KEY POINTS:
Phone and internet companies are about to begin testing video services over broadband in an attempt to increase revenues and take a slice of the movie rental market.
CallPlus residential brand Slingshot said it would begin offering its existing customers a trial movie download service next year.
Slingshot head Mark Callander said subscribers would use their broadband connection to download movies and television programmes to their PCs. From there, video files will be transmitted to a TV set-top box.
Ideally, customers would programme movies to download overnight or during the day, although Callander said it would be possible to be able to begin watching a partially downloaded movie while the download continued to run in the background.
Slingshot is using New Zealand company YuVU to manage the content and in-home technology platform.
"The challenge we have is putting all this together," said Callander. "It makes sense to partner."
Callander said the company would be targeting the market currently served by video chains and online DVD rental businesses rather than competing with Sky TV. The video rental/retail market is estimated to be worth $250 million.
He said during the testing stage content would not include blockbusters, but classic movies and television shows.
Orcon chief executive Scott Bartlett said it too would try out a video service as part of the local loop unbundling trial currently running at the Ponsonby exchange.
He said a selection of Orcon staff and customers attached to the exchange would begin testing software and set-top boxes this week.
Bartlett said a service with a range of content would be available free to customers in "unbundled" exchanges where Orcon can install its own broadband equipment.
"When we take LLU to market, we'll take IPTV [internet protocol TV] to market at the same time."
In the past Telecom has expressed interest in IPTV and spokesperson Mark Watts said it was still on the drawing board. However, he said the company's focus was on building its Next Generation access network which would support a wide range of innovative services.
