eWAN1, Inc. announced that the Company will launch their Global Internet television (IPTV) service on April 19, 2006, offering consumers 75 channels of high definition clarity "On Demand" broadcast content through their television screens via any broadband internet connection. EWAN also announced that it anticipates roll-out of its proprietary wireless "Triple Play" Digital Media Center set-top boxes in March 2006, to both US and International consumers.
Through its recently acquired cable company, Clearwave Broadcasting, EWAN will be the first Company to launch true IPTV service on a global basis. Direct Connect, a wholly owned EWAN subsidiary, will provide traditional broadcast television to subscribers who will be able to select channels and networks of their choice, including such popular networks as CNN & HBO, subsidiaries of Time Warner, Showtime, a subsidiary of Viacom International, ABC, a Walt Disney subsidiary and ESPN, an 80/20 Joint venture between ABC and The Hearst Corporation, amongst a host of others.
Scott Kettle, EWAN's President, commented, "We are well ahead of our competition in terms of the sheer scope of our product offering. Our DMC set-top box is one of the first wireless set-top boxes on the market, comes with a keyboard and enables our subscribers to use their TV sets as computers to surf the Internet, process their emails, manage their family photos, as well as all other uses they now perform on their PC's. We believe that Global IPtv represents the 'missing link' that will foster global growth of converged devices in the home, transforming the living room television screen into an all-in-one utility for entertainment and communication."
EWAN's wireless "Triple Play" Digital Media Center, which gives subscribers the ability to deliver high definition programming over "non-HDTV" televisions, comes pre-bundled with a monthly subscription for the channels of content, which consumers can order online and from local retail channels. The Company is forecasting that approximately 250,000 set-top box units will be sold worldwide in its first year of distribution.