BBC Expands Online Offerings

Online services to be free at many UK hot spots and more platforms coming soon.

Got a little free time as you hang out in a coffee shop in the UK? If it’s a Wi-Fi hot spot operated by The Cloud, you’ll be able to access online content from the BBC for free as you sip your latte.

That’s just the first of several moves the BBC is making to be sure more people have access to its services. Cloud hot spot users will be able to access the full BBC site as well as download shows via the BBC iPlayer without charge.

Before the end of the year, the company’s catch-up service will be accessible to those using Apple computers and those with Linux – currently on users with Windows XP can use iPlayer.

Finally, the BBC will be using Flash for its video services, which will include a streaming version of iPlayer available in a browser window, which can also be shared on blogs and social networks.

In time the aim is to allow iPlayer downloads onto portable devices, including the Sony PSP. However, Mac and Linux users might have to wait to do more than stream shows.

"We need to get the streaming service up and look at the ratio of consumption between the services and then we need to look long and hard at whether we build a download service for Mac andLinux,” Ashley Highfield, the BBC’s director of Future Media and Technology, told BBC News. "It comes down to cost per person and reach at the end of the day. We are not ruling it out. Butwe are not committing to it at this stage."   According to the BBC, 250,000 people use the iPlayer each week, and they’re hoping that figure will double by April, and plans onoffering high definition downloads in the future, although they’re currently discussing that with ISPs because of bandwidth issues.