The Get Box II is equipped with multiple TV tuners and double the storage of the previous generation of boxes. The combined set-top and gateway box includes a built-in modem and supports telephony and two wireless home networks. Get plans to provide TV signals wireless around the home to Get Micro boxes, tablets and smartphones.

Get CEO Gunnar Evensen said the operator was testing solutions for new services, including search and recommendation across platforms and access to content on the TV, tablets and smartphones.

Virgin Media will connect about a third of Sky’s unbundled local exchanges with Sky’s own wholly-owned broadband network.

The five-year contract will see the core of the network in place by the end of this year, with Virgin Media Business’s high-capacity services product delivering speeds of up 10Gbps for each connection.

Charlier, who replaces Stéphane Roussel in the role, will head an executive committee comprising networks, information systems and operations chief Pierre-Alain Allemand, business team head Pierre Barnabé, finance and strategy chief Sandrine Dufour, previously deputy director of finance at Vivendi, secretary-general Olivier Henrard and human resources chief Marie-Christine Théron.

Roussel remains president of SFR, while deputy chief executive Pierre Trotot is to leave the company.

The channel will be available on Sky Deutschland in HD and on Deutsche Telecom, in both HD and SD, with the rollout following a recent look, logo and tagline overhaul for the channel to emphasise a new “character-focused positioning.”

The rollout will further expand the network’s international footing, with Universal Channel already available in 103 countries and in 16 languages around the world.

The recent channel refresh is already live in Asia, Africa, as well as Central and Eastern Europe and is due to come to Russia, the UK and Australia in the coming months.

“The German launch of Universal Channel is an exciting milestone for Universal Networks International as we focus on the strategic growth of our channels’ portfolio in key markets around the world,” said Belinda Menendez, president of international television distribution at Universal Networks International – the international channels division of NBCUniversal.

“This launch and our overall investment in Universal Channel, underscores the brand’s key role as a portfolio driver in our channels’ business and our long-term commitment to its success.”

Universal Networks International already runs the Syfy, 13th Street and E! Entertainment networks in Germany and Austria.

Subscribers to the basic Gala TV package of over 50 channels will be able to select their favourite channels from a range of movie, entertainment, sports, factual  and kids channels to create their own package, dubbed Mano Rinkinys (My Package) for LTL6 (€1.74) a month.

Subscribers with Motorola VIP 1003 digital set-top boxes will be able to select their own packages from the onscreen menu, while customers with other boxes are being given the opportunity to exchange their receivers.

Currently, about a third of Gala TV customers upgrade from the basic offering to take a thematic package on top.

“Customers increasingly appreciate the possibility to make their own ‘menu’ of TV programmes individually, according to their needs. They give preference not to the number of channels, but to the content that suits their personal needs,” said Nerijus Ivanauskas, chief marketing officer of Teo.

Teo is joining a minority of European service providers that let customers choose their own channels. Last year, IPTV provider Lattelecom in neighbouring Latvia allowed its basic customers to customise their packages with the ability to add between and eight additional channels.

The deal covers eight movie titles that will be made available on Cyfrowy Polsat’s VOD home video rental service and Ipla internet TV service two weeks ahead of their DVD release in Poland, starting this week with Jason Statham-starring crime thriller Parker.

At the same time Ipla has signed deals with distributor 9th Plan and Galapagos Films to boost its content and add more children’s titles to its offering.

The Liberty Global operators is now making Fanda HD, Nova Cinema HD, Prima Cool HD and factual channel Prima Zoom HD available to subscribers.

UPC Czech Republic now offers 24 HD services.

UK telecom operator TalkTalk more than doubled its TV subscriber base in the quarter to March 31 and said it was adding 12,000 new TV subscribers a week as it exited its financial year. It also confirmed plans to launch a lower-cost TV offering in the current financial year.

TalkTalk added 150,000 TV customers in its fourth fiscal quarter, taking its total to 230,000, with about 25% being new TalkTalk customers.  The company said that about 72% of its TV base had previously been Freeview or Freesat users.

TalkTalk said it would launch a “value for money” Essentials TV product to appeal to Freeview upgraders, comprising a smaller, lower-cost set-top box with no DVR and only one tuner, and would extend its content offering with a range of specialist channels including foreign-language, education and entertainment services.

Viewers watched an average of 19.5 hours of free live or catch-up TV and about 2.5 hours of paid for content on average, it said. About 20% of customers have bought one or more pay services. TalkTalk said many viewers showed “a significant propensity” to buy content beyond their initial sign-up, with good results for transactional on-demand, driven by movies including The Hobbit and Life of Pi.

The acceleration in adoption of TalkTalk’s YouView-based TV service came alongside the launch of a self-installation option, which the company said had strengthened its momentum.

The number of subscribers taking TalkTalk’s Plus package, including those taking YouView for no additional monthly fee, an offer launched in September last year, grew by 68,000 in the final quarter of the year.

TalkTalk added 30,000 on-net broadband and voice customers in the quarter, offset by the loss of 20,000 off-net broadband customers. The company added 21,000 fibre customers in the quarter, taking its fibre base to 73,000.

TalkTalk ended the year with a total of 4.063 million broadband customers.

TalkTalk’s strong showing in the fourth quarter helped return it to revenue growth of 1.4% to £427 million (€504 million).

Full-year revenues were down slightly from £1.687 billion to £1.67 billion. Underlying EBITDA was up 11% to £352 million.

Vodafone Deutschland has signed a preliminary contract with Deutsche Telekom that will enable it to deliver services including IPTV over Telekom’s fibre network.

Vodafone will share the investment risk of Telekom’s fibre rollout. The incumbent telco is committed to spending about €6 billion on its fixed network over the next few years, using vectoring to deliver speeds of up 100Mbps to 24 million homes.

Under the deal, Vodafone will obtain lines from Deutsche Telekom at reduced prices in return for agreeing to purchase a certain volume. Vodafone will purchase a mix of VDSL and new vectoring lines.

Vodafone will also acquire ‘layer 2’ bitstream lines that will enable it to to gain control of the connection closer to the end customer and deliver its own added value services. This wholesale product is designed to give third-party providers the ability to deliver IPTV services to customers.

Vodafone will acquire traditional ‘layer 3’ bitstream lines ahead of the new wholesale product becoming available. “We are delighted to have another partner on board in the shape of Vodafone to share the investment risk,” said Niek Jan van Damme, head of Deutsche Telekom’s Germany business. “This gives us greater certainty of achieving the necessary number of customers for the new network and lets us push ahead with the roll-out.”

The cooperation between the pair is scheduled to kick off before the end of this year. The agreement is subject to approval by the Federal Network Agency and the Federal Cartel Office.

Swedish cable operator Com Hem has opened registrations for its forthcoming TiVo advanced TV offering.

Com Hem is on schedule to launch TiVo, beginning with various trials this summer followed by a full commercial launch in the autumn.

The operator’s TiVo offering will enable viewers to record up to 500 hours of content. Com Hem will also launch a TiVoToGo multiscreen offering at the same time.