--Service Features VOD, DVR, HDTV
Russian telco, VimpelCom, has rolled out an IPTV service in Moscow powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV platform. Dubbed Beeline TV ("Beeline" is also the brand used by Vimpelcom for its 800,000-subscriber high-speed Internet service) and billed as Russia's first Mediaroom-powered IPTV service, the new service offers up to 125 linear-TV channels (four of which are available in HD), a VOD service with around 3,000 titles, coverage of major Russian soccer leagues and championships, an EPG with keyword-search functionality, DVR/PVR (enabled by a Motorola set-top with a 160GB hard drive), and instant channel change. Its launch follows the conclusion of a trial in which Vimpelcom offered IPTV service under its Corbina TV brand. "In delivering an IPTV service on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform we are able to offer our subscribers a more personal and connected TV experience," Dmitry Malov, Vimpelcom's senior director of regional broadband development, said in a prepared statement. "From launch, subscribers will enjoy a huge range of standard and HD channels, as well as thousands of shows, films and cartoons on-demand. Combined with powerful DVR capabilities, we believe Beeline TV gives consumers in Russia more choice and more control to watch what they want, when they want."
Customers of the new service can choose between a basic 100-channel offering, priced at 270 rubles per month, and a premium 125-channel package priced at 495 rubles per month. The service's VOD titles are offered on a pay-per-view basis, priced between five rubles and 100 rubles.
