Hot on the heels of Senator Conroy’s announcement last month that there would be no 4th free to air television network for Australia, comes the news that Telstra is believed to be planning the release of a PVR called “T Box” by the end of the year.

According to a news item on the Big Pond News website, this strategy would allow Telstra to offer its own (Big Pond) content, which it already does to Telstra broadband customers, with no bandwidth charges.

It would also place Telstra in direct competition with both Foxtel, who offer PVR performance with their IQ STB, and the Seven Network who offer TiVo.

Already Big Pond has a significant library of material, and that coupled with its existing rights to show AFL, Rugby League, V8 supercars, and other sporting events, as well as an unbranded News service produced by Sky News. This would effectively make it Australia’s 4th network— even though it would be delivered by broadband.

Telstra is also reportedly working on separate plans to bring internet connectivity to Foxtel IQ users, including full length movie downloads and television shows.

These 2 strategies may well be insurance against the expected fallout when the Federal Government forces Telstra to split its retail and wholesale operations, possibly selling its 50% stake in Foxtel, a move announced on September 15 by minister Conroy.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said Telstra’s involvement in subscription television was a major impediment to competition in Australia. “In virtually every other developed country, the main competitor to the traditional phone network is the cable TV network. Here, the phone company owns both. It’s been dreadful for competition.”