Taking a page out of Comcast’s playbook, Charter has been quietly testing a mobile video service targeted to college campuses.
“The SpectrumU TV app is a stand-alone app that allows universities subscribing to Spectrum services to provide live video to anyone using the university's Wi-Fi network,” a Charter page advertising the service reads. (Light Reading was the first to report on the service test.)
“The app is available for both Android and iOS devices and allows for the streaming of 50 channels,” Charter added. “Users can also search for content and view on-demand programming. The SpectrumU TV app is currently available at select universities.”
Comcast recently said its similar Xfinity On Campus service is now available at more than 100 colleges across the U.S. The service lets students access live programming, 20 hours of DVR recording and on-demand content, all from mobile devices.
According to documents discovered (PDF) by Light Reading, Charter has been quietly testing the SpectrumU TV app since 2014, adding a “handful” of university campuses to the test in 2016. The service is delivered to colleges via fiber and managed through Charter’s business services operation. More than 50 channels are available through the service.
Charter hasn’t commented on this test.