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Can Unwired cope with IPTV?

Can wireless broadband ISPs manage the bandwidth demands to distribute movies to customers?

Jeremy Roche
Hi, I look after product development for CBS Interactive in Sydney - which lets me develop a range of websites including CNET Australia, TV.com and ZDNet Australia.
Jeremy Roche
2 min read
Jeremy Roche
Jeremy Roche

commentary Can wireless Internet service providers currently support the bandwidth requirements for distributing movies to customers?

Wireless Internet service provider Unwired yesterday announced it will start distributing movies and television shows over its network in October, with content coming from ReelTime, a broadband-based video store that has partnerships with major film studios such as Sony Pictures, TriStar, Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Dendy and MGM.

Although pricing won't be released until later this year, pay-per-view costs of the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) service are expected to be similar to DVD rental prices from video stores such as Blockbuster or Video Ezy.

Locating local internet providers

My initial thoughts on the announcement were that Unwired must think its customers on 256kbps and 512kbps plans are a patient bunch, content to sit around and wait for a 1GB movie to download. But after reading about ReelTime's IPTV model, it seems to be a pretty smart move for both companies.

"Network speed is not the issue for IPTV via ReelTime's push system -- it's all about having large amounts of low cost capacity", ReelTime managing director John Karantzis said in a statement.

Locating local internet providers

ReelTime's Web site explains how the service works: it utilises time when a network connection isn't being used to download new releases from its video catalogue to a customer's PC or a hard drive-based set-top box, which can then be accessed at any time on a pay-per-view basis.

Of course, when Unwired finishes rolling out its WiMax network, it will be in a much better position to distribute video with the faster bandwidth the next-gen wireless standard is expected to provide.

Unwired isn't the first ISP to announce Internet-based movie distribution in Australia. Telstra launched BigPond Movies after boosting its customers' cable speeds up to 17Mbps in February.

Adelaide-based ADSL2+ provider Adam Internet is expected to be the first local ISP to offer movies through ReelTime, with a launch slated for July.

Will Unwired wait for the speed increase WiMax promises before launching the service?

Do you think Unwired's network will cope with distributing movies? What other ISPs would you like to see partner with ReelTime? Will the wait for a movie to come out on DVD -- similar to ReelTime's release time -- keep you using BitTorrent? E-mail cnet@cnet.com.au and tell us your thoughts or use Talkback below.