BT to offer OnLive game service with broadband

UK internet provider, BT has teamed up with OnLive to offer a new online gaming platform to its broadband customers. The users will just need to go onine to play a range of games including XBox360 on their PC or Mac without a special device, it has been claimed.

The users can play the games either in standard or in high definition mode. For playing the games in standard version, a speed of 1.5Mbps speed is needed to ensure quality. High-definition version of games  requires speeds of 5Mbps or above. Users can also connect their HDTV to get the more out of the new service.

Interested BT broadband customers can add OnLive after it is launched in UK while non-BT customers can directly get it from OnLive with a subscription.

OnLive, which is expected to be launched in US soon, has already attracted many online gamers in Europe. The firm has been testing its beta in one of the BT data centers in UK for a year, it was reported.

In UK, BT has bought the exclusive rights of OnLive to launch the service with a 2.6% stake in the firm.

It seems that slower connection speeds may prevent most UK users from playing games in high defintion as less than 10 percent of broadband susbcribers in UK get actual speeds close to 8Mbps, the last year’s Communications Market Report from Ofcom shows. Ofcom speed survey conducted in 2009 shows that broadband ISPs offer an average speed of 4.1Mbps

According to Cisco research in 2009, only six developed nations (that do not include UK) have built super-fast broadband networks that can meet the bandwidth need of applications like high-defintion videos or faster online games.

In UK, the gamers can choose UK broadband providers like BE and PlusNet who offer tailored packages to meet the needs of online gamers by prioritizing the data traffic on their lines