Premier video-on-demand (VOD) service Vidi has subsidised over 60% of its customers’ viewing data since its commercial launch in September 2014.
The impressive percentage refers to the data that fixed line ADSL broadband viewers have used watching Vidi’s unscheduled programming via streaming Internet.
That’s according to Vidi’s head of Marketing, Taryn Uhlmann, who says that the process of essentially paying for viewer’s use of the VOD service is made possible by a reverse billing technology known as ‘tunneling’.
“Tunneling is an enormous benefit for our viewers it basically means Vidi is converting capped broadband connections into uncapped ADSL,” she says.
However, to take advantage of the reverse billing service, Vidi viewers should ensure that their routers are correctly enabled. Uhlmann explained that Vidi needs to be able to read the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of viewers’ broadband routers. While some 70% of routers will automatically provide their IP addresses to Vidi’s servers, making viewer intervention unnecessary, the remaining 30% of routers will need to be set up by their owners.
“As there are a myriad of different types of routers on the market, it’s best for those viewers who want to benefit from our reverse billing feature to contact their router’s manufacturer for advice on making the IP address visible to Vidi,” she adds.
“Vidi is all about an entertaining and customised hassle-free viewing experience. Vidi’s biggest advantage is that the service requires no specialised hardware, with our subsidised fixed line viewing coming a close second in the benefits stakes,” concludes Uhlmann.