Fantastic feedback from IPTV beta testers

Thu, Dec 18th 2014, 12:31 PM

The official launch of Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd.'s (BTC) Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service was yesterday touted as "the start of a new era" in Bimini telecoms.
BTC CEO Leon Williams stated that the new service had already received "fantastic" feedback from testers. Although the service was officially launched yesterday, BTC has offered IPTV to Bimini testers for the past month.
To date, over 100 Bimini residents are providing beta testing for the service - which provides digital channels through a broadband Internet connection - free of charge for the next three months.
"We're here to ensure that every nook and cranny, every person in South and North Bimini will have a choice between us and them," said Williams, reasserting that the new service will bring broadband TV to communities by March 2015.
Discussing the company's move into the TV market, Williams said it was imperative for telecoms companies to make the leap to information, communications and entertainment (ICE) content.
"If you don't get ahead of the curve and get into the entertainment business your telco is going to be dead, your cellco is going to be dead, and now you've got a problem. Everybody's trying to get to quad play, and that is where we are," he said.
While BTC is currently only testing the service in Bimini, it will expand to other "virgin markets" that don't have access to cable TV after receiving additional feedback from Bimini. BTC plans to implement the service in Andros, Inagua and Cat Island before turning its attention to larger islands.
"We'll work out the bugs and kinks here so that by the time we get to Nassau, where there has been a competitive product in the market now for 15-20 years, the lessons learned will now apply to Nassau. We cannot go to Nassau to learn our lessons," said Williams.
He noted that BTC can currently provide IPTV to 30,000 New Providence households with suitable broadband connections, but did not provide a projected IPTV launch date for New Providence.
Williams added that BTC's IPTV is in the process of changing its channel lineup following BTC parent company Cable & Wireless' acquisition of Columbus Telecommunications, which currently services 42 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
At this time, BTC has not yet disclosed any pricing or packaging details for the service. The company pledged that further details will be provided once the service exits the testing phase.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads