IPTV space heats up as Dodo signs up to Fetch TV with $39.90 a month offering
The IPTV battle is set to intensify with ISP Dodo and its parent company M2 Telecommunications announcing it had signed a deal with Fetch TV to provide an internet and TV bundled offering.
Dodo will enter the market with its Fetch Lite plan starting at a competitive $39.90 per month, giving users unlimited ADSL2+ broadband and DodoTV with 36 channels and access to a films library of 3,000 titles on Fetch on a two year contract.
“Dodo has been a leading challenger in the market for over 12 years, offering Australian households high-value services at a cheap price, and our Dodo TV with Fetch plans are no different,” said Boris Rozenvasser, consumer director at M2. “Offering Dodo TV with Fetch this way will undoubtedly shake up the market. ”The move is likely to be keenly watched by other telco players such as Telstra, Optus and iiNet, who are increasingly being forced to have an IPTV offering to lure consumers to their services.
Optus already offers a $115 Fetch bundle which gives consumers IPTV on Fetch, unlimited broadband and an unlimited home phone, while Foxtel and Telstra have been touting their own ‘triple play‘ offering, which has been pushed back until the start of next year for rollout.
Last month Foxtel lowered its entry price to $25 for a basic pay-TV package, signalling the new pricing structure was designed to drive penetration, which has stalled at around 30 per cent in Australia, well below the rest of the world.
“Whilst a number of companies have an IPTV offering, it is our job to make sure that we deliver Australians a great value offering, at a cheap price. It is with this in mind that, that we have launched what we believe to be some of the most disruptive plans on the market,” said Rozenvasser.
Many in the IPTV industry are also watching the various subscription on demand services which are seeking to carve out their own niches and are currently contesting the rights for content.
Netflix is tipped to launch in Australia next year, while Nine Entertainment and Fairfax have poured $100m into the creation of StreamCo and Nine has also made a $10m strategic investment into the long struggling Quickflix.
Nic Christensen
SVOD/IPTV – There are WAYYY too many competitors in this space already. Many people will lose a lot of money. All of C9, C7, Netflix, Dodo and others cant all make money with such a limited population as Australia
Even with one consolidated pay tv service, the take up rate is stuck around 25% – 30% of households.
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Makes Foxtel look cheap.
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Pay tv takeup would be higher if foxtels pricing had been more reasonable. They have finally dropped it to more reasonable levels – but only now that they are facing stiff competition. But you’re right @hmmm – definitely not room for all those players. There will be one dominant player and (maybe) one challenger brand
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