The average UK broadband user is already spending 30 minutes a week downloading films and a further 23 minutes a week watching TV online, research from YouGov shows. However, uSwitch believes that this is merely the tip of the iceberg as the country holds its breath for major communications providers to bring IPTV into the mainstream over the coming months.
The comparison service pointed out that the launch of Virgin Central will revolutionize the way its three million customers will watch TV, using ‘on-demand’ technology to provide customers with instant access to programs at any time of the day or night. Furthermore, Sky is set to fight back in March by bringing its Sky Anytime product, which is already available over PCs and mobiles, to TV sets.
The UK is now in the midst of a full-scale rollout of IPTV, commented Steve Weller, head of communications services at uSwitch. Sky has traditionally dominated this arena, broadcasting a vast array of viewing content, but this is going to be aggressively challenged with the influx of new providers set to launch rival services that will provide compelling content ‘on-demand’ this year.
The benefits to consumers are clear. IPTV offers exceptional viewing choice and great value for money. With films starting at 99p there are clear cost savings to be made over the traditional high street video stores, and we wouldn’t be surprised if these cease to exist by the end of next year, he continued.
However, broadband users will need to check the download limit of their service as some broadband starter packs limit downloads to just 2Gb per month, which would be almost completely used up by downloading up to two movies.
