Telekomunikacja Polska IPTV due in October targeting six cities

Company takes on Multimedia Polska, UPC and Aster City with basic 20 channel package, satellite bouquet offer and 500 titlec VOD service

Multipack tp, which was scheduled to launch October 16, will be available in several versions. A 24-month agreement for multipack tp 512 costs 29 PLN zlotys (EUR 7.38) for six months, increasing to 62.33 zlotys (EUR 15.85) per month. The offer can be combined with the telephone calling plan “60 minutes for free” (50 zlotys, or EUR 12.70) for a comprehensive package costing 79 zlotys (EUR 20.00) for the first six months, 112.33 zlotys (EUR 28.55) thereafter.

The IPTV service uses the Sagem Livebox developed by affiliate France Telecom, an MPEG-4 headend and a dedicated IP network, a TP spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the company just started offering a VoD service that allows customers to choose films from a “virtual rental shop.” By year’s end more than 500 titles will be available. “We are working on increasing the attractiveness of the offer by implementing new products based on Multipack tp,” the spokesperson said. However, because they are going through internal approvals, “it is too early to talk about them.” One of several providers in the Polish IPTV market, TP faces competition from Multimedia Polska as well as major cable TV operators UPC, Aster City and Vectra, its spokesperson said. It plans to outclass rivals by adapting TV packages to meet customer needs, boosting Internet data transfer speeds, coming up with new voice offers and providing top quality of service. Multipack tp will be offered first to customers in Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Katowice. TP plans to expand its coverage but “it is too early to talk about details,” the spokesperson said. Report: Dugie Standefordt