Late last year, broadband and mobile phone services provider Orange announced that it was rethinking its plans to move into the UK IPTV market. The official reason given at the time was that the downturn made such a venture impractical, with consumers deemed unlikely to stump up for another service in the face of impending economic hardship.

But rather than a move into on-demand TV being junked altogether, it seems the announcement in November might only have marked a hiatus in the project. Today it was announced that the company is interested in acquiring the rights to Project Kangaroo – the ill-fated video on demand venture from ITV, BBC and Channel 4.

Currently, the company claims that the technology would be used solely for its European market, as it bids to grow its already sizeable market share on the Continent. However, it is obvious that it would also stand the company in good stead in the UK market, too. As soon as the downturn abates, we’d bet our house that Orange will confirm new interest in UK IPTV.