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Ofcom paves way for better 3G reception

Mobile phone users in rural areas could soon see their 3G reception improve after regulators allowed operators to repurpose their existing spectrum for mobile broadband services. The ruling by Ofcom that refarming of 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum would not harm competition in the UK mobile market settles a three-year row that has held back the […]

October 28, 2010

Virgin still trying to stop YouView

Neil Berkett, Virgin Media CEO, has used the company’s results announcement to attack Ofcom’s decision not to investigate YouView, the BBC-originated platform to bring VoD to Freeview and Freesat. Berkett said he surmised Ofcom had seen its 25 per cent budget cut coming and has wrongly ‘deprioritised’ the issue. “When you have less resources to […]

October 27, 2010

Cablevision feels recession

Cablevision the biggest US cable provider said that its Q3 profits fell as customers cut back television services amid a weak economy and the growth of online video content. Net income at Comcast declined by 8.2 per cent to $867 million, down from $944 million, in the same period a year ago. “We are increasing […]

October 27, 2010

Virgin profits up, promises 100Mb

Virgin Media has announced revenue increased 6.4 per cent year on year in the third quarter to £978 million (€1.11bn) and that it would roll out superfast 100Mb broadband from December with pre-registration for the service opening today. Virgin Media claims that 13 million homes will have the potential to access the 100Mb service as […]

October 27, 2010

India’s Dish TV raising $200m in new equity

Subhash Chandra’s Dish TV pay-TV operation in India is to raise $200 million in order to fund expansion. Dish TV is India’s largest DTH broadcaster. Dish TV has already tabled a shareholder’s resolution agreeing to raising $200 million, although it subsequently saw $100 million of fresh investment coming in from US-based Apollo Management. Dish TV […]

October 27, 2010By Chris Forrester

SES maintains upward progress

SES says that all its revenue and core profit metrics are being maintained. Indeed, its year-on-year quarterly results are most impressive, with this latest quarter’s revenues up 11.4 per cent on 2009’s numbers. However, SES managed to exclude business from its ND Satcom subsidiary, which it sold earlier this week, in its 9-month results announcement […]

October 27, 2010

Cracker maker buys China Network Systems

Want Want Group, a company best known in China for its popular rice crackers, has agreed to acquire China Network Systems, Taiwan’s leading cable television company, in a deal that could be worth $2.4 billion. Chao Yu-pei of Want Want, said that the company had signed an agreement to buy private equity group MBK Partners’ […]

October 26, 2010

Lovefilm cuts losses, revenues up

LoveFilm has lowered its pre-tax loss to £934,000 (E1.06m) in 2009, from £7.4 million in 2008, as revenues increased by one third. The online film rental service reported its paying subscriber base was up 29 per cent in 2009 across its markets in the UK, Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, boosting revenues by 32.9 per […]

October 26, 2010

TeliaSonera IPTV growth

TeliaSonera has reported its IPTV subscriber base grew in a number of markets during the first nine months of 2010. In Sweden the company saw its IPTV customer base increase by 13,000 to reach 431,000, while VOD rentals surpassed 1.5 million in the period, compared with 1.2 million for the full year of 2009.  In […]

October 26, 2010

Apple targets Sony?

Shares of Sony Corp rose three per cent as traders cited media reports speculating it could be a potential acquisition target of Apple. After Apple’s earning announcement last week when it revealed a cash-pile of $51bn, target spotting has become a major pastime for analysts with Disney, Yahoo, Adobe, Netflix and even Facebook all said […]

October 26, 2010