Sky and Telecom Italia have signed an agreement that will allow Telecom Italia customers to access the whole Sky television offer through its ultrabroadband networks, with a My Sky HD decoder specially created for Internet TV.
This partnership confirms the industrial importance for the two companies, leaders in their respective sectors, of operating in the broad entertainment market by synergising their assets and skills, also in view of the development of broadband in Italy. The Sky offer becomes the key element of Telecom Italia's ultrabroadband strategy, and access to the new generation network allows Sky to benefit from an additional distribution platform for its programmes. From 2015 consumer customers of Telecom Italia will in fact be able to access a Sky offer that is equivalent, in terms of contents, services and pricing, to the satellite offer.
Similarly, the agreement with Telecom Italia has strategic importance for Sky, because it makes the whole of its extensive offer of exclusive services and programmes available on broadband - starting with High Definition and the many features of My Sky HD - allowing it to expand the sales base of pay TV and access a new share of the market represented by potential subscribers who cannot install a satellite dish. Consider, for example, families living in the many historical and artistic centres of Italian cities who to date have not had access to the best Italian television offer and the new viewing experiences it offers.
The Sky offer will be primarily directed towards customers who have an optic fibre connection, and will be a driver for the development of ultrabroadband. Thanks to the transmission capacity of optic fibre, with connection speeds from 30 Megabits/second, Telecom Italia brings to its customers the proposals of Sky, the first Italian pay TV, which offers scheduling rich in exclusive programmes and quality: the great Sky Sports, with Formula 1, MotoGP and the Champions League 2014-15; the best of cinema, entertainment and TV series from around the world, with the new Sky Atlantic HD channel. All with the most innovative technologies that guarantee a unique viewing experience.
The partnership between the two companies will also strengthen the Cubovision offer, with high quality Sky content on the move. After the success of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, and the great popularity of the Formula 1 World Championship, TIM customers can access the Sky TG24 all-news channel on their tablets and smartphones thanks to super-fast networks (3G and 4G). In the near future the offer will be enriched with new contents Sky branded.
“The agreement with Sky – declares Marco Patuano, Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Italia - is part of Telecom Italia's overall strategy, which identifies the offer of premium content as an element that adds value to its new generation network infrastructure. Indeed, we are totally convinced that one of the main drivers of our business is the development of innovative services, particularly in entertainment for the consumer market. This partnership, which allows our customers to access the most extensive pay TV offer available on the market, is particularly satisfying for us, since it creates a new industrial model for the consumption of audiovisual content, thanks to the technological skill of Telecom Italia and the production know-how of Sky".
“Until today, satellite was the only technology that could bring the full richness of our offer into Italian homes, guaranteeing the quality standards that have always been associated with the Sky brand – declares Andrea Zappia, Chief Executive Officer of Sky Italia. So we are very satisfied with this important agreement that, thanks to Telecom Italia's ultrabroadband network and the possibility of developing a new generation lptv platform, allows us to assure the excellence of the Sky user experience also through the internet, with High Definition, on Demand and all the features that enrich the viewing experience, starting with My Sky HD. We are convinced that the partnership with Telecom Italia represents a great opportunity to extend the customer base for pay TV in Italy, bringing the Sky offer into the homes of all those families who could not access it before today and creating new motivations to try Sky Tv specialties”.
Rome, 10th April 2014
