Orange looks to pick up Project Kangaroo tech

Orange looking to salvage Kangaroo tech?
Orange looking to salvage Kangaroo tech?

Orange could be a major beneficiary of the decision by the Competition Commission to block Project Kangaroo as it seeks to pick up the cut-price technology developed.

It's believed the project between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, which was blocked due to a belief it would dominate the burgeoning broadband TV market, invested £20 million in developing new technology for the service.

However, France Telecom, the parent company of mobile operator Orange, is looking to pick up the fruits of that research for just a few million pounds.

"We are examining this company and we see of course that it could be interesting. Nothing has been decided but we can confirm we are examining it," said a spokesperson for France Telecom.

Orange and the Brits

However, it appears us Brits won't be benefiting from the move as it's likely the parent company will be using it to bolster Orange TV, its video on demand service in France and across Europe.

"On Orange TV we are very cautious about what we are saying in the UK but [Kangaroo] could help us in developing more quickly Orange TV projects in France," added the spokesman.

However, it seems that Orange is holding off on bringing the same thing to the UK at the moment, due to what it has described as adverse economic conditions.

Via The Guardian

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.