Customers will have movies piped directly to their device that are ready to watch anywhere and anytime using an industry-first content delivery system created in partnership with Telstra, Ericsson and the Fox Innovation Lab at 21st Century Fox.
Announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the personalised movie delivery system can position the content for customers to view on their device or offline without affecting their device’s performance or data allowance.
A pilot program will begin today with a closed number of Telstra, Fox and Ericsson customers who will receive a device with a trial app so they can get instant access to new release movie titles provided by 20th Century Fox in full high definition quality.
Content will be provisioned on a customer’s device during low usage periods – usually in the middle of the night – so it will be accessible immediately for purchase or rent regardless of network connectivity.
“Our customers love entertainment content and are increasingly watching it on their mobiles,” said Telstra CEO Andy Penn.
“Running this pilot in collaboration with innovative partners is a great way for us to test and learn how we can improve the customer experience while at the same time achieving network efficiencies.
“It has the potential to offer our customers a truly distinctive video customer experience, delivering studio sanctioned picture and audio quality.
“The solution will use Telstra’s Media Optimised Network, including LTE-B capability to pre-position content, and therefore have limited impact on overall network traffic with little to no additional infrastructure cost.”
This pilot program is the first service offering of its kind that has as the potential to transform the way we access and view content according to Ericsson’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer Per Borgklint.
“This live pilot is an example of how Ericsson is partnering with industry leaders across both the content and telco worlds to deliver innovative solutions that will transform viewing experiences and create new business models and monetization opportunities that help our customers to be competitive and lead the pack as digital pioneers,” he said.
For Fox Innovation Labs, the pilot will allow faster and easier content delivery right into the hands of the customer.
The service takes advantage of Ericsson’s MediaFirst TV cloud-based media platform which as one-stop solution to ingesting content, distribution, monetization and consumption.
Ericsson’s Unified Delivery Network allows for global content delivery as well as providing as personalised and intuitive experience.
The studio also retains full control of the quality and experience as well as advanced security with multilayer DRM (digital rights management).
* Stephen Fenech travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Huawei
