Exclusive: NTL TV Drive rollout update

Plans to roll out NTL Telewest's high-definition TV Drive PVR beyond the Telewest network by the first quarter of 2007 are on track, the company has told Digital Spy.

Stephen Featham, the cable operator's head of digital TV product engineering, told us that development is going "extremely well."

Trials are currently underway as part of the testing and development process, and there may be "limited availabilty in some NTL franchises by the end of the year."

In addition to an emphasis on rolling out the box across the NTL network, the cable operator is also concentrating on ensuring the box - which out-specs rivals by including three tuners - operates correctly. Yesterday, a comprehensive update was downloaded to boxes fixing some fairly significant bugs, and the next software build, which includes an update to address another major bug, is currently in pre-release testing. As such the addition of new functionality to the box, such as enabling the SATA interface, is currently taking a back seat to the focus on stability and rollout.

Behind the scenes, an immense amount of work is taking place to bring the three incongruous digital TV networks now operated by NTL Telewest into line. On the customer-facing side, the cable operator is working on bringing channel numbers and software versions into line.