TalkTalk to launch YouView-based triple-play service in Q3

TalkTalk has revealed that its triple-play proposition - which will include YouView - is on track to hit the market during the third quarter of 2012.

YouView, the much-delayed internet protocol TV joint venture between some of the UK's biggest broadcasters and telecoms firms, is aiming to release its first set-top box in time for the Olympics.

In its financial results publication for the first three months of the year, TalkTalk said development within the YouView team is "progressing well" and insisted that good progress is being made on operational structures and provisioning capability.

The product is designed to offer the same plug-and-play simplicity of Freeview, combined with online catch-up and video-on-demand services, all of which will be accessible through one set-top box and electronic programme guide.

Friends and family trials of the YouView service were launched in April to test the end-to-end customer experience, with the pilot scheme set to be extended to TalkTalk customers in the near future.

The news comes shortly after a senior source told the Sunday Telegraph that YouView may not be commercially available until the end of 2012 due to fears over the quality of the service.