Internet provider TPG has launched a new surveillance bundle targeted at small-to-medium-sized-enterprises (SMEs).

The service works by having a single surveillance camera connected to your existing network via Wi-Fi or an ethernet cable. The camera then stores 48 hours worth of footage on TPG’s servers (or ‘in the cloud’ if you prefer).

TPG’s service does not work with any other type of surveillance camera, meaning you must buy it for $149.99 directly from the internet company. From there it costs $49.99 a month for the surveillance and an ADSL2+ service.

You can only use the surveillance solution if you are an existing TPG ADSL2+ customer or you become one. It’s effectively a bundle deal with an 18 month contract that makes TPG your internet provider.

“The surveillance camera pushes a live video feed into the cloud via a secure channel, enabling storage and YouTube-like viewing experience of live and past events which customers can access from virtually anywhere in the world with an internet connection,” said Craig Levy, consumer general manager at TPG.

“Most other video surveillance solutions record and store the videos locally on the customers’ premises before they are uploaded intermittently to the internet, typically via FTP,” he added. “In order to view live streaming, customers have to access the camera remotely, opening a security hole in the customers’ network which can be vulnerable to attacks.”

According to Levy, the biggest challenge his team faced was the relatively slow upload speeds of ADSL connections. This made it problematic to broadcast real-time video over the internet.

“We have managed to achieve impressive video quality in full screen using only 256 Kbps of upload bandwidth,” he claimed.