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Foxtel promises triple-play launch in early 2015

Also launches wireless PVR 'so you don’t need to link it to the internet using an internet cable'

In a move designed to stave off the threat posed by operations like Netflix and FetchTV, Foxtel says its vaunted “triple-play” broadband-and-TV-and-phone service will land at the start of 2015.

The Pay-TV outfit has also dropped its entry level package to $AU25 per month.

The service was first announced in December 2013, on the back of an agreement with Telstra Wholesale to give it access to a broadband.

At that time, customer rollout was expected before the end of 2014, but that's slipped slightly to the first quarter of 2015 following the trials with Foxtel staff.

Echoing CEO Richard Fraudenstein's words in 2013, Foxtel's announcement this year calls the launch “transformative” for the company.

Which it could be, since the triple-play is on the back of a raft of changes to the company's core pay-TV services: nine new high-def' channels, letting all subscribers get all “general entertainment” channels, and new goodies for Premium Movies and Drama package subscribers.

There's also a new set-top-box, the iQ3, which brings broadband-delivered music, sports, weather and news to the device, along with a "start over" feature that lets users get back to the beginning of a program they tune into half-way through. Oh, and (to quote from the release) "Wi-Fi connectivity so you don’t need to link it to the internet using an internet cable".

While clearly designed to stave off the threat posted by operations like Fetch TV (along with internationals like Netflix which Australians can only access via VPNs), Foxtel will still be constrained by the same broadband networks as its competitors. ®

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