BT gets into video on demand

BT has announced it will use Microsoft's TV IPTV Edition software platform to deliver video-on-demand over broadband in the UK.

A spokesman for BT said on Wednesday the company plans to offer a combination of over-the-air Freeview broadcast with a broadband video-on-demand subscription service. There were no plans to go into broadband TV broadcast because of the logistics involved.

"We want to deliver a seamless video-streaming service combined with digital terrestrial channels in a two-in-one box," said the spokesman. "The combination of Microsoft technology with BT's 21st Century Network (21CN) will result in an exciting set of next-generation entertainment and communication services," he added.

BT's 21CN project will see its circuit-switched networks replaced with a single IP-based network. The launch of the IPTV service could encourage broadband take up.

Broadband is already widely available in the UK, with BT picking up its five millionth wholesale broadband customer in March this year. By the summer of 2005, the telco expects to have broadband-enabled local exchanges that serve 99.6 per cent of UK homes and businesses.

Tom Espiner writes for ZDNet UK