The Greek broadband provider Hellas online (HOL) is launching a new IPTV service. It features access to the main Greek free-to-air channels, news, information, music, children’s and sports drawn from around the world and – for the first time in Greece – HD content.
The company says its VOD offer features hundreds of titles with prices starting at €0.99 for a 24 hour viewing window. There is also a significant amount of entertainment and sports content available free of charge.
Hellas has chosen the Microsoft Mediaroom middleware to drive its functionality that includes automatic recordings from the 14-day electronic programme guide. It is also possible to display photographs from the local network directly onto the TV set. The IPTV decoder is manufactured by Motorola, the network equipment is delivered by Alcatel-Lucent
HOL, which is part of the Intracom Holdings group, is one of the largest providers of fixed telephony services in Greece. The service is available only in areas covered by Hellas Online’s unbundled local loop network. Customers signing up during a special promotion period until the end of May will see the activation fee reduced to €49.90 from €99 and pay €9.90 per month on a one-year contract, down from €15.
Separately, On Demand Group (ODG), a subsidiary of SeaChange International, has announced details of the VOD and SVOD content line-up for the incumbent telco OTE’s new IPTV platform.
It will include blockbuster movies from major Hollywood studios including Disney-ABC-ESPN Television, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.