UPC Nederland has said it will launch an HD cable receiver from Philips for the Dutch market on May 15. Retailing at €249.99, it will allow customers to save €5 on their monthly cable bill.
The move is a departure from the UPC strategy to only supply customers with rental boxes. A spokesperson for the operator said other products might become available in the future.
The receiver was developed by UPC in close cooperation with the set-top box division of Philips, the part of the company acquired by Pace. The box has the full UPC functionality including EPG and VOD.
The new HD set top is part of a big HD push started by UPC this month. Leading up to the Euro 2008 football games, the operator will heavily market the service. From May 7th, a new Philips HD cabletuner is available as well as a Philips HD PVR.
The number of HD channels will be increased with the addition of History HD and Voom HD; during the summer a special HD version of public channel Nederland 1 will be carried with the football matches as well as Olympic HD coverage. Discovery HD and NatGeo HD are already available in basic HD with Film1 HD and Sport1 HD as premium options.
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