Romtelecom launches Dolce Interactiv IPTV in 10 cities

After three years of Dolce, Romtelecom takes the first steps for a new level of the TV experience. Dolce Interactiv, the new IPTV service to be preliminary launched in 10 cities

The new IPTV service from Romtelecom will be available as of today in 10 major cities, for the customers who have the right broadband connection in terms of speed. The product will be optimized and calibrated during the next months, with new features to be introduced periodically, and it will become available to a larger base of customers. Dolce Interactiv comes at an anniversary moment, at three years after the launch of Dolce, the satellite TV service of Romtelecom.

Dolce is a success story, with 94% of its customers being satisfied with the service and 55% declaring they are very satisfied with it. The service recorded the most spectacular growth during the second year of its existence, with a 65% increase in the number of subscribers. Dolce kept growing even during the difficult economic crisis period of 2009, reaching a current customer base of around 850,000.

“Dolce was a very good experience, both for Romtelecom and for the Romanian market, because we managed to give very high quality digital services at a very attractive price and this was an extremely positive event in the telecom industry. People were not used to have such services from Romtelecom at that time. Now we have about 850,000 customers, which is really a very big number. From our tests and measurements, we understand that all these customers are really very happy with what they are receiving from us,” stated Yorgos Ioannidis, CEO Romtelecom.

The next step – Dolce IPTV

“Few years ago, Romtelecom understood that its role as a simple telecom operator was ending, therefore we chose to enter a generous field, which is the entertainer one. The strategy of the company now is to become gradually the number one home entertainer in this country. The first step was done with Dolce and in this particular moment we are launching the IPTV service, a service which will add interactivity to our TV experience, which unites the world of internet and the world of TV” explains the CEO of Romtelecom.

Taking into consideration the preferences expressed by consumers, Romtelecom is taking now the first steps in launching the intelligent television, providing the Romanian users with more control over their home entertainment. Dolce Interactiv will be available starting this month in the following 10 cities: Bucuresti, Iasi, Constanta, Timisoara, Bacau, Cluj Napoca, Piatra Neamt, Sibiu, Ploiesti, Braila. Thus Romtelecom is the first company in Romania to offer such a wide spread of IPTV service. The coverage, as well as the functionalities provided to the users will be gradually extended in the future.

The new service offers the possibility to select, record and see the favorite programs whenever the consumers want, at a pace they feel comfortable with. The viewer will no longer miss any part of his/her favorite programs, as Dolce Interactiv also offers the possibility to pause and record a live transmission.

“Up to now, television was a service where you were receiving what was broadcasted by the supplier, by the operator, by the TV broadcaster. Today, IPTV gives you the ability to have more interaction with the service you want and customize it according to your needs,” adds Yorgos Ioannidis.

Content on demand will also be available through a comprehensive library. Furthermore, the IPTV user can record multiple programs at the same time. Dolce Interactiv’s benefits are further enhanced by one of the highest quality picture broadcast and high quality sound encoding. Users will have available a friendly interface via a web portal to manage their TV experience.

The affordable total experience

Following in the footsteps of Dolce, Dolce Interactiv aims to provide a well designed product, meant to make a difference through high performance, affordable price and focus on the consumer expectations.

The customers subscribing to Dolce Interactiv will benefit of the promotional offer, of 100% discount for the subscription until the end of March 2010 and the first Set Top Box (STB) without hard disk for free. The prices for additional STBs begin at 99 Euros, VAT excluded. For full access of the service’ functionalities a STB with hard disk is needed, available at a 50% discounted price of 99.5 Euros, VAT excluded.

Currently the service is available to all qualified, in terms of speed, subscribers in the ten cities. From the technical point of view, Dolce Interactiv requires a fixed line and a broadband connection which can support of speed of 8 Mbps and above.