Soon, there will be new entrants to the ever-growing video streaming market. Announced by A1 in April, "A1 Now" will now be launched on August 17. Initially with a beta test with 1,000 people for which interested parties are still being sought. An expansion to the whole of Austria is planned thereafter. The new portal is intended to combine classic television with streaming content. This gives users access to 40 TV channels and around 3000 series episodes and movies. The entire TV program will also be available for seven days via cloud storage. "A1 Now" is to be usable on smartphones, tablet or via web browser, regardless of network operator or Internet usage type. Launch date of the full-fledged program and prices are not yet fixed.
UPC plans to follow suit in 2016. As derstandard.at reports, UPC also wants to enter the streaming business. With "Horizon Go" there is already a streaming service, but it is only limited to UPC customers and their WLAN. "Probably in the first half of 2016" a new platform will be offered, as UPC CEO Eric Tveter explains. This is to provide access to live TV, Youtube, video-on-demand and cloud storage for missed shows. Tveter left open whether the offer will be similar to "MyPrime", which is already running in Switzerland, or even a cooperation with Netflix.
Source: https://www.medienmanager.at/details/artikel/oesterreichische-konkurrenz-fuer-netflix/