Vodafone enters Live TV service
Live TV on mobiles continues to become one of the first issues of the new year.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
The industry is awaiting the outcome of a legal stoush over Optus’ TV Now service but Vodafone Hutchison Australia has begun marketing live services to its mobile customers, including free-to-air and subscription channels.
Optus’ cloud service enables customers to stream AFL and NRL matches in near-live conditions, but is amid a test case over copyright.
VHA quietly launched its live TV service in October with five channels, including FOX Sports News, CNN, Sky News 24, Cartoon Network, SBS and live cricket television. VHA charges users $1 a day, or $4 a month, per channel for unmetered viewing. SBS is free.
VHA is considering adding more services, spokesman Greg Spears told Fairfax media.
”We are always interested in offering our customers innovative services to help them make the most of their mobility devices and mobile lifestyles, and will continue to explore rich media services that showcase our new Vodafone network.
”To that end, we will continue to keep across the upcoming Optus TV Now court proceedings and judgment.”
In the Optus case, Justice Steven Rares of the Federal Court reserved his decision after a two-day hearing before Christmas, but noted the urgency of the problem. The NRL and AFL seasons get underway in March.
A decision is expected next month.
12 Responses
What… they can’t even get their mobile phone service working properly and so many people left them. I left 3 when I found out Vodafone brought em out I just don’t trust Voda.
@Ryano. The reason TV Networks do not offer steaming of their broadcasts is due to rights. Companies such as Optus, Vodafone and any other company that is exploiting a loop hole by delaying the rebroadcast by a few minutes so that they are treating it as a PVR recording.
Make it a dollar a show (any show) and I might be interested. The content looks a bit sparse to me at the moment to get excited about.
I don’t know why the TV networks don’t offer streaming of their broadcasts on apps for smartphones and tablets. I would love to watch the local 6pm news live on the train home for example.
They could develop an app that geolocks to a local market.
@Chris R: I remember the 3 Mobile TV thing too! Quite dodgy looking back now but this was before everyone used YouTube. IMO, the Mobile TV concept is about 5 years too late. I thought that the TV on your phone concept was dead due to YouTube.
3 Mobile had these TV subscriptions on their mobiles about 4 years ago. I used to watch CNN coming home on the train from work each day so obviously since taking over 3, Vodafone has finally decided to promote this service under their on branding. I only stopped using the service once I upgraded to an iPhone which they didn’t offer the live TV service on.
Right now I don’t see the point, video takes so much out of your phone watch a few shows and you’ll be scrabbling to find a USB outlet to charge it again.
Gotta love how sensitive people get – someone comments on another mis-spelling and immediately is accused of working for the company!
Ah this blog will never change
Can’t seem to watch SBS on this for free – it redirects to the pricing page and it’s basically $8 for unlimited access for a month – $2 for an individual episode and 50c for a clip (!).
Shame as I’d liked to have seen what the quality was like.
So sorry Billy for misspelling your company’s name. Perhaps Vodafone should put their time and effort into upgrading their fourth-rate phone network. Would be time and money better spent.
Lol if only you could spell !!!
LOL, if only I could get a reliable phone signal from Vodaphone.