SLT IPTV within 6 months...

SLT, Sri Lanka’s number one communication provider recently obtained media broadcasting license to introduce IPTV services. With the noticeable growth of Cable TV industry in Sri Lanka, the plans for IPTV have also been on the cards for sometime now. SLT which owns about 60% of the island’s communication infrastructure is now able to provide the long-awaited IPTV services….

IPTV is expected to take customer experience beyond that of plain TV by integrating multimedia communication technology into the television experience. IPTV customers can use their TV’s to communicate and interact with friends and family through a variety of media, such as voice, instant messaging, video and picture sharing. SLT plans to offer affordable and competitive pricing for the TV packages using IP technology on wire line connectivity along with other value added services.

SLT IPTV services will pioneer the IP based TV broadcasting service in Sri Lanka as it being the most popular entertainment media in the world. It will revolutionize the delivery of TV programmes beyond any doubt. In order to deliver DVD quality video on MPEG 4 format IPTV requires an ADSL service of 2 mbps bandwidth.

SLT customers will be able to enjoy entertainment services delivered to their home via the same SLT wired connectivity. IPTV enables SLT, the country’s only wire line service provider to offer real-time TV broadcast programming, video-on-demand and other advanced services over broadband connections to televisions.

It is also revealed that a Decoder costing around $100 would be delivered for the subscribers to be used with the existing TV set. The SLT is yet to decide on a rental for this service and it is likely that IPTV would be billed on a usage basis.

According to the latest press release, the company assures to offer services within less than six months. But as usual it is most likely that the first stage of process will be restricted to Colombo and its suburb and then will move on to major cities like Kandy & Galle.

It will be great to see SLT IPTV having additional services such as Video On Demand, Pay Per View, EPG and etc. Coz none of the Cable/Satellite TV operators were able to provide these functions to their subscribers. One of the key features of a tool like VOD is that a subscriber has an opportunity of watching a programme that was already aired a few hours ago. And functions like Pay Per View allows subscribers to purchase different kind of material such as Live Events, Movies, Concerts, Award Shows, Beauty Pageants and even adult content through the On-Screen interactive panel.