Ericsson, Telstra, Fox partner on movie offering

Ericsson has partnered with the Fox Innovation Lab and Australian telco Telstra to trial a mobile app that will give users instant access to new-release movies from 20th Century Fox.

The one-month pilot, which was announced today at Mobile World Congress, will see users receive notifications when movies that match their interests become available. They will then be able to buy or rent these and play them back in 1080p HD quality.

Ericsson said that movies will be “pre-positioned” on a users’ mobile device, meaning that they will be available to watch immediately, both online and offline, irrespective of network connectivity.

The service will run on Ericsson’s MediaFirst cloud-based media store and its Unified Delivery Network and is designed to demonstrate its ability to provide an end-to-end solution for media ingest, processing, distribution, monetisation and consumption.

“Ericsson is a valued partner and has been integral to advancing the Fox Innovation Lab’s mission to develop cutting-edge mobile experiences,” said Hanno Basse, chief technology officer, 20th Century Fox and managing director, Fox Innovation Lab.

“This pilot is the first step to developing future solutions that will see faster and easier delivery of our content right into the hands of our consumers.”

Andrew Penn, chief executive officer, Telstra, said: “Our customers love entertainment content and are increasingly watching it on their mobiles. Running this pilot in collaboration with innovative partners is a great way for us to test and learn how we can improve the customer experience while at the same time achieving network efficiencies.”

Ericsson’s senior vice-president, chief innovation officer and head of its media business unit, Per Borgklint, said the pilot is “the first service offering of its kind” and described it as “an important industry milestone”.

“This live pilot is an example of how Ericsson is partnering with industry leaders across both the content and telco worlds to deliver innovative solutions that will transform viewing experiences and create new business models and monetisation opportunities.”