UK incumbent telco, BT, said Monday that it has signed a contract with BSkyB for the wholesale supply of the latter's Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels. The channels will be made available, via digital terrestrial, on BT's hybrid DTT/IP platform, BT Vision, the IP element of which is powered by Microsoft's Mediaroom software. They are slated to launch August 1st--i.e. in time for the August 14th kickoff of the UK Premier League soccer season.
BT says that it will reveal pricing for the channels shortly. "We are delighted to have reached this milestone, which means that we can be certain of offering Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to our customers before the football season kicks off," Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT Retail, said in a prepared statement. "We know our customers will be keen to sign up for the two channels."
The deal follows a decision earlier this year by UK communications regulator, Ofcom, that BSkyB must sell wholesale rights to Premier League soccer. The regulator also set wholesale prices for Sky Sports 1 and 2 (i.e. the channels through which BSkyB distributes its Premier League coverage) at £10.63 per customer per month each, or £17.14 per customer per month for both channels. BT and cable operator, Virgin Media, are appealing the decision on the grounds that the price set by Ofcom is too high, while BSkyB and the Premier League are seeking to overturn the decision outright.
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