A new range of TV channels will be launching later this year and a new broadband internet based service will be due for release by 2010 according to an announcement by Kim Williams, the CEO for Foxtel.

A huge investment of as much as $1 billion for this new broadband service was announced by Williams along with the introduction of 25 new TV channels.

Williams said “We will integrate substantial broadband television capability to the FOXTEL iQ next year. Our medium term aim is to have a FOXTEL iQ in every subscriber home because it is the ultimate television viewing technology aligned as it is with the whole focus on personalisation.”

More than 6 million customers currently use the Foxtel pay TV service worldwide and as many as 1.6 million homes in Australia access its services said Williams speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra recently.

The customer conversion achieved by Foxtel was apparently the world’s fastest digital conversion rate of any pay TV service he added.

Williams said “An additional 700,000 households with more than 2.5 million people subscribe to the same types of services from our regional colleagues at Austar. That’s over 8 million Australians actively choosing our services.”

He went on to add “Broadband integration into Foxtel’s suite of services is one of our most exciting developments. We will make many announcements in this space over the next year. Our commitment to broadband was significantly expanded with the launch of a new website in April. Over 42% of our customers now have the iQ installed in their home and that by the end of next year that number comfortably will have passed 65%, the possibilities are dazzling”. The investment in deploying those digital services alone substantially exceeds $1bn of fresh risk capital deployed in building an entirely new fabric of media possibilities for Australian consumers.”

Source - www.smarthouse.com.au