Advanced Television

Regulation

NZ next to ban Huawei

New Zealand’s intelligence agency has blocked the telecom industry’s first request to use 5G equipment provided by China’s Huawei Technologies. Services provider Spark New Zealand, which made the request, said on it would review the reasoning before considering any further steps. The decision comes as Western nations become increasingly wary of what they say is […]

November 28, 2018

GSMA: “Absurd conditions could harm Germany 5G investment”

The GSMA has raised concerns that the proposed terms of the upcoming 5G spectrum award in Germany from the Federal Network Agency contain unreasonable and unrealistic licence conditions that pose a substantial risk to the roll out of ultra-fast 5G networks across the country. While the GSMA has welcomed the German government’s decision to release […]

November 27, 2018

Singapore: Illegal app blocking orders

Singapore’s High Court has ordered the city-state’s Internet Service Providers to block access to popular illegal applications that are frequently sold pre-loaded on Android TV boxes. Such TV boxes are also known as illicit streaming devices (ISDs). These apps, which flagrantly infringe copyright by acting as gateways to websites streaming pirated content, are preloaded on […]

November 23, 2018By Colin Mann

UTECA: “OTT platforms avoid tax and production quotas”

UTECA, the Spanish private TV Association, has accused new OTT platforms – such as Netflix, Amazon and HBO – of avoiding taxes in Spain to the detriment of the traditional TV operators. “It is unacceptable seeing how, through their foreign headquarters, they avoid the fiscal system and the obligation of financing RTVE or the national […]

November 21, 2018From David Del Valle in Madrid

HbbTV “at the heart of broadcasters’ new platforms”

HbbTV will be a key element of the new hybrid broadcast and OTT platforms currently being prepared by major European public and commercial broadcasters in countries such as Germany, France and Spain after similar moves in the UK and Italy for instance. This was confirmed by representatives of the involved broadcasters at the 7th HbbTV […]

November 21, 2018

Italy: Piracy hinders pay-TV growth

Italy is seeking new measures to combat piracy, a phenomenon that has assumed enormous dimensions and is hindering the growth of the pay-TV sector. The intention is to implement measures introduced in the UK such as blocking the illegal servers during football matches, as Italy has so far only acted against websites and apps, reports […]

November 20, 2018From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Italy: Movies must be in cinema before streaming

In an attempt to protect its film industry, Italy is planning to introduce a law requiring all domestic films to be first screened in cinemas before being broadcast on demand on streaming services like Netflix. In practice, the law will formalise the existing practice of a 105-day window between cinema and streaming release. The delay […]

November 20, 2018From Branislav Pekic in Rome

UK secures multimillion satellite investment deal

A  multi-million-pound deal by satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and aerospace manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space for two new communication satellites will see components and major parts assembled in the UK before final assembly is completed in Toulouse, France. The deal is seen as a huge vote of confidence in the UK expertise in the space […]

November 19, 2018

FCC approves 7859 new satellites

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a cluster of planned satellite constellations. The total of satellites which received the FCC stamp of approval is a staggering 7859. It is quite possible that not all will take flight, but the FCC has simply said the market must decide on success or failure. The FCC levied […]

November 19, 2018

LeoSat wins US approvals

LeoSat, which is planning to supply a constellation of 108 low-earth-orbiting and very high-tech satellites, has won permission from the FCC to provide services over the US. LeoSat is very much focusing its low-latency, high-speed transfer of communications onto the data-hungry market. LeoSat uses optical inter-satellite links as well as on-board processing to speed its […]

November 16, 2018By Chris Forrester