/UCWE/ - Sky has launched its Sky By Wire service on an Irish broadband platform thanks to a distribution agreement with Dublin-based Magnet Networks. Consumers are now able to sign up to their selection of premium sports and movie channels directly from Sky in addition to the existing communications and entertainment services provided by Magnet.

Channels available from Sky By Wire in Magnet Networks-equipped homes will include Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra, Sky Movies 1 & 2 ((9 screens) and Sky Cinema (2 screens). Prices will range from €31.50 to €49.50 per month for customers with one set top box. However, as a special introductory offer, there will be a three month half price offer available to all Magnet customers who subscribe to Sky By Wire before 31 December. The service will be available initially in parts of Dublin and Leinster, through Magnet Networks’ multi-play digital telephony, digital TV and highspeed digital broadband network, with plans to extend to much of the rest of the city and reach Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, in the next few months.

Sky By Wire is a new service from Sky that has been developed to make Sky’s channels available to customers on the growing number of television distribution platforms. Sky is the retailer of the Sky By Wire service, maintaining a direct relationship with the customer and control over the pricing and packaging of its channels. In the launch phase, day-to-day sales and customer service activities for Sky By Wire will be overseen by Magnet Networks in its capacity as Sky's agent.

Sky By Wire is expected to be rolled out across further broadband networks throughout the country as the sector evolves. It is currently available in the UK via the HomeChoice platform.

Delia Bushell, Managing Director of Sky Ireland, said: "Sky By Wire is a new service that offers customers more flexibility and demonstrates Sky's commitment to take advantage of the emergence of alternative distribution networks. We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Magnet to launch Sky By Wire in Ireland and to extend the potential audience for Sky Sports and Sky Movies still further."

Commenting on the launch, Magnet Networks CEO Ingvar Gardarsson said : “We’re pleased to have concluded this agreement with Sky, and with the level of choice that it brings to our customers in terms of their television services.

“The selection of Magnet Networks as a distribution platform for Sky By Wire in Ireland is indicative both of the trust that Sky places in us as a company, and in the technical ability and quality of our network as a vehicle for delivering this new service.”

About Sky
Sky has pioneered the development of digital tv in Ireland. In just over 6 years, over 1 in 4 homes have chosen Sky digital as their digital tv provider. In total, Sky channels are available in over two thirds of all households. As well as increased choice, Sky digital continues to offer quality services such as interactive television, Sky + and next year, Sky HD to our customers

About Magnet Networks
Headquartered in Dublin, Magnet Networks Ltd. is an Irish company utilising the latest in broadband technology to provide residential and business customers with multi-play digital telephony, internet and television services. Magnet Networks is a fully owned subsidiary of US-based private equity investment company Columbia Ventures Corporation (www.colventures.com), holder of extensive telecoms interests on both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere, and a sister company of Irish broadband wireless specialist service provider Leap Broadband (www.leap.ie) and Hibernia Atlantic (www.hiberniaatlantic.com), owner/operator of Ireland's only direct fibre-optic submarine cable link with North America and the UK. To assist with the design and implementation of both its FTTH and ADSL2+ network rollouts, the company has partnered with leading broadband solutions provider and systems integrator Industria www.industria.com).