Six companies have joined forces to launch a pay-per-view trial on DTT in the Spanish village of Alcázar de San Juan, with plans to introduce pre-paid pay-per-view content, mainly football events and movies, throughout the country from next year. Interestingly, this is very much a local initiative with the operator Telecom Castilla-La Mancha and the Town Council of Alcázar de San Juan taking an active part.
This is one of the first pay-TV initiatives on DTT in Spain and forms part of the project called “DTT Digital Alcázar”, the first case in the South of Europe of “DTT digital island”, promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, the Junta de Comunidades of Castilla La Mancha and the local operator and town. Also taking part are the technology company SIDSA, electronic manufacturer Siemens-InOutTV and consultancy firm SDIdigital.
The first pay-TV pilot offer launches with a pay-per-view event, the football match Livorno-Lazio from the Italian Football League, and movies from the producers Filmax and Manga Films. The trail broadcasts can be received with the Siemens DTT receivers with the InOutTV service integrated. According to the company, this represents more than 500,000 units sold in the country, representing 15% of the total of the DTT receiver universe. The system uses the KeyFly CA system.
Viewers will be able to buy events by sending a text message to a phone number that appears on advertising for the events. Within 10 seconds the set-top box of the customer will be activated with an over-the-air signal. With this technology, the companies plan to launch a wide selection of sports and premium pay-per-view events for the 2008-2008 season.
