Advanced Television

Articles

Rocket launch

Ariane: We need new rocket

French satellite rocket launcher Arianespace is urging Europe’s governments to make a commitment to an updated Ariane rocket in order to build a suitable next-generation system. Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO at Arianespace, told a meeting of space journalists that the USA, China, Russia, India and Japan are all busy preparing next-generation vehicles. He added that […]

May 31, 2011By Chris Forrester

Orbit pay-TV hit by fire

Several channels from the Orbit Showtime Network have been affected by fire at its Dubai transmission centre. OSN confirmed the event Sunday morning, saying a “small fire” and subsequent power failure resulted in “many channels” not being broadcast. Local retransmissions on the ‘Du’ DSL system were also affected. According to local sources the fire started […]

May 31, 2011By Chris Forrester

Optus chief queries Foxtel, Austar deal

The head of Australia’s second-largest telco says the proposed merger of pay-TV services Austar and Foxtel could raise competition concerns regarding content. According to Optus chief executive Paul O’Sullivan, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) needs to look carefully at the proposed deal, announced May 26 . “Optus is a company that is frequently […]

May 31, 2011

Resale pact for Telecom, Sky NZ

Telecom New Zealand and Sky, the country’s leading pay-TV operator, have struck a new commercial agreement that will enable Telecom to sell all of Sky’s television services to its customers alongside their home line, mobile and broadband products. Alan Gourdie, Chief Executive of Telecom Retail, said the new agreement with Sky would further strengthen the […]

May 31, 2011

Eutelsat Tooway goes live

Eutelsat Communications has announced the commercial entry into service of its KA-Sat High Throughput Satellite, marking the official launch of its new-generation Tooway broadband service. Eutelsat’s high-capacity all Ka-band system, combining satellite and on-ground infrastructure, opens a new chapter in the market for satellite-based IP services. As a powerful new platform for delivering high-bandwidth services […]

May 31, 2011

500,000 watch Swisscom TV

  Four and a half years after it entered the television business, Swisscom has signed up its 500,000th TV customer. At the same time, the telecoms provider is expanding its TV service. From July the Swisscom TV-Guide app will also be available for Android devices, while the free Swisscom TV air app for iPad will […]

May 31, 2011

DTH beats cable in Brazil

According to the latest data from Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency, the nation’s DTH subscriber base topped 5.24 million, thus beating cable-connected homes into second place. Cable TV closed the month with 5.12 million users. In April, a net 238,000 new pay-TV clients were added; whereas in the first four months of the year, 888,000 new […]

May 31, 2011By Chris Forrester

SES joins forces with Wananchi

Global satellite operator SES has joined forces with Kenyan television and broadband operator Wananchi to launch a new Direct-to-Home (DTH) line-up called Zuku TV in East Africa. Zuku TV is East Africa’s newest pay TV offering, set to provide affordable TV options to the mass market in Africa.  It is scheduled to launch in July […]

May 31, 2011

Telekom Austria expands TV channels

Telekom Austria Group has confirmed that A1 Kabel TV, the IPTV offering of its Austrian subsidiary A1, will be expanding its service to include more regional and foreign-language channels. Effective immediately, A1 Kabel TV will provide additional Serbian and Turkish channels, as well as 10 new foreign-language stations. The number of channels in A1 Kabel […]

May 31, 2011

Foxtel drops Xbox data charges

Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel has confirmed that Telstra BigPond broadband customers will not be charged for any data when using Foxtel on Xbox 360, and six BigPond TV channels are to be added to the service. This means all video content will be unmetered for Telstra BigPond customers when viewing the Foxtel on Xbox 360 […]

May 31, 2011