The Netgem PLEIO platform will provide the branded television and entertainment service for VodafoneThree in the United Kingdom. Netgem has been appointed to operate the service for VodafoneThree as part of a multi-year agreement. It will include live television with Freely, over 150 extra channels, an on-demand store and cloud gaming, with a unified interface and search and recommendation across providers.
The service is delivered through a hub device that supports 4K, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It is based on Android TV OS and comes with a mobile companion app for iOS and Android turns a phone into a remove control or a gamepad.
Vodafone TV comes with the advertising supported tiers of Netflix and HBO Max included, with options to add other subscription services.
Mathias Hautefort, the chief executive of the Netgem group, said: “The is the model — with the Watch, Stream, Play approach — we have built the company around, and it works at the scale of a leading operator.” Netgem serves more than 30 telecom operators and works with over 300 studios and broadcasters.
“In what is arguably Europe’s most significant and sophisticated pay-TV market,” he said, “VodafoneThree rekindles consumer interest and reshuffles the cards of convergence. In a consolidating European market, this example could inspire many others.”
Rob Winterschladen, the consumer director at VodafoneThree, added: “By partnering with Netgem and its PLEIO platform, we’re able to bring this complete service together under one roof, giving our customers a smarter, faster, and more intuitive way to find and enjoy great entertainment across mobile and broadband.”
The service will be available from October only to new and existing customers taking a 24-month Vodafone broadband or mobile plan.
Vodafone has the largest full fibre network in the United Kingdom. It is also the largest mobile network, based on the number of masts, following the merger of Vodafone and Hutchison 3G, otherwise known as Three. The announcement comes just after a year after the merger.
Vodafone also operates television platforms in other European countries, including Spain, Portugal, and Greece. Vodafone Deutschland is the largest calbe television operator in Germany.
Everyone TV, which operates the Freely television service and promotes itself as “Championing free TV for all”, has been surprisingly silent so far about the announcement that its service will be bundled as part of broadband subscription with a major telco.
Yet it is potentially a big boost for the potential adoption of the Freely service, which has yet to replicate the adoption of the Freeview broadcast platform. Everyone TV says Freely will be in over 10 million households by 2034. It recently reported that Freely had 2 million monthly active users.