Advanced Television

Policy

C-Band restructuring: ‘Encouraging feedback’

The second quarter of this year should see the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) make its ruling on whether the C-Band Alliance (CBA) of Intelsat and SES can restructure – and sell – 180 MHz of spectrum over the US for 5G take-up. Much of yesterday’s (February 20th) analyst call with senior staffers from Intelsat was […]

February 21, 2019

Euro broadcasters call for online platform regulation

Public and commercial broadcasters met February 19th in Brussels at the invitation of European Parliament President Antonio Tajani. With European broadcasting being increasingly impacted by largely unregulated global online platforms, they say it is critical that action is taken to ensure citizens have easy access to trusted news and information. Following a discussion focused on […]

February 20, 2019By Colin Mann

Report: US digital divide narrowing

The digital divide between Americans with and without access to modern broadband networks has narrowed substantially, according to the draft 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, which has been circulated by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to his fellow commissioners. “For the past two years, closing the digital divide has been the FCC’s top priority,” Chairman Pai said. […]

February 20, 2019

Telefónica demands end to RTVE tax

Spain’s Telefónica has requested that the 0.9 per cent telco tax it pays to finance public TV group RTVE is eliminated to put an end to a “discrimination” against telco companies. According to Telefónica, Spanish telcos have paid €1.2 billion to RTVE in taxes over the last 10 years. Alvaro Rico, fiscal advisor at Telefónica […]

February 18, 2019From David Del Valle in Madrid

£18m UK funding for OneWeb

Affordable worldwide Internet coverage is one step closer today, after £18 million (€20.55m) of UK Space Agency funding was awarded to OneWeb through the European Space Agency, to aid the development of its next generation satellite constellation. A global communications network in space, the system will be comprised of approximately 650 satellites initially and scale […]

February 18, 2019By Colin Mann

beIN Media winning major US anti-piracy support

Qatar-based beIN Media Group is gaining increasing support from major sport and entertainment broadcasters in the US for its anti-piracy drive against beoutQ. beoutQ fills 10 channels of mostly beIN Media pirated content. beIN Media is also asking US authorities to place Saudi Arabia on its important ‘priority watch list’ because of the Kingdom’s alleged […]

February 18, 2019By Chris Forrester

ACE sues Omniverse for copyright infringement

Members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) – a global coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market for creative content and reducing online piracy – have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court of Central California (Western Division) against OmniverseOne World Television, Inc. and its owner, Jason M. DeMeo, for violating […]

February 18, 2019By Colin Mann

ICASA chief jailed for 20 years

South Africa’s perilous media sector is again making news. Now it is ICASA, the media and telecoms regulator, which is in the headlines. The chairman of ICASA, Rubben Mohlaloga has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud and money laundering – and it seems that despite the ruling ICASA cannot relieve him of […]

February 18, 2019By Chris Forrester

Mobile & broadband boost for UK consumers

The UK government has set out its new strategic priorities for telecoms regulator Ofcom to support improved mobile coverage, broadband investment, and a better deal for consumers. The measures will be instrumental in helping to deliver the Government’s commitment to nationwide full fibre broadband coverage by 2033 and increasing geographic mobile coverage to 95 per […]

February 15, 2019

EC reaches copyright compromise

The European Commission has reached an agreement on new copyright rules, including the controversial Article 13 requiring internet platfroms to obtain authorisation from rights holders at the point of posting. The EC stressed its objective is to “reinforce the position of creators and right holders,” in getting properly remunerated for the online use of their […]

February 14, 2019