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Telenor: Subs down, profits halved

Norway’s telco giant Telenor has reported some mixed results for its 2011 end-of-year numbers. The group’s broadcasting interests include satellites, encryption specialists Conax, and DTH broadcaster Canal Digital (which beams pay-TV channels to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark). Telenor’s annual profit halved in 2011, as higher costs dragged the firm into the red during the […]

February 8, 2012By Chris Forrester

Syria jamming news channels

Syria is continuing to jam the satellite signals of broadcasters such as Al Jazeera. Osama Saeed, a spokesman for the Al Jazeera news channel in Doha, Qatar, said the disruption is coming from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Al Jazeera is advising viewers to switch to a different frequency to access coverage, he said. The signal […]

February 8, 2012By Chris Forrester

TalkTalk: YouView ready to go

TalkTalk admitted it had lost a net 60,000 customers in the third quarter but had increased the ARPU which rose from £24.70 to £25.30 as consumers switched to premium products. Broadband revenue was up by 1.6 per cent quarter to £312 million, “we are being more successful in attracting and retaining more profitable customers,” said […]

February 7, 2012

Groups seek Congress anti-piracy postponement

Opponents of the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act in the Senate are asking  Congress to delay efforts to forge new anti-piracy legislation. In a letter sent to Capitol Hill, some 70 advocacy groups, Internet companies, and venture capitalists have urged Congress to hold off on new legislation until the true […]

February 7, 2012By Colin Mann

Issa unveils crowd-sourced sections of OPEN Act

Darrell Issa, Chairman of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has unveiled the crowd-sourced sections of the Online Protection & Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act at KeepTheWebOPEN.com. Internet users generated improvements to six sections of the OPEN Act, representing the first-ever legislative mark-up truly open to the American public. Issa and […]

February 7, 2012By Colin Mann

Verizon, Redbox video JV

Online entertainment service Netflix is to face nationwide competition in the OTT and physical and digital markets with the news that US telco Verizon and retail solutions specialist Coinstar are forming a joint venture designed to create a new choice for quality- and value-conscious consumers seeking a simple and affordable way to access the video […]

February 6, 2012By Colin Mann

HBO invests in Australia’s Quickflix

Premium television company HBO has agreed to invest A$10 million (€8.2m) for a strategic stake Australia’s leading online movie rental company Quickflix. Quickflix recently announced that it had entered into a licensing agreement with HBO for the streaming of TV series and films in Australia. Under the terms of the deal, HBO will invest A$10 […]

February 6, 2012By Colin Mann

Poland freezes anti-piracy pact ratification

Poland has put on hold plans to ratify a controversial international online anti-piracy accord after widespread off-and-online protests in the country. “I consider that the arguments for a halt to the ratification process are justified,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters. “The issue of signing of the ACTA accord did not involve sufficient consultation with […]

February 6, 2012By Colin Mann

Ofcom wants BT broadband price cut

BT will have to cut the prices it charges Internet providers and others who sell on services using its lines, Ofcom says. The regulator wants the cost for use of a broadband and phone line to fall from £91.50 (€109) per year to £87.41. The cost of using a broadband line only should also drop […]

February 6, 2012

Time Warner invests in Conviva

Conviva, a video quality optimisation and analytics solution provider, has closed a $15 Million round of funding led by Time Warner Investments, the strategic investing arm of Time Warner. Conviva says it improves over one billion streams a month and provides solutions that guarantee a high quality viewing experience that ultimately results in longer viewing […]

February 6, 2012