Ellies, the company involved in the OpenView HD, a new subscription-free satellite TV service says the project will be a high quality, single view unit.

“The marketing aim initially is to produce a model to best meet a
price point to accommodate a wide LSM audience, without sacrificing
basic functionality,” Ellies noted.

“Initial pricing is paramount and user sentiment and demand will be
evaluated in the future,” Ellies said regarding their decision not to
support PVR.

Asked whether they will have an Internet-connected decoder, Ellies
said that such a decoder would need 3G capability, which defeats the
initial objectives.

The company also said it will only be targeting one price point to start
with, but added they anticipate other retailers will follow their own
agenda.

“As this is a new offering, we only expect to accommodate future user and market demand as we are able to better access consumer needs,”
the Group added.

Meanwhile, future satellite TV operator, Platco Digital has confirmed four suppliers for its free OpenView HD service; only one decoder model will be available from two different manufacturers, according to Ellies.

Ellies, Space TV, Switch Digital, and ABT will all be supplying
OpenView HD, and according to Platco they may all offer their own
decoders as long as they conform to a certain minimum specification.
The Ellies decoder will have HD support, but no personal video recorder (PVR) functionality.

Furthermore, Platco Digital is a sister company to E-tv, which is also to monitor the launch in South Africa during October 2013.