O2 is predicted to launch its UK internet based television service next year according to reports.

The launch is said to follow a successful launch in the Czech Republic, which has attracted 70,000 customers since September 2006. It offers more than 50 channels with content from Sony, Disney, Warner Bros and HBO.

O2, which also owns Be Broadband, is now predicted to look to extend the deals it has with these media companies for its UK launch.

An O2 IPTV service will pitch the company up against BT, which launched its IPTV offering - BT Vision – last year and Orange, which rolled out its TV platform in London and Leeds.

However O2, which recently came top in a poll of best performing internet service providers, is not giving anything away.

When contacted by Computeractive a representative for the company said: “In the UK our focus in the UK is to grow our Broadband business. There are no firm plans at present to launch in the UK. "