SLT VisionCom Private Limited revolutionized the way Sri Lankan’s experience the future of tele-viewing with the launching of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) on Monday at the Cinnamon Grand. Attended by a host of distinguished guests which included stakeholders from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, the Board of Investment, Sri Lanka Telecom, the event marked the latest step in the realm of technology convergence.   

With IPTV being the newest entertainment experience, Sri Lankan viewers will have a whole new world of personalized entertainment options. Speaking on the significance of the much anticipated launch, Thusha Weerasooriya, CEO, SLT VisionCom Private Limited, said " We are very proud to be the first business entity to introduce interactive television, based on Internet Protocol technology to Sri Lanka. One of the latest entertainment mediums in the world, SLT IPTV offers new real time data and multimedia applications throughout the areas of business, education and entertainment.

  Adding further he said, "IPTV will offer an abundance of new possibilities to the viewer, with an interactive platform, which focuses  on greater choice, greater control and greater convenience in the watching of any programme whenever they chose to. This gives a greater degree of flexibility to the user, with amazing high quality images and audio coming right into your living room. It is also set to be the next frontier in television, with the transformation from a standard one way system to an out of the box Personalized Entertainment Option, which will be a simple and seamless experience for the user."  

An IPTV showcase was held at the BMICH from June 15 – 17, where the public was given the opportunity to have a first hand look into the ground breaking technology, with an IPTV theatre where the amazing functions and special features that the future of entertainment offers were showcased. The first ever concept launch of the product was an unprecedented success.      

A premium service, offered at a competitive price, giving greater value to the public. There will be an enabling fee of initial services of Rs9,950 and a monthly rental of Rs1000 for a suite of 14 international channels, with 5 local channels free of charge. Access to free channels of choice for the promotion periods of the first three months after the launch,  is also among the value added benefits. In terms of deployability, SLT VisionCom will be employing a phase by phase expansion for the  marketing  of IPTV, starting with the Greater Colombo area, Katunayake, Kurunegala, Kandy and Kalutara.

The next phase will include Ratnapura and Down South.   Features of the product include Video on Demand, allowing access to a large library of movies and songs, which you can search to watch or listen to at your own leisure. The Trick Play functionality consists of the features pause, slow-motion, rewind and fast forward of live television. Time Shift TV allows you to watch your favourite television shows that you have missed, giving a greater degree of flexibility to the user, with amazing high definition images and high quality audio. Programming will cater to all genres, such as entertainment for adults and kids, business, education, sports in addition to free-to-air local television stations.  

With IPTV, SLT will be enabled to offer a real time broadcast programming, Video on Demand, Time Shift TV and other advanced services over broadband connection to televisions. These are transferred over separate, closed networks, where the benefits are of a less congested, more efficient means of delivery, allowing higher quality and interactive features. How the system works is through the SetTopBox, which is provided with one side being connected to the television and the other being connected to an ADSL line, which are the basic requirements from the users end.  

Viewers are able to access television, movies, email, internet directory services, telephony and all other business communications through one converged IP broadband network, which is made very simple for the end user as the need for separate interconnections of either computing and broadcast services are eliminated. By adding television and television delivered applications to the list of services that can be offered to their subscribers, this generates new revenue and customer retention. Converged IP networks provide a simple and seamless experience for the user, with the technical expertise required, delivering the highest quality user experience for real time communication and entertainment spanning a broad range of technologies from network edge access to in home networks.

  This is an important project for SLT, as the success of this is going to enhance and drive the demand for the core optical network , copper wire lines and ADSL, thereby allowing the growth of multi-sided businesses to increase and complement each other in many forms. The required digital bandwidth is 3 megabits per second per stream. The quality of  IP broadband network is controlled by quality of service, as it uses the SLT intranet.  

The service will be available at the SLT VisionCom office at 60, Davidson Road, Colombo 4 as well as all 16 selected SLT Teleshops and 12 Regional Telecom Offices in the covered areas of the initial stage of expansion. The public can register on: www.peotv.com. For further inquiries, please call the hotline 2555555.