Netflix will expand its streaming service into the U.K. and Ireland early next year.
Users will have unlimited access to the company's Watch Instantly streaming service. Details about price options and supported devices will be announced closer to launch, Netflix said. Interested customers can sign up at Netflix.com to receive an email alert when more information is released.
In the U.K., Netflix will go up against LoveFilm, a service similar to Netflix that was acquired by Amazon in January. Like Netflix, LoveFilm offers DVDs and Blu-ray discs via mail, as well as access to streaming movies, and game rentals. Like its other international offerings, however, Netflix will only offer streaming, not DVD rentals.
LoveFilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Amazon has been building up its streaming service in recent months, in part to do battle with Netflix and other rivals and in part to bulk up the services that will be available on its upcoming Kindle Fire tablet. Last week, Amazon added content from PBS to its streaming lineup.
Earlier this month, meanwhile, there were reports that the team behind Skype and Rdio were prepping a service known as Vdio, which looks as though it might offer streaming access to TV and movie content. The site asks users to connect via Facebook, but in the U.S., connecting your account produces a message that says Vdio is "currently available in the UK only."
Netflix has also been hard at work adding to its streaming library. Part of the reason Netflix even still offers a DVD rental option in the U.S. is because Watch Instantly still lacks some of the blockbuster films and TV shows viewers want to watch. In recent months, however, Netflix has announced deals with DreamWorks, AMC Networks, and The CW, among others.
Netflix launched in Canada in September 2010, and came to Latin America in early September.
Expect more details on Netflix's business this afternoon, when the company holds is quarterly earnings call. For more, see Netflix Ditches Qwikster: What You Need to Know.