Philips and BT announce broadband pact

The two companies will work together to share strategies on multimedia, entertainment and consumer electronics technologies, in order to develop broadband-enabled products for the home.

Philips has also linked up with other broadband operators throughout Europe, including KPN, Telefonica, Belgacom and Telecom Italia, in order to create home entertainment products that work not just in the UK, but also on the continent and beyond.

The fruits of Philips' partnership with BT will be announced in October, when the two companies will prepare to launch the first broadband-enabled product for the UK market.

A widespread campaign to educate consumers about the non-PC joys of broadband will accompany the launch, with "key" high street retailers selected to run demonstrations of the new internet-enabled gadgets.

Philips said the demonstrations will showcase "a complete portfolio of connected devices enabled by the BT Broadband service". It predicts these products will have "a profound impact on home entertainment".

Once connected, broadband will allow the delivery of audio and video content direct to dedicated devices such as TVs and stereos, providing consumers with a better way of watching films and listening to music than PCs.

Philips Consumer Electronics CEO, Gottfried Dutine, said: "Widespread adoption of broadband will only occur as consumers are presented with real ongoing value propositions beyond the limits of the PC."

"We believe that such alliances are the beginning of a new service and product dynamic for the home environment that will spur the development of next generation applications such as home automation and interactive video communications."

4 August 2003:

"www.philips.com ":http://www.philips.com

"www.bt.com ":http://www.bt.com

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