Founding partner iiNet to stop selling Fetch TV
One of FetchTV’s founding members iiNet has announced it will stop selling the IPTV service, days after its acquisition by rival broadband provider TPG was approved.
In a surprise move iiNet announced on its website today it would no longer sell the IPTV service with Fetch CEO Scott Lorson telling Mumbrella: “iiNet was our foundation partner who we launched with in 2011 and we have built up a very happy and engaged customer base. In terms of the go-forward for new and existing customers we need to refer all questions to the new owner.”
FetchTV would not comment on the nature of its contract with iiNet but it is thought that the ISP would be contractually obliged to continue servicing existing customers of the IPTV service – which offers consumers a video recorder and dozens of subscription channels and video streaming products such as Netflix and pay per view movies.
The service is the main challenger to Foxtel and Telstra’s newly announced IPTV streaming service Telstra TV. It continues to have Optus and Dodo as ISP partners.
Fetch TV’s Scott Lorson
“From the Fetch TV perspective we are on a wonderful run,” said Lorson. “We are profitable, debt free and experiencing record growth with nearly 95 per cent of our growth currently coming from other partners.”
It is thought that TPG decision may be a negotiating tactic ahead of an attempt to renegotiate the contract with Fetch TV.
The manner of the iiNet announcement was uncharacteristic with the ISP normally being known for being quite open and transparent about such product decisions in communications with customers, with the move to simply remove the product more in line with TPG’s management approach.
Lorson would not be drawn whether it might be a deliberate strategy by TPG which is currently conducting due diligence on iiNet.
FetchTV is owned by one of Asia’s leading pay TV providers, Astro All Asia Networks and in its last update to market noted it now had 275,000 subscribers.
Nic Christensen
Fetch needs to get Apps on both the Apple Tv and the up coming Telstra Tv, I don’t want to see Australia end up with just Foxtel and Netflix, we need more choice and competition than that.
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I cant believe this. I just bought my set top box yesterday in order to connect it to iinet on the 28th (my next billing cycle) only to find out earlier tonight that iinet has sold me out yet again. I called and got the sth African call centre who knew nothing about it. I have just about had enough of iinet. Not warning anyone is a Kogan trick. Now I am stuck with a useless stb and never even seen 1 second of fetch. I am so sorry that I ever contracted with iinet. One misery and time waste after the other. Paul.
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@Paul S. That Sth African call centre is a joke. IInet, when it comes to service were awful to us, so we jumped to Telstra and reported them too.
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If Fetch TV could I think they would be on Apple and Telstra ; but obviously they’re competitors that hold a market share and don’t want it to be eroded by emerging Fetch so they’ll be the one’s shutting Fetch out.
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@ Paul. Me thinks you have good grounds to cancel your contract penalty free. Goods supplied were not as expected.
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@ Lana Telstra TV – the Roku Box- is going to be carrying Netflix and eventually Stan
and Apple TV already carries Netflix so I don’t think being competitors is much of an issue.
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fetch is rubbish its a crap rip off of foxtel..australia is so stupid, a country with $20 and hour pay and we only 1 paytv even africa has more providers..everything in aus is simply rubbish..interne,t media heck even this pathetic sport you call AFL>>anyone ever heard of it??..to many dumb laws here preventing action. TPG if theyre smart will buy channels overseas or free channels and create a smart iptv box with em..beinsports will be great, maybe they chould bring a sky sports here or something..foxtel is just to crap, who wants to watch 24/7 afl nrl…snoozefest id rather stand infront of a bullet. you watch TPG will make some good decisions, telstra is just to boganish and overpriced..but hey thats like all aus made companys right
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