EGHAM, England, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- 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[1] 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 GBP28.99 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, http://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.
    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 GBP28.99 per month and has a one-off connection charge of GBP50.
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 Telecomms 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.
    [1] Figures are quoted from the MORI Sports Tracker Report 2005

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