France Telecom Plans First TV over ADSL in December

France Telecom has signed a partnership agreement with TPS, a satellite TV company owned by French TV networks TF1 and M6, to provide content for its forthcoming TV-over-ADSL service. France Telecom plans to launch its initial TV-over-DSL deployment in Lyon in December 2003, followed by Paris in Spring 2004. An ADSL connection will support the simultaneous use of phone lines, broadband access and delivery of the TPS TV channels to a set-top box. France Telecom will market on-demand programming using a kiosk model similar to the successful Minitel videotext system. The company plans to promote the service through various retail channels and partners.


Commenting on the launch, France Telecom Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thierry Breton described the coming TV-over-ADSL rollout as a "major innovation that takes broadband into new territory beyond the Internet and creates groundbreaking models for content distribution."http://www.francetelecom.com