Italian media magnate Nicola Grauso brought the inexplicably named Video On Line Internet services road show to the UK this week, hoping to find UK partners to extend its global aspirations – or at least he had promised to, but in the event he never showed, and he’s having travelling problems, turned into he’s still in Italy. Sardinia-based Video On Line has been piloting a free service to 30,000 subscribers in Italy since July 1994. Its marketing roadshow will visit some 30 cities around the world looking for partners willing to create local on-line services in their own languages with their own cultural input. Video On Line’s services are fairly typical and include Internet access, shopping, electronic newspapers, electronic mail, tourism, and stockmar ket prices but despite the name, does not offer on-line video. Its unique selling point seems to be the extent to which it offers on-line services with a regional or national slant. Users can, for example, browse the Koran in Arabic. It is currently setting up 2Mbps lines from Cagliari to both Eastern and Western Europe to cover Hungary, Poland, Romania Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland and Portugal, and it says it will have network coverage to all major countries by September. When pressed, Glessandra Zingales, head of foreign relations, said that this would mean coverage of Greece, Bulgaria, Russia and Spain but not the UK. TeleMedia International Ltd, wholly-owned unit of Telecom Italia SpA, has provided the transport infrastructure for the Italian pilot. It is in process of building 230 access points in Italy.
Less progressed
Hubs in London, New York, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires form the mainstay of its network, with London providing the central European presence. TeleMedia International says it can offer services up to 15% to 20% cheaper than its competitors. However, it is unclear whether Video On Line will be using the TeleMedia network to deliver its services globally. Ms Zingales says Eastern Europe is the most exciting market for Video On Line because it is less progressed – telecommunications there are in bad shape, she said, it will take more investment but the returns will be more immediate. However, Eastern Europe appears to be proving more difficult than expected. The Group is pulling out of all holdings in Poland after alleged involvement in illegal television broadcasting.
