Vodafone Ireland plans to enter the quad-play market with the launch of a TV service.
According to a report by the Irish Independent on Monday, the telco aims to begin trialling the service by the summer with a view to commercially launching it later this year. Voda’s TV offering is expected to be set-top-box-based.
"We are currently assessing our options in relation to TV services but cannot currently share any details at this point," said a company spokesman, in the report.
The news comes as Vodafone Ireland upgrades its fixed-line infrastructure. The operator last year formed a joint venture with energy supplier ESB to build a €450 million fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) network that aims to pass 50,000 premises in 50 towns by the end of 2018.
Rolling out a TV service would ramp up the competition with cableco UPC, satellite operator Sky, and incumbent quad-play provider Eircom.
The move would be in line with U.K.-based Vodafone’s ongoing strategy of becoming an integrated services provider by augmenting its mobile businesses with fixed-line assets.
It is pursuing this course of action through a combination of its Project Spring capex plan and M&A. For instance, in Germany and Spain it has simultaneously invested in high-speed networks and made multi-billion-euro acquisitions in the form of Kabel Deutschland and Ono respectively.
