O2 competes for pay-TV market

Mobile phone company O2 is looking to extend the deals it has with media companies including Warner Bros, HBO and Paramount for its TV service in the Czech Republic to the UK, as it plans compete with BT, Sky and Virgin Media in the British pay-TV market.

O2 is owned by Spanish group Telefonica who recently introduced a residential broadband service. The company now plans to add a TV service (received by the viewer through broadband), with trials starting in 2008.

If the trials are successful, a full commercial launch could follow. It is using as a blueprint its service in the Czech Republic, where O2 owns both a fixed line and mobile phone operator.

An increasing amount of broadband and mobile phone companies are looking at the provision of TV content as a way to persuade customers to spend more with them to prevent them from moving to rivals.

Salvadore Anglada, chief executive of Telefonica O2 Czech, said that such developments would be made in other countries. He said the UK and Spain are learning from us, which is critical for our company, when we launch a product, the UK is watching carefully.

O2 TV in the Czech Republic offers 55 channels and has video on demand content from Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Disney, Paramount and HBO.

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