Canadian service provider Telus has soft-launched a slimmed-down IPTV service/package called Pik TV that runs on smartphones, tablets and an Android TV-powered box.
That service, which relies on Ericsson’s cloud-based MediaFirst interface/experience, complements Optik TV, Telus’s full-freight, managed IPTV service that currently uses Mediaroom, the IP video platform that Ericsson acquired from Microsoft in 2013.
Update: The original version of this story characterized Pik TV as an “over-the-top” service. Telus stressed that Pik TV is not OTT, and that the new offering “fully complies will all Canadian CRTC Broadcast Distribution Undertaking licensing requirements and qualifies fully as a pay-tv service the same as our existing Optik TV service… or any other CRTC licensed pay-TV service.” An official also stated that Pik TV is also “onside of all of our content licensing deals.”
The Pik TV FAQ also notes that watching the service live or on-demand using the Pik TV media box at home does not count against the customer’s monthly Internet data allowance. However, use of apps such as Netflix on the Pik TV media box will count toward the user’s Internet data plans. Likewise, usage of the service away from home will be subject to data usage charges, Telus noted.
