Last week the telco posed a message on its site for the service, stating that 'technology improvements' meant that it could now deliver movies directly to consumers' homes through broadband, instead of sending them a physical DVD. Telstra has been offering online movie downloads for some years, but has recently enhanced its services in the area, with the launch of its T-Box set-top box.
The telco's online DVDs service was set up more than half a decade ago, as a wave of enthusiasm for similar services took off in Australia. "The largest local player in the space is believed to be Quickflix, but Telstra's service, as well as a competing service from online giant ninemsn, had also garnered substantial audiences."
In a statement to the ASX today (PDF), Quickflix revealed it had entered into an agreement with Telstra, which will see Telstra refer BigPond Movies DVD customers who wish to maintain an online DVD rental service to Quickflix, following the termination of Telstra's own service on 30 September.
Quickflix will in turn make a variable payment to Telstra based on the number of customers who transfer across; as well as acquiring BigPond's library of DVD and Blu-ray discs and equipment.
'We are delighted to enter this agreement with Telstra and look forward to delivering a great service for BigPond Movies DVD customers who choose to continue with DVD rental,' said Quickflix executive chairman Stephen Langsford. 'As a result of this agreement, we will significantly increase the depth of our library of latest release and catalogue titles, and we'll be servicing the whole of Australia with next day delivery in all major cities.'
