Hearts Scores Broadband

HEARTS SCORES BROADBAND

Hearts Football Club today becomes one of the first clubs in the Scottish Premier League to launch a broadband internet service, in a growing trend that is set to spread across the Scottish football market and challenge traditional broadband telecoms suppliers.

The launch of Hearts Broadband sees the club leading the charge among its Scottish competitors, giving Hearts supporters access to exclusive content and the chance to register up to five email addresses at hmfc1874.com. No doubt addresses such as pressley@hmfc1874.com and hartley@hmfc1874.com will prove among the most popular, with fans keen to demonstrate love of the club even when communicating with friends and family!

Viatel, the communications company, is providing Hearts Broadband and recently launched a similar service with Manchester United. Viatel is also currently in talks with ten other Premiership and Scottish sides, as well as many other large sporting organisations. Club-based broadband services are set to pose a serious threat to established consumer broadband providers such as Wanadoo, AOL and BT.

Lucy Woods, Viatel CEO says, "There are over 50,000 new broadband subscribers every week. Football fans, who alone make up 45 per cent* of this market, want access to great exclusive content and the ability to download it quickly. In the future we hope to extend Hearts Broadband services and offer fans new features such as video on demand and internet telephony."

Hearts Broadband costs £28.99 per month and offers supporters up to five personal club email addresses and a 2Mb high-speed internet connection with unlimited monthly downloads. Users will also receive a free year's subscription to Hearts World, giving them access to video match highlights, live radio commentaries of every SPL match and exclusive interviews, previews and reactions.

"The attraction of Hearts Broadband is not only that it allows our fans to have a richer sporting experience through access to exclusive content and the ability to download highlights, but also that it gives them their own club email. It means that even when supporters can't make it to the ground, they can still feel close to the club and get the inside track. Many of our fans already follow the club's progress through the internet, we're just offering them a chance to combine their passion for football with their need for broadband," says Phil Anderton, Chief Executive Hearts FC.

For fans interested in signing up for an email and broadband service for their football club, Viatel has launched a web site, www.fastfooty.com, where they can register their interest. For any club that has over 1000 interested supporters, Viatel will be able to make a strong business case to the respective football club.

*Figures are quoted from the MORI Sports Tracker Report 2005

Notes to the editor

According to figures from Sky, ten top UK football clubs already have video streaming services with over 650,000 registered subscribers. These subscribers represent over 10 percent of the UK broadband market. With over 50,000 new broadband subscribers signing up every week, and with many more football clubs expected to launch similar services, Viatel expects that fans' broadband could become a key driver for the take-up of broadband services in the UK. Estimates for total UK broadband subscriptions by the end of 2005 are forecast to be 8 million households (32 percent of the population).

About the Service

The high-speed 2 MB service with unlimited downloads and a free modem costs £28.99 per month and has a one-off connection charge of £50. Subscribers receive a free email address (your.name@hmfc1874.com) and free Hearts World giving access to video match highlights, live radio commentaries of every SPL match and exclusive interviews, previews and reactions.

About Viatel

Viatel is a Pan-European Telecoms Service Provider and ISP. It provides IP and connectivity services to customers of all sizes across Europe. Viatel has been in business since 1991 and owns and operates a 72 fibre network across Europe.

For further information and photography please contact:

Nick Rappolt

Credo Communications

08704112531

nick.rappolt@credocomms.co.uk

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