By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY, NSW: Eager Australians looking forward to watching sport through Foxtel on the Xbox 360 might need to upgrade their broadband plans, with one standard day of Test cricket set to chew up almost 5GB of data. Although offering premium TV channels through a gaming console is a novel idea, Foxtel is advising users to confer with their ISPs before signing up.
Foxtel has not partnered with any ISPs – not even Telstra, which owns a stake in the company – at launch for this service, meaning that users will need to factor their Foxtel watching into their data downloading. A Foxtel spokesperson told Current.com.au that watching one hour of optimum live content will consume approximately 800MB per hour.
“Currently Foxtel does not have unmetered arrangements in place with any ISPs but we recommend Foxtel on Xbox 360 users discuss the service with their ISP so they understand how they are affected,” said the spokesperson.
“To view an hour of Live TV on the Foxtel on Xbox 360 service at the optimum quality will use about 800MB. File sizes for Catch Up TV and Foxtel On Demand will vary in size depending on the duration of the content selected.”
Therefore, if a user wishes to watch a standard day of Test cricket, not including the intervals, they would have to expend 4.8GB of data. A full five days of Test cricket would consumer 24GB of data. Using Telstra Bigpond’s current advertised broadband rates, that equates to just under the total monthly data allowance for a $49.95 per month plan.
Foxtel on Xbox 360 is now live, with users able to watch 30 different Foxtel channels, including news, sport, documentaries and movies, through their Xbox console. Furthermore, there’s also Catch Up TV and On Demand options, with users able to download content to watch on their TVs.
To read why Foxtel should be allowed to show more live sport, click here.