OPEN

I don’t live in London, but if I did I would have Homechoice. In fact I
saw a demo of the system at the company’s offices a few months back and
the only way to describe my reaction was pure geek love. It delivers
true Video on Demand (VoD), no question.

We’re waiting with bated breath for Sky’s next move, especially to see if it will find a way of convincing Video Networks (which owns the Homechoice brand).

Want to catch up on BBC programmes from the last week? No problem. Want to watch an entire comedy series? No problem.

I was practically begging them to set up a service in Brighton (which is one of the most wired cities in the UK, according to ITV anyway) after I’d seen a demo. They have to be able to install their own equipment in local excahnges to deliver the service.

If Sky was able to buy Video Networks it would give them a formidable edge on the competition.  We haven’t seen the BT service yet, but Video Networks has had nearly ten years (if memory serves) to out the glitches – it’s not version 1.0 as BT’s will be when arrives in homes.

Graft this superb technology platform onto Sky’s national infrastructure, marketing muscle and customer service and you get credible VoD nationwide very, very quickly.

And did I mention that Homechoice is triple-play offering?

You can get 1MB (rising to 8MB if you want it) broadband, cheap calls, 55 channels and VoD for £27.99 a month. (My NTL broadband and TV adds up to £47.99 before I even start to make phone calls and the broadband’s just 300 kps.)

Plus you’ve got Easynet’s national reach and Video Networks is also putting plans in place for a national roll-out.

All of that said, Video Networks are saying that they aren’t up for sale and that they have plans for a national roll-out of their own in the UK. It’s a serious company, with serious, deep-pocketed backers, so continuing independence can’t be ruled-out either.

Stories and posts for reference:

Brand Republic: Sky mulls bid for three-in-one operator Homechoice
Guardian: Homechoice seeks cash for national roll-out
Markeitng: Ray Snoddy: Homechoice must close the credibility gap
Pathfinder North News Centre: HomeChoice outlines plans to go national