EE updates TV service with more 'mobile first' features

UK mobile operator EE updated its TV offering with features it said confirms the service as the country's only mobile-first TV service.

EE said updated features, which will be released on 25 August, allow users to find, record and watch content more easily, while new app features including Companion Screen and social sharing will deliver a more personalised TV experience controlled through a user's phone or tablet.

The operator, which is in the process of being acquired by BT, pointed to the new 'Fetch' feature that enables subscribers to bring content from the main TV screen directly onto their mobile device as an example of how its service puts mobiles first. Fetch also enables users to view content stored on their mobile device on their main TV screen, EE said.

Simeon Bird, director of home broadband and TV at EE said the company's EE-TV service "received outstanding reviews at launch," and that the operator is continuing to use its "unrivalled knowledge of mobile behaviour in order to update and enhance the service over time".

The updates also include improvements to navigation and search functions controlled by subscribers' mobile devices.

A new Companion Screen feature, for example, offers users the ability to control the show they are watching, while providing a variety of additional information on the second screen. Mobile devices can also be used to search programmes recorded on users' set top boxes, and share details of what they are watching through social media.

EE has previously stated its investment in network differentiation and operational efficiency have delivered record margin in the first half of 2015, with 4G customer growth helping to maintain its market leadership in mobile service revenue, Smart Chimps reported.

Meanwhile, in June the UK's competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), agreed to a request by BT to fast track an investigation into the effects of its planned £12.5 billion (€17.3 billion/$19.6 billion) acquisition of EE, in a move that cuts the process by around 25 days.

For more:
- see this EE release
- see this Smart Chimps article

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