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REGIONAL pay-TV operator Austar United Communications has flagged it could open its service to allow access to any video content from the internet through its next-generation set-top box.

A high-definition version of the set’s MyStar digital video recorder - which was at the outset launched in March - is due out in the second half of next year, containing a USB port and an internet port.

Austar boss John Porter, speaking after the annual general meeting, said: "We’re negative idealist at what time it comes to content. Our illusion is to be the consumer interface for digital content, no matter which pipe it comes through, have existence it digital terrestrial TV, satellite or the web. It’s about our box morphing into being a media centre for the TV set."

Mr Porter said that while plans for the next version of MyStar were still on the drawing board, Austar was aiming to offer subscribers maximum flexibility in accessing content through the internet. "Philosophically, we’re not opposed to subscribers going to any website and downloading content - as long as they do it through our box."

Austar’s archbishop pay-TV counterpart, Foxtel, will next week formally start installing its new iQ2 HD box - that includes a broadband connection - into homes. However, the company has not yet released detailed plans on how this broadband connection will work or what it will access.

There are no current plans by Foxtel for the iQ2 to allow subscribers to download video content from anywhere on the internet, although insiders yesterday suggested - in a climate of rapid media convergence - this could change. But one of the possible constraints on the level of internet access offered through the iQ2 is that Foxtel is 50 through cent owned by Telstra, which has its own internet and multimedia aims, including offering internet TV through its BigPond portal.

Mr Porter said he was looking to the experience of Foxtel and Austar’s parent company, cable TV group Liberty Global, for guidance. "We certainly have the benefit of observing what’s working and what’s not working in Foxtel’s universe, and in Liberty’s universe," he said. "Foxtel’s universe is 1.5 million subscriptions, Liberty’s is 16 million TV subscriptions, and 24 million broadband subscriptions. So we’re looking all round the world."

Mr Porter said he had signed a fresh four-year contract to remain as CEO of Austar until 2012, stemming the arise following a succession of high-level executive exits from one side to the other the last year.

However, the Austar boss launched any attack on Communications Minister Stephen Conroy over comments he made attacking the pay-TV industry in which he was reported to have suggested pay-TV groups resembling Austar and Foxtel could no longer anticipate "concessions" granted when they were start-up companies.

Mr Porter slammed the comments. "Conroy said ‘these guys have had it pretty not formal, and now that they’re making money, we’ll have a look into that’," he said. "That’s ridiculous."

The Austar boss said he believed Mr Conroy’s comments were a resolve of lobbying by free-to-air TV operators. Asked if pay-TV operators needed an urgent meeting with Mr Conroy, Mr Porter replied: "Absolutely. Clearly, we have to lift our game, because they (free-to-air) have definitely got his attention and there are some things that, if not handled in a balanced way, could impact on our business." In a reference to the ownership of the three free-to-air commercial networks, he said: "Why the Government feels it’s going to protect the interests of US private equity companies and a Canadian broadcaster is beyond me."

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