Advanced Television

Regulation

Portuguese government to review DTT channel offer

Portugal’s Secretary of State for Cinema, Audiovisual and Media, Nuno Artur Silva, has promised an imminent “reassessment” of the national DTT offer. Speaking during a Parliamentary hearing, he promised to resolve the issue of surplus capacity on the first national DTT multiplex, managed by Altice Portugal’s unit Meo, adding that the Government will consider the […]

January 21, 2020From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Vodafone boost for UK full-fibre

Multiplay telco Vodafone has revealed plans to accelerate the roll out of full-fibre broadband in the UK by restructuring its existing deal with broadband infrastructure provider CityFibre to encourage it to build its fibre infrastructure more quickly and to more places. With full-fibre broadband still only available to around 11 per cent of UK premises, […]

January 21, 2020By Colin Mann

Tony Hall quits as BBC DG

Tony Hall is leaving as director general of the BBC in the summer, after seven years in the role. Lord Hall said it had been “a hard decision”, adding: “If I followed my heart I would genuinely never want to leave”. He said he felt it was important the BBC had the same leader for […]

January 20, 2020

Enensys’ OneBeam solution in compliance with DVB-SIS standard

Enensys Technologies, a provider of media delivery solutions, has announced that the latest release of Enensys’ OneBeam solution brings it into compliance with the DVB-SIS standard. With this modification, Enensys has become the first provider capable in delivering a complete DVB-SIS system. Enensys has a long history with the OneBeam solution; the first OneBeam system […]

January 20, 2020

CBA gets tough with FCC

The C-Band Alliance (CBA) has filed a comprehensive 16-page statement with the FCC that pulls no punches in its argument for a fair commercial reward for reallocating 280 MHz of its satellite spectrum over the US, for use by 5G operators. Currently the FCC says it will itself manage an auction of the spectrum, and […]

January 17, 2020By Chris Forrester

France ups local content investment for streamers

The French Culture ministry wants streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon, to invest at least 25 per cent of revenues generated locally into the creation of French content. It is more than the 16 per cent previously planned. Minister Franck Riester has unveiled the first outlines for the upcoming production decree that will be […]

January 16, 2020From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris

Sky’s Darroch renews Internet regulation call

Writing in The Times, Jeremy Darroch, CEO of Sky, has renewed his call (first made in the same paper in July 2018) for the UK government to act to curb the “flow of hate, abuse and offensive, illegitimate and even dangerous content online”. Darroch wrote: “This week Lord McNally presented his own bill in the […]

January 16, 2020

Telco majors collaborate on 5G

Global 5G leaders have come together to create a first-of-its-kind forum to accelerate the delivery of 5G and mobile-edge computing-enabled solutions around the world. The 5G Future Forum will collaborate to develop interoperable 5G specifications across key geographic regions, including the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Forum’s founding members are América Móvil, KT, Rogers, Telstra, […]

January 16, 2020

Netflix accused of tax avoidance

Netflix is facing accusations of funnelling as much as £330 million (€385m) in profits made from operations outside the US into offshore tax havens, while receiving relief for making shows such as Black Mirror and The Crown in the UK. Figures from the Taxwatch thinktank estimate that in 2018 the streaming giant moved between $327 […]

January 15, 2020

CBA: “Incentivise us, and we will be speedy”

The C-Band Alliance (CBA, comprising Intelsat, SES and Telesat) filed a Fact Sheet on January 14th that – in essence – urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move more quickly in the “monumental task of transitioning C-band spectrum from satellite transmissions to 5G mobile”. The Fact Sheet pulls no punches in its message to […]

January 15, 2020By Chris Forrester