I'll bet ya LDIG's Game Show Network will be in the mix here:
Telewest, Sony to Test Faster PlayStation 2 Access (Update2)
By Daniel Tilles
Woking, England, May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Telewest Communications Plc, the U.K.'s second-biggest cable-television company, agreed with Sony Corp. to test faster Internet access to the PlayStation 2 game console through its cable lines.
The initial trial, planned to start by year-end, will aim to provide pay-per-play services and let users play with one another over the Internet, Telewest said. While full financial terms weren't provided, Finance Director Charles Burdick said ``modest investments'' are required.
Telewest, like cable rival NTL Inc., is seeking content such as games to gain new subscribers and increase revenue from existing ones. Sony, the No. 2 consumer electronics maker, is striking agreements to offer more services for PlayStation 2. Yesterday, the Tokyo-based company said it will work with AOL Time Warner Inc. to offer services such as e-mail on the device.
``We anticipate arrangements like this with Sony and with others becoming an ongoing part of our consumer package,'' Burdick said in an interview. The required investment was already included in the company's capital spending plan, he said.
Shares in Telewest rose 3.25 pence, or 2.7 percent, to 121.75p, valuing the company at 3.51 billion pounds ($5 billion). Shares in Sony, which have gained 28 percent this year, rose 2.9 percent to 9,980 yen ($81.11).
Rachel Turner, a Telewest spokeswoman, said the agreement with Sony is exclusive in the U.K.
AOL Time Warner said last month that it's in talks with NTL, the U.K.'s biggest cable-TV company, and others to give the biggest media company access to European cable networks.
Microsoft Corp., which owns about 23 percent of Telewest, will start selling its Xbox video-game console, which competes with Sony's PlayStation 2, in the U.S. starting on Nov. 8. Microsoft is the biggest software maker. |
