Comstar, a major telecom operator in Russia and surrounding regions, said Comstar-Direct, its majority-owned subsidiary (and the largest broadband provider in Moscow operating under the “Stream” brand), has soft-launched its first HD service, which will last till June 1, 2008.
The new service in its beta-test stage provides early adopters with access to four TV channels: Discovery HD, MelodyZen, Luxe TV, and Voom HD. It’s also comprised of a package of 10 movies (to begin with) attainable using via VOD.
Comstar said the HD soft-launch was begun simultaneously with the start the Moscow region’s “last mile” modernization project, which is enabling the technical infrastructure for HD services in the first place.
This is not the first foray into HD for Russia. Russian direct-to-home provider NTV Plus launched its HD services back in April 2007, initially offering its half million-plus subscribers a modest trio of channels: HD Kino, HD Sport and HD Life, on its premium platform.
