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BT Vision broadband video service review
BT Vision is the much-anticipated combined broadcast television and broadband video-on-demand service from BT in the United Kingdom. William Cooper of informitv takes a first look at the proposition.
The long-awaited BT Vision telly-phone service offers a combination of Freeview broadcast digital terrestrial television channels together with a digital video recorder plus video-on-demand services delivered over broadband through the telephone line.
With the rapid adoption of both Freeview and broadband, the combination could prove attractive. The BT Vision digital video recorder has one of the best user interfaces available, making some other services seem dated by comparison.
BT is hoping that consumers will be attracted by an offer of broadband plus a range of digital terrestrial television channels and a large library of video-on-demand services available without subscription, although in practice there is still a monthly subscription commitment.
BT Vision provides a Philips set-top box they call the V-box, which includes twin tuners and a digital video recorder with a capacity of up to 80 hours and the ability to pause and rewind broadcast television. It comes with two Scart connectors and an HDMI port which provides an optional high-quality connection to an HD-Ready display, although none of the services are currently available in high-definition.
The user interface is based on the Microsoft IPTV Edition platform and provides an elegant electronic programme guide which seems relatively intuitive and easy to use. Programmes can be selected for recording with a single click of a button on the remote control and a double click will record every episode of a series.
A much promoted feature of the Microsoft platform is instant channel change and picture-in-picture channel selection. This is missing on the BT Vision service, as television programmes are received through conventional terrestrial tuners and the tuning and decoding delay would impede picture-in-picture browsing.
The BT Vision service will be offered nationally, although only around three-quarters of the country can currently receive adequate digital terrestrial television coverage and the population that can be reached with broadband will be lower still. Anyone unable to receive a digital terrestrial signal on a cheap Freeview set-top box is unlikely to be able to receive it with the V-box and anyone unable to get broadband will be similarly excluded.
The quality of television pictures will be equivalent to that from other digital terrestrial television set-top boxes and on some channels compression artifacts are very visible, particularly on large flat-screen displays. The quality of video-on-demand reproduction is limited by the broadband connection, which reserves 1.6Mbps for audio and video streams. This is a little on the low side, even for MPEG-4 compression. While the quality of encoded high-quality material was generally reasonable, unacceptable artifacts were very visible in sequences with moving detail, such as crowd scenes.
Anyone seeking the best possible signal for a high-definition display will probably be looking elsewhere. Although the V-box is capable of high-definition output, such programming is not expected to appear on the platform anytime soon.
Unlike Deutsche Telekom, which is rolling out live television services, including high-definition channels, over very high-speed broadband, BT is relying on broadcast signals for its television programming. Essentially this is because the BT network is currently incapable of carrying the multicast services necessary for live channels. However, the company is investing billions in building a next-generation network that will enable such services in the future, including high-definition video.
The value proposition for the BT Vision service is the promise of video-on-demand programming, including television replay services, available on an � la carte or subscription basis.
BT has been doing deals with major studios and record companies to secure movies and music programmes. Films are organised by genre and title, and can be searched by keyword, but navigation of a large library may be rather restrictive. At launch there is no active promotion of titles, or ratings or recommendation services to encourage users to explore. As a result, the take rate of titles may be low, based on the experience of cable operators.
The television replay service is limited at launch to titles from Channel Four, pending the availability of services from the other terrestrial channels. It is not possible to record video-on-demand programmes within the box. They are effectively made available on a rental basis.
The available programming will include replays of many premiership football games, with a number of live matches and some other sporting events. However, many soccer fans will already be subscribers to satellite television, which continues to have the majority of live coverage.
Replay television programmes will be available on a pay-per-view basis, ranging from 29 pence for a single music video to £2.99 for a movie, with television replays ranging from 99 pence to £1.49. That could soon add up to a considerable bill, so BT Vision also offers video-on-demand subscription services, ranging from £3 for television replays to £6 for a music service. In practice there is therefore a strong incentive to take a monthly subscription. An inclusive ‘value pack’ is available for £14 a month.
In order to receive BT Vision, customers must take a minimum 18 month subscription to BT Broadband, which costs £9.95 for the first six months and £17.99 a month thereafter, including free evening and weekend telephone calls.
In addition, they will need a BT Home Hub gateway, which is £50, although it is bundled with some broadband options. Installation of the video service costs an additional £60, plus a £30 connection fee. So the initial commitment is over �300 in the first year without taking into account the cost of any pay-per-view or subscription services.
In some cases, consumers may also require an upgrade to their roof-top aerial to receive a decent digital terrestrial television signal, at a further cost of up to £200.
With an optional ‘value pack’ at £14, a month, customers could then be paying around £275 a year for basic broadband and video-on-demand services. This still compares favourably to cable and satellite providers, but with broadband being bundled with other subscription services, which may offer a wider variety of premium programming, the cost comparison is less compelling, particularly since the core digital terrestrial television services are free.
Dan Marks, the chief executive of BT Vision is looking for up to three million customers in the medium term, which would be the majority of its broadband subscriber base, although the company is also offering the service in partnership with Vodafone and may make it available to other broadband service providers in the future.
BT Vision is placing an emphasis on its large library of video-on-demand programming, but little of this is likely to be exclusive and many of the programmes may be available for download anyway.
The real benefit is in the ease of use and seamless integration of services, which appears impressive although far from progressive. Beyond basic video-on-demand, there are currently no applications that make use of the persistent broadband return path.
BT Vision says it is working on comprehensive interactive services, including voting and viewer participation, gaming and gambling, targeted advertising and retail opportunities, video telephony and instant messaging, user generated content and special-interest programming.
The investment required to deliver such services should not be underestimated and with a low initial user base it will require considerable commitment.
In the mean time, the interesting issue is whether direct revenue to broadcasters from retailing programmes will be sufficient to replace loss of advertising income through video-on-demand and personal video recorder services.
Although elegant and evolutionary, the BT Vision service is far from visionary or revolutionary. In concentrating on doing deals with movie and music companies, BT has not demonstrated any real imagination in transforming the television experience. The result is a competent competitor to cable television. Nevertheless it will raise the bar for other operators in terms of ease-of-use.
Dr William Cooper is an independent consultant specialising in the strategy and implementation of advanced and interactive media services. He was previously head of interactive at the BBC Broadcast division, now known as Red Bee Media, and former head of new media operations at the BBC.
Copyright © 2006 William Cooper. All rights reserved.
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