Advanced Television

Broadband

Research: US cord-cutting nearly doubles in 2018  

Findings from Leichtman Research Group indicate that the largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – lost about 2,875,000 net video subscribers in 2018, compared to a pro forma loss of about 1,510,000 subscribers in 2017. The top pay-TV providers account for 89.1 million subscribers – with […]

March 7, 2019

Research: 39m Americans switched SPs in 2018

According to research by broadband Internet services consumer champion BroadbandNow, some 39 million US adults added or switched home Internet, TV or phone service in 2018. The research, BroadbandNow 2019 U.S. Internet, TV & Phone Shopping Study, examines why Internet, TV and phone customers switch providers or subscribe to new services, and whether or not […]

March 7, 2019

Es’hail-2 in commercial service

Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, has announced that its recently launched satellite, Es’hail-2, has entered commercial service to serve government, broadcast and telecommunications sectors in Middle East and North Africa. Es’hail-2, designed with Ka-band spot beams and Ku-band wide beams, joins Es’hail-1 at 25.5⁰E / 26.0°E MENA broadcast hotspot and will augment the capacity already […]

March 7, 2019

Huawei opens ‘transparency centre’

Huawei has opened a Cyber Security Transparency Centre in Brussels in a ceremony with 200 representatives from regulators, telecom carriers, enterprises and the media in attendance. Huawei, the world’s biggest telecom equipment maker, is mired in accusations its equipment is being used to spy for the Chinese government. It has denied all charges and argued […]

March 6, 2019

SES prays for C-band

Unofficially SES is trying to calm investor expectations on the extremely important prospects for some C-band restructuring over the US. The logic is sensible given that a negative Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision will probably not do its share price a lot of good. On March 5th, SES shares tumbled a worrying 9.16 per cent […]

March 6, 2019

Sky “misleading” broadband ad banned

A TV commercial for Sky’s broadband service has been banned after complaints from rivals BT and Virgin were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The duo argued it made misleading claims about the company’s ability to boost home Wi-Fi networks. The advert, which featured characters from Disney movie The Incredibles 2, showed a Sky […]

March 6, 2019

Brexit “galactic stupidity” for UK space industry

The UK space industry is worth some €12 billion annually, and helps fund 40,000 jobs, according to a report entitled Brexit: Lost in Space,which states bluntly that these jobs are at risk if Brexit happens. “Post Brexit, no CEO would locate a space company [in the UK]. It’s galactic scale stupidity,” says author Will Marshall. […]

March 5, 2019By Chris Forrester

US C-Band “on track”

Eutelsat has held a series of ‘road show’ presentations to US-based analysts, and an investment bank report says that while no new financial information emerged, Eutelsat’s management say that they expect the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make a “favourable” decision regarding the reallocation of some C-band frequencies over the US. Eutelsat itself would only […]

March 5, 2019By Chris Forrester

French pay-TV revenues drop 2%

The 2017 revenues of 81 French pay-TV channels dropped by 2 per cent over one year to €2.85 billion, following a 1 per cent decrease the previous year. According to the financial round-up established by French regulatory body CSA, which takes into account the global results from three DTT channels and 78 cable, dish and […]

March 4, 2019From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

French FTTH rollouts gaining ground

France’s electronic communications Arcep is publishing has published its scoreboard for the fixed broadband and superfast broadband market (rollouts and subscriptions) in France as of the end of December 2018. This quarter confirms the ongoing progress in FTTH subscription numbers and rollouts. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Annual growth in the number of superfast access subscriptions reaches two million, […]

March 4, 2019