From December 2, Telecom Italia’s Alice Home TV via internet (IPTV) service brings movies, sport, news and music down the telephone line into people’s homes, along with broadband websurfing
New service launches in four cities, extending to 21 cities in January, a total of 4 million Italian households
By the end of 2006 the service will be available in over 8 million households in 250 towns
Around €350 million invested in the project
Deals with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and RAI Cinema provide on demand access to a video library of hit movies
ADSL 2 Plus debuts in February 2006, offering websurfing
speeds up to 20 Megabits per second
Starting December 2, Telecom Italia launches TV on the Internet (IPTV - Internet Protocol TV), enabling access to movies, sports, news, music and Internet content directly via the TV at home.
After the successful trial of the service in around a thousand Italian households, Alice Home TV will be launched in 4 cities across Italy (Rome, Milan, Bologna and Palermo), reaching over 2 million households.
The service will gradually be extended to a further 17 cities from January 2006 (Bari, Naples, Padua, Cagliari, Genoa, Florence, Alessandria, Modena, Venice, Verona, Turin, Trieste, Catania, Brescia, Biella, Sondrio and Reggio Emilia), reaching around 4 million households through. By the end of 2006, 8 million households will be covered in 250 towns.
This launch confirms the Telecom Italia Group’s commitment to research and innovation, leading to the development of new products and services with planned investments of around €10 billion over the three-year period 2005-2007, corresponding to 70% of the total investments. As announced to the market in the three-year business plan, investments of €2.1 billion are earmarked for broadband in Italy, including some €350 million for IPTV development.
Alice Home TV: how the new TV via internet service works
Telecom Italia is opening up a new frontier for TV in Italian homes. Interactive IPTV allows viewers to watch what they want, when they want to on their home TV via a broadband connection offering direct access to a wide range of on demand content, including over 350 movies and TV series, news, Serie A TIM football matches and, in the near future, live concerts and reality shows.
Alice Home TV works over an “Alice 4 Mega” ADSL connection and a kit consisting of a TV set-top box and an ADSL Wi-Fi modem.
A remote control offers access to Alice Home TV’s thematic channels (Films, Sport, News and Music) and on demand pay-per-view video content via a simple graphic interface especially developed for the new service. An infrared keyboard enables to surf the Internet via television.
Content available
Basic Offer:
The basic offer consists of a selection of Movies, Sports, News and Music channels. In addition, the “Amici” reality show is set to make its debut in the near future.
News: LA7 news bulletins including the “Punto TG” newsflash, “Presa diretta”, entertainment, music, art and culture showcase “SMAC”, “Amici Animali”, plus news from Class CNBC and current affairs and “Life Style” programming.
Sport: Highlights from Italy’s Serie A TIM football championship, access to “Inter Show”, highlights from the America’s Cup with Luna Rossa, and the latest basketball, volleyball and rugby action in Verde Sport.
Film: A multiscreen video library initially offering around 200 movies, TV series and cartoons. The library will progressively be enriched reaching a total of 600 items, with a update of over 30 movies per month.
Music: Full access to all MTV music shows, plus selected live and on demand concerts.
Premium Offer:
Alice Home TV also offers a Premium package of live video and on demand content on two main channels dedicated to sport and movies.
The Sport Channel broadcasts live and recorded home matches played by all 19 Serie A TIM football teams (Juventus, Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Sampdoria, Palermo, Messina, Parma, Reggina, Lecce, Fiorentina, Chievo, Cagliari, Livorno, Empoli, Ascoli, Treviso and Siena), and recorded home matches featuring eight Serie A Italian basketball teams (Virtus Bologna, Lottomatica Roma, Carpisa Napoli, Vertical Vision Cantù, Climamio Bologna, Montepaschi Siena, Benetton Treviso and Armani Jeans Milano).
The Film Channel’s “Poltronissima” section offers over 150 major new box office releases.
New agreements with Paramount, Warner Bros. and RAI Cinema
Telecom Italia has ensured wide access to content by signing new deals with Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. for the distribution of blockbuster films just months after their cinema release.
Thanks to the agreement with Warner Bros., Alice Home TV viewers will also be able to access popular TV starting with “Dukes of Hazard”, “Chips”, “Gilmore Girls”, “Smallville”, “Visitors”, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”, “Looney Tunes” and more, all on demand.
A further deal with RAI Cinema offers access to hit movies including “Million Dollar Baby”, cult youth film “La febbre”, and independent productions including “I Cento Passi”.
Alice Home TV will also be screening films distributed by Italian majors BIM, Lucky Red, Mediafilm and Mikado.
Alice Home TV: what the new service costs
Telecom Italia is offering the basic content, Alice 4 Mega ADSL activation, unlimited high-speed internet access, an ADSL Wi-Fi modem, a set-top box, a remote control, an extra personal home phone number and activation of the Alice Voice service package for €45.90 per month. Free home installation is available to subscribers who sign up to Alice Home TV by the end of January.
Alice Home TV IPTV subscribers may contemporaneously connect up to five PCs to the Internet (also in wireless), and apply for another four personal numbers for up to three phone calls at any one time. These numbers can also be used to send SMS and MMS messages.
Two subscription offers are available for Alice Home TV Premium football content. For €11 per month, subscribers may view live and recorded home matches of all 19 Serie A TIM teams. Matches are also available on an individual pay-per-view basis: €5 for Saturday and Sunday evening games, €4 for all other matches. Recorded matches are available on Alice Home TV at €1 per match.
Recorded basketball games played by the top eight teams in Italy’s first division cost €1 each. Live matches will be available in the near future.
Movie fans may watch all of the latest releases on their home TV for just €3 per film. Films may be viewed for up to 24 hours after purchase.
Telecom Italia customers may charge on demand TV content directly to their Telecom Italia phone bill.
(All prices include VAT.)
Customers may buy Telecom Italia’s Alice Home TV from any of 14 outlets in the 4 cities covered by the service starting from December 2. Special demo areas have been set up in these stores to show the service to potential customers. A special dedicated toll-free number (800.187.800) open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight provides customers with technical assistance and sales help.
Future developments
Telecom Italia is poised to launch ADSL 2 Plus technology Internet access in February 2006, with downstream speeds of up to 20 Megabits per second. This improved bandwidth will optimize TV, Internet and Voice services.
All Alice Home TV customers will gradually be upgraded to the 20 Megabit per second service.
Milan, November 28, 2005