Digital TV News

BT welcomes new Vision customers and Project Canvas

Thursday 11 February, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

BT has boosted the number of BT Vision customers by 18,000 in the last three months of 2009, according to the telecommunications giant’s latest quarterly results.

BT Vision (www.bt.vision.co.uk), the TV service offered by BT, is now watched by nearly half a million households in the UK.

The digital TV supplier will struggle, however, to reach its target of 2 million customers by December 2010. Marc Watson, the chief executive of BT Vision, said in an interview with the Financial Times last October that the company would fail to meet its target, despite plans to boost its customer base.

Only 18,000 new subscribers signed up for the service in the last three months of 2009. Since its launch in 2006, it has attracted just 451,000 customers. It is lagging behind competitors, such as satellite TV giant Sky, which now has 9.7 million UK customers.

The amount of money BT earns from each customer has gone up by £5 on the previous quarter, as a result of BT offering discounted bundles. On average BT gains £301 in revenue a year from each customer.

BT’s also welcomed the BBC Trust’s provisional approval of Project Canvas - a joint on-demand TV venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BT, TalkTalk and Channel 5. The company said: “Project Canvas would positively transform the UK TV market.”

And like rival supplier Virgin Media, BT said it is looking forward to regulator Ofcom’s review of wholesale access to premium channels.

Both BT and Virgin Media believe Ofcom will force Sky to offer its Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels at a more affordable wholesale price.

“This will be beneficial for both competition and the consumer as it will provide greater choice, cheaper prices and new innovative products,” said BT.