The Seven Network is to roll out a 4G wireless broadband network across Australia, to position itself as a leading internet player.

Vivid Wireless, the company set up by Seven to handle the network, will spend $14m extending the service to five mainland capital cities following an initial launch in Perth in March.

The 4G service will firstly cover densely populated areas of around 1.25m people, with the service spreading to within 5km of selected universities in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane, allowing Seven to stake a claim in the future of online video streaming.

Seven already has a wireless presence in Sydney and Melbourne via Unwired, a company it acquired in 2007.

Speaking at the Broadband and Beyond Conference in Sydney, Ryan Stokes, chairman of Vivid Wireless and son of Seven executive chairman Kerry, stressed the importance of providing content to consumers.

“Today for media companies content creation is more important than ever,” he said. “The enabling technologies mean, it is no longer enough to simply own the rights; media companies must create the content to ensure better control on value realisation.

“Vivid Wireless is not entering the market to be a “me too” wireless player. We intend to offer value points that eclipse competitive wireless offerings; and even some fixed line offerings.”

Stokes said that the service, initially at least, would not target handheld devices, saying that it was focused on “ ‘mobile computing’, not ‘mobile communications’”.

Acknowledging the threat to free-to-air TV posed by internet TV and pay TV, Stokes said: “We are constantly feeling the impacts of change. Technology is continuing to reshape consumer habits and expectations through empowerment and choice.

“Content is at the centre of the evolution as the driver for the adoption of new technologies. For content creators this is the principal opportunity that needs to be realised across multiple platforms.”

Stokes added that Seven would “very soon” be launching its latest digital TV channel and also said that it would be “very interesting” to see how the mobile networks would cope with the extra data demands of the iPhone.

Martin Mercer, CEO of Vivid Wireless, added: “We are delighted with the speed and ease with which we have established our Perth operation, which we believe will take the city by storm with our affordable pricing and very fast broadband speeds.

“Our research shows there is very strong appetite amongst computer users for very fast speeds and wireless access and we are very confident of achieving strong market shares among business people, students, professionals and people in the home.”

Vivid Wireless has now launched and you can compare them now.

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