Partners at Project Canvas hoping for a 2010 launch date

According to the latest update from a popular news website it is hoped by Partners of the broadband-enabled TV service known as Project Canvas that the service should be launching in 2010 with a quote saying that there is a “real opportunity” for a launch within this time frame coming from the Controller of Business Strategy, Richard Halton.

The UK is looking to get 50 percent of the homes in the UK set up with Freeview HD services ready for the World Cup football tournament in South Africa, which makes next year very important for the British digital TV industry said Mr Halton during a recent interview with Digital Spy.

He advised “Freeview has always been about presenting people with choice as a free option and I think next year we will see a lot of activity in the pay-TV sector, so free-to-air platforms offering competitive choice to consumers is really important. That is why for us 2010 is really important.”

This latest move forward by Project Canvas comes in light of companies like Microsoft announcing that that they will soon be releasing similar online TV services where broadband users will be able to view TV shows and films alike.

Mr Halton went on to say “If Canvas is successful, then it represents a massive opportunity for content providers, particularly new players who will never get anywhere near the television because of the costs of doing something on a linear channel. We hope that the message for content providers and service providers is that this is very exciting and a real opportunity. The feedback we have had from indies, studios and content retailers of all description has been really positive. Normally it’s a question of ‘when can we get going?’ or ‘what do we do next to get on the platform?’ Which is great.”

The latest proposals from the BBC Trust have had a deadline of 1st September set for stakeholders to respond following an extensive public consultation process.

Source – IPTV-News