GCI of Alaska said it has extended its TiVo-powered offering to another seven communities, including Sitka, Homer, Seward, Petersburg, Wrangell, Cordova and Valdez.
With the latest market extensions, GCI estimates that TiVo is now available to 90% of its customers. GCI-served markets with TiVo up and running include Anchorage, Eagle River, Wasilla, Juneau, Fairbanks, the Eielson AFB and Kodiak, among others. GCI reached 85% TiVo coverage last October.
“We plan on having TiVo service available to all of our customers by the end of the year, if not sooner," Shahid Butt of GCI said.
GCI is the first North American cable operator to offer the TiVo platform on Pace-made XG1 HD-DVRs outfitted with six tuners and a built-in DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem. The operator has also offered customers the TiVo-built Premiere Q4 four-tuner gateway DVR in tandem with the TiVo Mini, a low-cost IP set-top box, and the TiVo Stream, a video transcoding sidecar that delivers video over the home’s WiFi network to tablets and smartphones.
GCI’s TiVo offering also provides access to a library of interactive apps from TiVo’s recently launched Opera TV store.
“TiVo is an exciting, interactive entertainment and communication tool, and GCI is pleased to expand this service to new communities across Alaska,” said GCI SVP and GM of consumer services Paul Landes, in a statement. “We strive to be on the forefront of the technology services, and with TiVo more GCI customers can now experience this advanced television service at home as well as on the go.”
GCI ended 2013 with 117,900 basic video customers, with 67,500 subs taking a digital tier.
