created the modem, then we brought out the set top box; now we have a bridge between the two to complete the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) product suite," said iiNet senior product development manager Anthony Malone. "However we're far from finished with our ideas on IPTV. We're well aware we've only scratched the surface on this new breed of subscription television."
The Celeno-powered bridges stream video over the Wi-Fi spectrum to enable a high quality viewing experience throughout the home.
"Our customers don't want to worry about the cost of new wiring, and this robust, inexpensive wireless bridge has allowed us to speed up the expansion rate of our IPTV services," said Stephen Harley, iiNet's chief product officer.
Celeno also this week announced a deal to supply Deutsche Telekom with Wi-Fi equipment to stream IPTV throughout the house.
AT&T (NYSE: T) announced a deal in October with Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) to provide Wi-Fi U-verse to homes in its footprint. Norwegian telco Altibox, meanwhile, announced a deal last month with Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) that brings Wi-Fi access of IPTV and OTT products to its customers.
For more:
- see this release
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