KUALA LUMPUR: Billionaire Ananda Krishnan-controlled Astro All Asia Networks plc has taken "a significant stake" in Fetch TV, an IPTV startup that is slated to launch its services in Australia early next year, The Australian reported without identifying its source.
The reclusive billionaire — who together with Saudi Telecom Co Ltd had just raised US$3.3 billion (RM11.2 billion) from selling a 30% stake in Malaysia’s leading mobile operator, Maxis Bhd — is said to seize the opportunity created by the Australian government’s proposed national broadband network (NBN), which opens the door for new players to challenge traditional media players for a share of the country’s television viewers, the paper said.
"Several sources have indicated that Malaysia's pay-TV business Astro All Asia Networks, which is controlled by (Ananda Krishnan) through investment company Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd, was a major backer of Fetch TV," The Australian reported.
When contacted, Astro's spokesperson said the group " has a vested interest in developing new media platform and content".
"At any given point of time, a number of opportunities may be considered," the Astro spokesperson told The Edge Financial Daily, without confirming or denying the said report.
The Australian also reported that Khazanah Nasional Bhd "is also believed to be involved". Khazanah Nasional has a 20% stake in Astro All Asia Networks, making it the second largest shareholder of Malaysia’s dominant pay-tv provider after Ananda Krishnan.
The report also stated that former ACP Magazines chief and Optus executive Scott Lorson and telco executive Simon Cathcart, "are believed to be fronting Fetch TV Australia", which is expected to begin shortly to test low-cost pay-TV as well as on-demand TV and movie services.
According to The Australian, Fetch TV is "just one of a swag of players — including pay-TV operators, TV set manufacturers, free-to-air TV broadcasters and games console makers — jostling to deliver video content and services to Australian TV sets over an internet connection, therefore competing with free-to-air and pay-TV services".
The TiVo digital set-top box, which is owned by Seven's Hybrid Television, is set to unveil its on-demand TV content play next week, the report read.
"An IPTV trial with ACT-based pay-TV provider TransACT was to begin next month," The Australian quoted an unnamed source as saying.
It also quoted "a TransACT spokeswoman" as saying that there were "no current trials involving Fetch TV". However, the spokeswoman reportedly confirmed that TransACT "was working with a third party to deliver a new internet TV set-top box and personal video recorder by next year".
The Australian believes "Fetch TV's digital TV set-top box will: receive digital free-to-air channels; include access to more than a dozen pay-TV channels; act as a personal video recorder; offer photo storage and other media centre services; include a pay-per-view movie and TV show download service; and allow people to view other internet content.
"Fetch TV video content would be delivered unmetered by the ISP, meaning it would bill its customers an estimated A$20-A$25 per month for the basic service and set-top box but would not charge additional download fees," the report read.
ABC has also held talks and is expected to provide access to its on-demand content to Fetch TV via its iView internet TV player, the report added.
The Australian also quoted Network Ten chief digital media officer Nick Spooner as saying that his company had held discussions with Fetch and that the talks were "encouraging and interesting", but it "was early days".
"Our focus is on expanding opportunities for our great content, continually growing our audience and creating attractive commercial opportunities for our clients... We're agnostic about platform as we are in a good position with a large degree of flexibility to be able to assess various options," Spooner was quoted as saying.
Australia’s incumbent telecommunications player, Telstra Ltd, also intends to launch its ‘Tbox’ IPTV service to its 2.3 million broadband customers next year.
Australia’s proposed high-speed NBN, much of whose traffic is expected to be generated by media content that would be free of the current download charges levied by ISPs, has fuelled interest on the new media platform as the latter would remove the advantage telcos have in offering internet video content to consumers. Nonetheless, the proposal has "also left the government grappling with how to regulate internet protocol TV (IPTV) alongside the heavily regulated free-to-air and pay-TV sectors", according to the news report.
Last week, Australia’s communications minister Stephen Conroy reportedly told an audience of film and TV producers that Australian TV content rules needed to be reconsidered.
"In response to these changes, the government will need to consider the degree to which existing regulatory settings for audiovisual content, including those dealing with Australian programming, remain relevant," Conroy reportedly said.