TeliaSonera launches broadband TV services in the Greater Helsinki Area

TeliaSonera launches broadband TV services in the Greater Helsinki Area on November 29, 2007. Sonera Broadband TV offers an extensive selection of channels, videos and high-definition image. The service is designed for households for which Sonera’s top-speed 100 Mbps broadband is available. The top-speed access makes it possible for family members to surf on the Internet and watch high-definition TV channels simultaneously.

TeliaSonera has about 170,000 cable TV customers in Finland. The company now expands the provision of pay TV services from the cable TV network to the fibre optic network. In Sweden, 216,000 TeliaSonera customers already watch TV programmes over broadband.

“Before long, TV programmes will also be provided to most living rooms in Finland via broadband, for in this way, high-definition image, video-on-demand and other interactive services can be provided to homes,” says Senior Vice President Janne Yli-Äyhö, responsible for TV and Content at TeliaSonera’s Broadband Services.

Until now, high-definition channels have been provided only in the cable network, but now they also become available in the broadband network in Finland. First Sonera collects user experience data in the Greater Helsinki area and develops and refines the service in close cooperation with equipment vendors and software companies.

“For the first year, the users can use the TV service free of charge, so the barrier of acquiring new experiences is low. The households with Broadband TV will be provided with the appropriate equipment, ADSL modem and digibox owned and tested by Sonera, so the viewers need not even worry about the compatibility of the equipment,” says Senior Vice President Juha-Pekka Weckström, in charge of TeliaSonera Broadband Services Finland.

Freedom of choice and superb high-definition image

Apart from the regular, freely available digital channels, Sonera Broadband TV customers subscribing to a basic package gain access to eight high-quality channels, of which Discovery Channel, Silver, Voom and Luxe are high-definition channels. In addition to these, Animal Planet, Discovery Civilisation, Discovery Science and Discovery Travel & Living are also available. The offering is supplemented by SF Anytime, a video-on-demand service with a weekly updated selection of over 1,000 videos including, for example, the most popular Finnish movies. The basic service is free of charge for the first 12 months.

The other option available for households is a movie package with a monthly charge offer of 29 euros. In addition to all of the above, this package also comprises the Canal+ Total channel package.

Both packages include the appropriate equipment, modem and digibox tested by Sonera and provided to the customer free of charge. Installation service for the equipment is provided free of charge until the end of the year. A precondition for the provision of high-definition channels is top-speed broadband. Sonera recommends that households should have 100 Mbps access, which provides sufficient bandwidht for several simultaneous surfers and TV viewers.

85,000 households in the Greater Helsinki Area within the coverage area of the fibre optic network

Sonera has prepared for broadband TV by building a fibre optic network in the biggest 15 towns in Finland at a high pace.

“By the end of the year, the fibre optic network covers as many as 150,000 households, about half of them in the Greater Helsinki Area. “In future, we will provide equally high-speed access for Sonera’s cable households as well, which will further expand the service area of Broadband Extra. And next year, the construction continues at high speed,” says Weckström.

The fibre optic network in the Greater Helsinki Area now covers wide areas at Helsinki’s Kruunuhaka, Kallio, Töölö, Lauttasaari, Itä-Pasila, Viikki, Herttoniemenranta, Roihuvuori, Itäkeskus, Vuosaari and Aurinkolahti. In Espoo, Sonera Broadband Extra is available at Tapiola, Matinkylä, Leppävaara, Espoon keskus, Perkkaa, Niittymaa and Saunalahti. In Vantaa, the fibre optic network extends to Tikkurila, Myyrmäki, Pakkala, Tammisto and Koivukylä. The availability of Broadband Extra varies with the housing company. You can check the availability of the service for your home at Sonera’s web site.