BT kicks off fresh battle with Sky
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007BT football package provokes sniffy responce
BT Broadband subscribers who have signed up for the hybrid IPTV service BT Vision will be able to access a blend of live and near-live Premier League football games when the season kicks off in less than a months time.
BT offer customers game highlights and full coverage of Premiership matches to be screened at 10pm on the same day as games are played, which customers can access by paying a monthly subscription of £4 or for individual pay-per-view charges of £1.99 per game. BT will also show 125 Coca-Cola League and Carling Cup games.
BT Vision customers will also be able to sign up with sports broadcaster Setanta for £12 a month, which provides live coverage of 46 Barclays Premier League fixtures and 60 Scottish Premier League matches.
The party line courtesy of BT Retail’s chief executive Ian Livingston appears to contain a rather wicked barb: “This is a great day for sports fans. They can now follow their team for less than a pound a week. Why pay sky-high prices now that there’s an alternative?”
Sky, not a company to take this sort of jibing on the chin, hit back with: “Sky Sports will offer near-live coverage of the same 242 matches that BT will offer to its broadband subscribers, but without any extra costs. We’re confident that customers are smart enough to find the real value in this competitive marketplace.”
With Virgin having lost several TV customers, BT is now Sky’s main competitor in the pay-TV market. BT’s position in the broadband market means that it can offer its entire range of services to a greater number of customers than Sky currently can. Having said that, Sky are continuing to unroll their broadband network at a furious pace; the satcaster has currently unbundled equipment in over 1,100 BT exchanges, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Courtroom drama fans will remember how BT was part of the Gang of Four (which included Setanta and Virgin) which successfully petitioned Ofcom to have a look at Sky’s admittedly whiffy purchase of the ITV stake last year.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
BT vs Sky
Hardly a level playing field. Just found out that to get sky HD box ( pay £299 for box and £!0 month) I have to pay £11 a month to BT to rent a line that I only want for sky HD. Closed shop monopoly rip off or what. I have cancelled HD on this basis and will go for basic package. Free market choice . I think not. (BT. Great record in digital/broadband rollout.)
PS only going for sky as even in a new flat 1.5 miles from Glasgow City Centre with high point new ariel, my freeview box isn’t working. What a shambles this whole area is.
Who is in charge of digital TV provision ofcom?
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