SBC Communications has announced a joint venture with 2Wire to deliver a home entertainment service that integrates satellite TV programming, digital video recording, video-on-demand and Internet content.
The joint venture is part of a two-pronged SBC video strategy to extend home entertainment video services to customers through either high-speed fiber or DSL. 2Wire’s MediaPortal set-top box will be used in the new service.
The SBC offering will combine content delivered by broadband and satellite into one package, giving consumers a new way to extend the SBC Yahoo! DSL experience beyond the desktop to bring entertainment content to their TV screens and stereos.
The latest announcement builds on a recently expanded alliance with Yahoo! which calls for the companies to extend Yahoo! beyond the desktop. The offering will be available to customers who have both SBC/DISH Network and SBC Yahoo! DSL services. It is expected to roll out in mid-2005.
The service will include a satellite TV receiver, digital video recorder (DVR) and storage for digital photos and music. 2Wire’s MediaPortal technology will provide fully-integrated SBC Yahoo! DSL, SBC/DISH Network satellite TV and home-networking services to users. It will allow customers to access photos and music and to schedule their digital video recorder (DVR) remotely from any Web-connected computer through the SBC Yahoo! user interface.
The SBC home entertainment service is separate from, but complements, the recently announced plans to deliver advanced next-generation television services called IPTV over the SBC fiber network, an initiative dubbed Project Lightspeed. Customers will not need access to the fiber network to subscribe to the home entertainment service.
For more information, visit www.sbc.com and www.2wire.com.
