Brasil Telecom and Claxson Launch VOD Service for Broadband
October 19 2004 - 5:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Brasil Telecom and Claxson Launch VOD Service for Broadband Through
This Agreement, Broadband Users in Brazil Will Have Access to the
Best Multimedia Content Including Fox Sports Latin America and Its
Copa Libertadores Soccer Event, Playboy TV Latin America &
Iberia Programming, Backstage Productions of Playboy Magazine and
the Very Best of Claxson's Pay Television Programming SAO PAULO,
Brazil, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brasil Telecom (BOVESPA:
BRT03/BRT04)(NYSE:BTM), the second-largest broadband company in
Latin America and one of the largest telecommunications companies
in Brazil, and Claxson (OTC:XSON) (BULLETIN BOARD: XSON) , a
multimedia company providing branded entertainment content to
Spanish and Portuguese speakers around the world, launched in
Brazil the Turbo Video VOD (Video on Demand) service on the ESDC
(El Sitio Digital Channel) platform, one of the leading broadband
platforms in Latin America developed by Claxson. At the Futurecom
trade show in Florianopolis, Brazil, both companies will be
showcasing Turbo Video, which will become available to Brasil
Telecom broadband users. Through this agreement, Brasil Telecom
users will have access to the digital content offered in the ESDC
digital platform through different packages: the best of Fox Sports
Latin America, one of the leading sports networks in the region,
featuring, among other things, the Copa Libertadores and daily
sports news updates; the most sensual productions of Playboy TV
Latin America & Iberia; backstage access to Playboy magazine
photo shoots; Claxson's pay television programming, including
MuchMusic Canada, MuchMusic Argentina, Fashion TV, Infinito, Venus
movies and a selection of classic films featured in the Retro and
Space channels. The offer also includes the contents of Utilisima,
a channel that targets women in the rest of Latin America and is
now available in Brazil. The availability of the Playboy content is
based on a marketing and distribution agreement signed between
Editorial Abril and Claxson. According to the Marketing Director at
Brasil Telecom, Carlos Costa Pinto, "the service will be offered as
a monthly subscription, with several different packages, or on
demand, where the user only pays for what is accessed. The content
featured is extremely varied, including movies, fashion, music,
sports and adult content." Roberto Cibrian, senior vice president
of the Broadband and Internet Division at Claxson and responsible
for the ESDC operations said, "It's an honor to partner with Brasil
Telecom, a company of such relevance and prestige which trusted in
our products to materialize its Internet broadband efforts. This
agreement opens the doors for the future expansion of our company
in Brazil, where we already count on Marcos Galassi of NexTVision,
a strategic and knowledgeable ally in IP technology, for the
development of our IP television platform." Founded in 2004 by
Marcos Galassi, NexTVision is the first Brazilian company to
develop technology for the distribution of interactive contents
through IP networks, including operating systems, applications for
setup-boxes and program management systems. Recently, NexTVision
signed an exclusivity agreement for the distribution of all of
Claxson's digital content in Brazil, including those represented by
its ESDC division such as games, online communities, and other
products developed by that company. NexTVision also represents the
Discovery Channel School brand for IP media distribution. The
Brasil Telecom and Claxson agreement will allow the operator's
broadband users to access three different digital content packages,
tailored to their preferences, including the option to rent movies.
In addition, the 250,000 subscribers of BR Turbo, Brasil Telecom's
portal, will be able to enjoy a special discount for this service.
About Brasil Telecom Brazil Telecom provides fixed telephone
services in local, national and international long distance calls
throughout the country, as a concessionary in the region II, which
includes the Brazilian states of Acre, Rondonia, Tocantins, Goias,
Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Parana, Santa Catarina e Rio
Grande do Sul as well as the Federal District. The company also has
authorization to provide those services in the remaining Brazilian
regions and international long distance services all over the
country. By using its SRTT authorization, Brazil Telecom provides
data communication and enterprise network services in the region
II, extending such services locally and internationally, through
the partnership with its allied companies. Through its subsidiary,
Brazil Telecom GSM, the Brazil Telecom also provides mobile phone
services throughout the region II. Nowadays, Brazil Telecom
provides data center services through its Cyber Data Centers
located in Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Sao Paulo and Brasilia -- it
serves over two hundred customers offering high performance
solutions besides infrastructure, information technology and
telecommunications. Brazil Telecom has more than 10.7 million of
lines in operation, 296,000 public telephones and 99% of the
network in digital mode. It operates the second-largest wide-band
base in Latin America. In 2003, Brazil Telecom's total sales was 11
billion reales. For additional information, visit
http://www.brasiltelecom.com.br/ . About Claxson's Broadband and
Internet Division The Broadband and Internet Division groups all of
Claxson's broadband and Internet properties. ESDC is the leader in
the broadband sector, and it is the first intelligent multimedia
platform, developed by Claxson, to serve the Iberoamerican Internet
market in the region. This unit also includes all of Claxson's
online contents and interactive marketing tools, all grouped under
the brand El Sitio.com, as well as its pay television sites, Space,
Retro, I.Sat, Infinito, FTV, MuchMusic, HTV, Venus and Playboy TV
and its interactive formats and on-line versions of the radio
stations of the Broadcasting division. We also operate in
conjunction with AOL, the paid version of Cupido.Net, one of the
most popular dating services on the Internet. DATASOURCE: Claxson
CONTACT: Alfredo Richard, +1-305-894-3588, or , or Veronica Barbera
in Argentina, +011-54-11-4546-8805, or , or Juan M. Puppo in
Argentina, +011-54-11-4546-8082, or , all of Claxson Communications
Department Web site: http://www.claxson.com/
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