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However, customers living in some parts of NTL's Dublin catchment area may have to wait until early 2004 before they can hope to avail of the new digital service.
The new service which will be available to around 139,000 households in the three cities by the end of September offers customers an additional 35 channels for an extra IEP10 a month, on top of their basic package.
"We aim to have 20 percent (58,000 households) penetration of the available audience signed up to Go Digital by the end of 2002," said Brian Moore, managing director of NTL Ireland. Moore said that the company estimated that Sky's penetration in the Irish market was around 13 percent.
Additionally, NTL aims to have the service available to 290,000 of its 350,000 cable customers by the end of 2002.
Moore also said the company plans to expand the service to an extra 10,000 homes a month from September, although nearly all customers in Galway and Waterford will already be covered by the service.
According to Moore, NTL has now exceeded the milestone of 111,000 households set by the ODTR for rollout of digital TV services under the terms of its licence. The company has also applied to the ODTR for a price increase which would bring the extra cost the service up to IEP12.70. The company claims the application for an increase was based on extra investments in the network, inflation and the extra headcount involved.
"The range of channels available is tailored specifically for the Irish market and the selections was based on findings obtained from extensive research conducted into Irish customers requirements," said Moore. New channels available with the basic package will include news channels, Bloomberg and ITN, documentary channels like Discovery, Health and Biography, and a range of entertainment channels including E4 and Fox Kids.
With the new Go Digital service customers will have access to a total of 73 channels including pay per view and premium rate sport and movie channels. Customers will have to pay an installation charge of IEP25 for the new service which includes a digital set top box with a cable modem for future broadband services.
Moore said NTL plans to introduce broadband interactive services next year and the inclusion of a cable modem in the set top boxes will mean that customers will not need to upgrade to take advantage of such services. "We have not given up on broadband and interactive services," said Moore.
Customers who sign up to the Go Digital service will have a new remote control which will cover all existing and new channels and a electronic programme guide enabling them to plan and schedule their viewing interactively.
NTL Ireland can be found at http://www.ntl.com/locales/ie/en/.
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