TradingMarkets has an article on Australia’s Seven Network which includes a couple of TiVo mentions. After discussing Seven’s acquisition of WiMax provider Unwired Ltd, and the possibility of Seven acquiring WiMax provider Austar, the article goes on to say:
Seven plans to offer the TiVo digital recording service in Australia next year, and analysts believe the company is lining up a so-called `triple-play’ that would create an inexpensive pay television-style network.
WiMax spectrum could be used to deliver Seven programming into homes around the nation, with TiVo providing a platform for programming on delay.
The article goes on to quote Seven director Ryan Stokes as saying:
“The idea of offering a traditional pay service isn’t something that’s really one of our priorities, that’s not really the value of WiMax,” he said.
“We see it as being more a mobility of internet access, be that through hand held devices or laptops it provides out of home content, and really a way to provide that last mobile connection with consumers.”
While that may be true, using the WiMax network to deliver broadband content to their TiVo users certainly makes some sense, and I think it is something they’d pursue in the future, once the product is established. They’ve already indicated that they plan to provide broadband content to the Australian TiVo units. Using the ‘in house’ WiMax network as fixed wireless certainly makes some sense.
