TELSTRA is yet to find a way to expand its mobile Foxtel and Bigpond TV audience to include owners of the popular iPhone handset.
The carrier began offering its mobile Foxtel service in October 2006 to assist the launch of its Next G network. Its mobile content offering was expanded to include Bigpond TV in 2007 and it is currently available on a large range of handsets.
The services are yet to be made available on the iPhone, but a Telstra spokesman said that the carrier was working on a means to do so. "Telstra iPhone customers can today view video clips on demand from BigPond News and from BigPond's AFL, NRL and V8 mobile sites," the spokesman said. "We are working on enabling our mobile video channels like Mobile Foxtel and BigPond TV (for the iPhone)."
The move would place Foxtel and Bigpond's content in direct competition with Apple's iTunes service which includes the ability to purchase TV shows and movies. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the company would take steps to keep the services off its platform.
Warren Chaisatien, managing director of telecommunication analyst group Telsyte, estimated that about 750,000 iPhone handsets had been sold in the Australian market since its launch mid-last year. Story
