Having lagged behind many of its European rivals, Vodafone UK is rumoured to be preparing to launch a quad-play service that will offer a bundle including mobile, broadband, home phone and TV connections sometime this year.
According to a report on ISPReview, which cited an unnamed source, the operator is working with BT Wholesale on a new service that would be similar to the BT Vision offering already available from BT Retail. The subscription BT Vision service has already gained nearly 550,000 customers in the UK, with 40,000 signing up in the last quarter.
If Vodafone did launch such a service, it could see try rejuvenate its moribund Vodafone At Home service, which was the company's first attempt to offer a bundle that included mobile, together with a fixed line phone and broadband. While this service has disappeared from Vodafone's website, the company claims it is still operational and can be purchased.
If Vodafone does go ahead with such a service, then it is thought likely that it could mimic what the company has already deployed in Spain and Portugal. ISPReview also suggested that a quad-play offering could adopt the IPTV platform YouView and make use of BT's new content delivery network, Content Connect, that is available to ISPs.
Separately, Telefonica has been indicating that it might look to offer IPTV services, but without mentioning if it will do so in the UK. However, this might rapidly change if Vodafone does announce its intentions regarding a UK quad-play offering.
For more:
- see this ISPReview article
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