TalkTalk says it intends to launch a trial of the YouView hybrid TV service early next year.
An initial 3,000 ‘Friends and Family’ will be offered the service that will be run on boxes supplied by Huawei before extending to up to 10,000 homes early in 2012. TalkTalk said the software platform was currently under development and said it anticipated a full launch in spring 2012. This would be in line with earlier statements by YouView itself.
TalkTalk has already invested £2 million in YouView and anticipates a further £7 million to be sunk into the joint venture, whose partners also include the BBC, ITV, BT and Arqiva.
The company believes it can offer YouView as an upgrade to its customers that are over-represented in its customer base, saying it is ideally positioned to offer the platform as an entrance to pay-TV for late adopters.
