Verizon steps up IPTV marketing drive
US telco Verizon Communications has stepped up the marketing drive for its forthcoming internet protocol television (IPTV) service.
The aim of the marketing campaign is to raise awareness of FiOS, Verizon's fibre-to-the-home network that aims to reach 3m households by the end of the year.
Verizon is offering consumers a 'triple-play' of digital television, telephony and high-speed broadband internet services. So far 250 communities along the east coast of America and Texas have been hooked up.
"Because the service isn't universally available, we've deliberately tried to make the marketing very local, to create excitement in areas where the services are being offered," Verizon spokeswoman Sharon Cohen-Hagar told CNET News.com.
Verizon is marketing the FiOS service using mobile billboards and has set up temporary shops in which consumers can be given a 'test drive' demonstration of the service.
Verizon's marketing drive coincides with the decision by US IPTV provider Interactive Television Networks (ITVN) to give away 5,000 set-top boxes as part of a marketing promotion. Included in the giveaway deal is a 15-day free subscription to XTV Networks, ITVN's adult channel.
ITVN said all consumers needed to do to access its IPTV service was connect the set-top box to their existing home broadband/DSL router, cable modem router or wireless LAN and to their television set though standard video connectors.
Meanwhile in South Korea, a new study forecasts the number of IPTV subscribers in the country to pass the 1m mark by 2007. The LG Economic Research Institute said number could exceed 2m by 2009 if services were actively promoted. The institute said there are currently 80,000 IPTV subscribers.
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