Half a million Telenet customers go digital

MECHELEN — Since the inception of IDTV on September 3 2005, over 500,000 viewers have already opted for Telenet (Brussels: TNET) Digital TV. The overwhelming success of the digital service is in part thanks to the low rental fee of the digiboxes, the free offer of Flexview and the extensive variety of video-on-demand on offer.

Low entry threshold

According to Jo Van Gorp, Vice-President Residential Market at Telenet, IDTV’s success is partially thanks to a number of factors: “Firstly, Telenet has significantly lowered the customers’ entry threshold by making the rental fee of digiboxes as low as possible. Telenet customers pay 4 Euros for the rental of a regular digibox and 6 Euros for an HD digibox. The success of digibox rentals lies in the option to update the equipment; an option which does not exist for purchased equipment.

10 million video-on-demand requests

Other important ingredients of the successful IDTV recipe are the extensive offer of video-on-demand in which local programmes of the Flemish broadcasters play an important role. Jo Van Gorp: “between January 1 and July 31 2008, no fewer than 10 million video-on-demand (VOD) requests were registered. Since Telenet Digital TV was launched in 2005, a total of 26 million VOD transactions were made. This is an absolute record number.” Van Gorp continues: “Flexview also contributes significantly to IDTV’s enormous success. Flexview allows digital viewers to pause live broadcasts or rewind television programmes. This allows viewers to compile their own television evening, fully independent of the existing programming.”

Free Flexview

The personal video recorder and free Flexview also offer an important contribution to the huge success of IDTV. The personal video recorder is comparable to a built-in DVD recorder. The SD digicorder has a 160 GB hard drive, the HD version has a 320 GB drive. Telenet’s Flexview allows digital viewers to pause live broadcasts or rewind programmes. Special moments can be watched again immediately during live broadcasts. Two or more programmes from the TV guide can also be recorded simultaneously at the push of a button. Flexview also makes it possible to view all episodes of a particular series in sequence.

Olympic Games in HD

The extensive digital offer of the TV channels also contributes to the success of digital TV. In June, football fans could follow Euro 2008 on VT4 in HD with Telenet’s red button. Cycling fans were able to watch the Tour De France for free on a designated HD channel, while sports fans can now follow the battle for Olympic medals, in High Definition, again on a single HD channel.

This is not all; Telenet continues to extend its digital range. Four BBC channels were added to the Plus package in the first half of 2008. ActuaTV à la carte, Podiumkunsten à la Carte and the French language versions of MTV and Nickelodeon à la carte (Re:Play à la carte) were added to the VOD range. Radio station Topradio has also been added to the basic package, while the VOD agreements with the Sony and MGM film studios were extended to the end of 2010.

“Telenet continues striving to expand the quantity, and increase the quality, of its digital range. The fact that research indicates increased customer satisfaction indicates that they clearly appreciate this,” concludes Jo Van Gorp.