Advanced Television

Broadband

Google exiting free WiFi service

Google has decided to close down its Google Station free WiFi service operated in many countries. The South Africa service is closing, and Google says it is winding down the service in other countries where it has been operating. Google Station was available at some 400 railway stations in India, and also in Indonesia, Malaysia, […]

February 18, 2020By Chris Forrester

Legal action against EU approval for Vodafone/Unity deal

German regional operator NetCologne is taking legal action challenging EU approval of Vodafone’s acquisition of Unitymedia from Liberty Global. German press also reports that Deutsche Telekom and Tele Columbus have formally objected to the approval. The operators believe the deal distorted competition and threatens the German governments broadband access targets. Timo von Lepel, head of […]

February 17, 2020

SpaceX launching another 60 satellites

Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch another 60 of its Starlink broadband satellites today (February 17th) from Cape Canaveral. The launch was originally scheduled for February 14th, then rescheduled to February 15th but bad weather again forced a delay. Today’s launch mission will be the fifth overall for Starlink, and the third flight for this particular […]

February 17, 2020By Chris Forrester

MNOs co-op on Blockchain inter-roaming

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile US, Telefonica and Orange are jointly testing a blockchain solution for the automated management of inter-operator roaming discount agreements. The trial, carried out through the GSMA, is of a solution initially designed by Deutsche Telekom Laboratories (T-Labs) and Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, the operator’s international wholesale unit. The partners say the solution […]

February 17, 2020

Ofcom: New customer contract rules

UK phone, broadband and pay-TV customers must be warned when their current contract is ending, and what they could save by signing up to a new deal, under sector regulator Ofcom rules coming into force tomorrow (February 15th). Around 20 million customers are already out of contract – including 8.8 million broadband customers – and […]

February 14, 2020By Colin Mann

Liberty revenues dip; Virgin up 1.3%

Liberty Global has reported its full year 2019 and Q4 2019 financial results. FY and Q4 revenue decreased 0.6 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. Q4 residential cable revenue decreased 0.9 per cent YoY to $1.9 billion. CEO Mike Fries stated: “2019 was a transformational year on many fronts. In July, we sold our […]

February 14, 2020

Eutelsat confirms guidance

Paris-based Eutelsat has not enjoyed the best press comments this past few weeks with one investment bank downgrading its view on the satellite operator’s prospects. As if to counter that negativity Eutelsat delivered a robust response, stressing that that it is achieving “industry leading” level of profitability with an EBITDA margin of 78 per cent, […]

February 14, 2020By Chris Forrester

UPC: “Growth plan on track”

Swiss multiplay telco UPC has reported that subscription decline significantly reduced by 55 per cent in 2019 compared to 2018. The company also saw its best customer satisfaction since 2009 in all areas (brand, products and customer service). UPC reported a strong performance in the business customer segment with a 5.2 per cent year-on-year revenue […]

February 14, 2020

Report: Space tugs will develop rapidly

A report from Northern Sky Research (NSR) forecasts that over $3.1 billion in cumulative revenues could be generated by 2029 for applications such as satellite life extension, relocation, de-orbiting, salvage, robotics, and space situational awareness. NSR’s analysis shows progress of this much-anticipated technology and business as launches of satellite constellations continue, and there is growing […]

February 14, 2020By Chris Forrester

Telekom Slovenije, Iskratel partner on 5G public networks

Telekom Slovenije, the Slovenian provider of the most advanced ICT solutions, and Iskratel, the leading European solution provider for the digital transformation of industries, have launched a cooperation in the development of 5G networking solutions. The aim is to deploy 4G/5G hybrid public-private networks that are of particular interest to the smart industry. In order […]

February 14, 2020