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News Archive 4 JUNE-11 JUNE 2001
MONDAY 4 JUNE 2001
Internet pioneer PSINet in trouble
Alticast launches ITV authoring tool
Scopus and Conax integrate platform
Germany's response on 3G
Vivendi sale dilutes Murdoch BSkyB control
Internet
pioneer PSINet files for bankruptucy protection
Internet pioneer PSINet, filed for bankruptcy protection in New York on
June 1st, another victum of the dot.com melt down. PSINet is now trading
a US 5 cents, down from a high of US $60. The company has roughly $2.15
billion in assets against over $7 billion in debt. PSINet, founded in
1988, was the first company to offer Internet access to business. It never
turned a profit. The company's largest creditor is Nortel, at almost $100
million and Cisco Systems at $81 million. As part of the restructuring,
PSINet is selling its Canadian operations, a new data centre in Toronto
and 8,600 corporate clients to Telus Corp, a British Columbia-based telco
gearing up for a run at Bell Canada.
Alticast launches ITV authoring tool
Alticast, a developer of digital broadcasting software solutions, announced today (June 4) that its interactive TV authoring tool, Alti Composer, is now available for commercial use. Alticast, launching its Alti Composer in support of DVB-MHP services rollout, provides a simple solution for content developers who are looking for an easy-to-use authoring tool for MHP.
Alti Composer is now available for purchase through the Alticast website.
Alti Composer, is a Java-based tool that supports the DVB-MHP digital broadcasting standard, allowing interactive application developers to create their applications once, and be able to run them on any MHP-compliant digital set-top box. The authoring tool enables anyone to develop Java applications for interactive television without having to know complex Java programming language. Included in the Alti Composer authoring tool package is a set-top box emulation tool for use on a PC, as well as Alti Emulator, which allows designers to instantly test their application over the audio/video source with a virtual remote control.
Scopus and Conax integrate Scopus' platform
Scopus Network Technologies, a provider of digital compression technology to the broadcasting industry, and Conax AS, a supplier of conditional access technologies for digital content, have integrated Scopus' CODICO platform with Conax AS's conditional access system. The new working relationship is designed to offer digital TV broadcasters end-to-end solutions for pay TV applications.
The core of the integrated solution consist of DVB-Simulcrypt compliant components such as the CONAX-CAS3ç Conditional Access and Scopus' CODICO RTM-3600 statistical multiplexer. Other Scopus platforms in the solution include the E-1100 encoder and the IRD-2600 with Common Interface or the IRD-2800, Scopus' 4:2:2 profile decoder with Common Interface.
CONAX-CAS3 is Conax's Conditional Access System designed for applications like satellite feeds to cable head ends, contribution links, closed user groups and large DTH operations.
Ole Hansvold, CTO of Conax AS comments, "Digital content will be the industry's buzzword for the future and we believe that by partnering with Scopus we can better position ourselves to take advantage of the industry's movement." He added, "The cooperation with Scopus reinforces our role as one of the most innovative providers of smart-card based security solutions for content distribution."
Germany's response on 3G
Tomorrow (June 5) the German telecommunications regulator will give the go-ahead for limited co-operation between mobile operators in building and using third-generation networks, even if this risks lawsuits from the largest licence-holders and a clash with other European regulators.
The ruling, to be issued by RegTP, the regulator, comes in response to requests by the four smallest of the country's six licence holders to be allowed to share some infrastructure expenditure.
The sharing of passive elements is seen as being in compliance with terms of the licences and included is the use of national roaming agreements, allowing operators to use other networks where they have no cover. The sharing of antennas, whether roaming agreements can count towards fulfilling coverage thresholds, and splitting and trading spectrum are other decisions to be taken.
Matthias Kurth, head of RegTP, has hinted in the past that the sharing of antennas, made possible by technology developed by Nokia, could be both acceptable from a competition point of view and environmentally sensible.
Another question is whether RegTP will allow operators to use roaming agreements to reach the coverage thresholds, set by terms of the licences, of 25 per cent of the German population by 2003 and 50 per cent by 2005.
Finally, the regulator has made it clear that spectrum could neither be split nor consolidated, so far preventing market consolidation. This means an operator wanting to pull out would have to write off its licence or sell it to a buyer not among the existing holders.
Vivendi sale dilutes Murdoch BSkyB control
Rupert Murdoch could see his control over the UK satellite TV broadcaster BSkyB brought more into line with his significant 37 per cent minority stake in the company as Vivendi Universal enters 'exploratory discussions' with investment banks about the sale of its 23 per cent stake, valued at £3 billion.
Vivendi Universal agreed last year to dispose of the BSkyB stake within two years to win European Commission approval for its $34 billion takeover of Canadian group Seagram which owned Universal entertainment. However, Jean-Marie Messier, Vivendi Universal chief executive, said that he did not intend to offload his stake on the market, and preferred to swap the stake for a strategic asset in another company, such the minority shareholding in USA Networks owned by John Malone, the cable magnate.
Messier is reported to be committed to an asset swap, with no intention of dumping the stock on the market - which could depress the BSkyB share price. However, it is reported in today's Financial Times that some bankers have sought to persuade Messier that Vivendi would get a better price for the BSkyB stake in the market rather than from a strategic investor.
Consequently Vivendi has been seeking to ascertain whether the market could absorb its BSkyB shareholding.
Few institutional investors would wish to remain minority shareholders in a business in which Murdoch would remain the biggest single investor, and a forced reconfiguration of BSkyB's board of directors and dilution of Murdoch's control would be expected.
There is a single seat on the board linked to Vivendi's stake in BSkyB and a greater institutional shareholding in the company would be likely to force other changes to the board.
TUESDAY 5 JUNE 2001
Ergen scores own goal
Four 3G licences for HK
Orbital continues sale
Pace ports Internet access
Subscription-free iTV from iSeeTV
Yes VOD launches Hallmark, Crown interactive
Microsoft iTV launches in Portugal
Ergen
scores own goal
Charlie Ergen, CEO and founder of US satellite broadcaster EchoStar Communications,
may have scored an own goal in his bid to merge EchoStar and DirecTV,
the number one and two US satellite broadcasters by drawing the attention
of regulators to an earlier lawsuit with DirecTV claiming it had a near
monopoly.
EchoStar said it had delayed the court action until June 12. This gives
Ergen another fortnight to put together a bid for DirecTV. But the extension
is unlikely to improve Ergen's prospects of success. One US media analyst
commented, "Essentially,
the government would be signing off on one company having [in the future]
30 to 40 million subscribers. MSO's would be lining up ten-deep to lobby
congress against it." In addition it is reported that there would be huge
personality conflicts, with neither Ergen nor DirecTV president Eddy Hartenstein
relinquishing control.
And all that
presupposes that Ergen could come up with the cash - and that Murdoch
does not conclude his discussions with DirecTV parent auto giant GM first.
Ergen has been making noises that he is putting together a counterbid
and has approached several media and communications companies about backing
his bid for DirecTV. But a number of them, such as the media giants AOL
Time Warner and Vivendi Universal, have signalled they are not interested
in supporting his $5-6 billion cash bid for DirecTV , prompting Ergen
to investigate alternative financial arrangements.
Murdoch has been in negotiations for the better part of a year with General
Motors, which has a 32 per cent stake in Hughes. He is now thought to
be just weeks away from finalising an agreement to combine Sky Global
Networks, his digital businesses, with Hughes Electronics to create a
$50 billion global satellite TV company.
Four 3G licences for HK
The Hong Kong government will issue four licenses for the provision of third-generation mobile telephone services before the end of the year.
The issuing of licences will be a two-stage process with potential 3G network operators first having to prove their ability to roll out a territory-wide 3G network. Those carriers that pass this first stage will be required to enter an auction of 3G airwaves.
Among other requirements is a licence condition that will force 3G operators to reserve at least 30 per cent of their network capacity for "mobile virtual network operators." This will allow smaller, more innovative companies to roll out 3G services on the networks of the four licensees.
"This means that even small content operators may have access to the 3G network to provide attractive and innovative services to their customers," Yau said of the auction's open network requirement.
Orbital continues sale
Dulles-based Orbital Sciences, maker of satellites and related equipment , has completed the sale of 12.35 million shares of its MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Ltd subsidiary for approximately $112 million, completing the first two-thirds of the total sale.
Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski said the company expects to close the second part of the sale by the end of June for about $52 million.
The group reported a net loss of $278.2 million for last year, compared with a net loss of $121.9 million in 1999 and a loss for its first quarter of 2001, totaling $21.6 million, compared with a net loss of $26.5 million for the same period last year.
Pace ports Internet access
Pace Micro Technology's Information Appliance Division has ported its Internet TV software onto LinkUp System's TViLINK Internet appliance reference design, as part of a new strategic alliance announced yesterday (June 4).
MSI uses the joint Pace/LinkUp reference design to create an Internet TV set-top box product for the provision of email, MP3 streaming, Interactive services and web browsing services via the TV.
The application of Pace's Internet TV software on LinkUp System's reference design has created a fully integrated hardware and software design solution that provides a cost-effective way to access Internet-based content on a variety of electronic displays says Pace.
Looking ahead, Pace is exploring options to apply its Internet TV technology to a variety of other electronic products, including hand-held devices that talk wirelessly to the set-top box home gateway within the networked home. The integration of Pace's Internet TV technology inside hand-held devices would enable consumers to read and send e mails, listen to Internet radio, surf the web or undertake home shopping and banking for example in private, away from the main TV screen.
Subscription-free iTV from iSeeTV
Media Logic, the interactive TV, and IBM Global Services have signed an agreement to promote and deliver a new technology, called iSeeTV. Media Logic says that the home shopping system, iSeeTV, will revolutionise the way customers and companies do business.
Using iSeeTV does not require a subscription, computer, keyboard or modem. Only a digital cable TV, a remote control and a telephone are needed. Myers Group predicts that there will be more than 20 million iTV users in the US by 2005.
iSeeTV delivers a video signal, specific to each customer, direct to the user's TV. This gives the consumer a private, face-to-face conversation with a personal assistant in a call centre, who can present customised video information on products, travel destinations or graphs on financial services, offer advice and complete a transaction. Audio-visual communication makes iSeeTV simpler and faster to use than Internet-based systems and avoids the reluctance of consumers to send credit card numbers over the web, according to Media Logic.
Yes VOD launches Hallmark, Crown interactive
Crown Media Holdings Inc's Hallmark channel, and International Television Networks' Crown Interactive, its recently launched interactive television service, are launching on Yes Television, the new Hong Kong domestic pay television outlet which commenced its trial period on May 28.
The announcement was jointly made yesterday (June 4) by Jeff Henry, President and CEO of Crown Interactive; Terence Yau, Vice President and managing director of Hallmark Channel Asia Pacific; and Lanny Huang, Vice President, content of Yes Television Asia.
Hallmark Channel and Crown Interactive launched on Yes Television this week - major components of its broadcast and video-on-demand pilot service for consumers. In addition to providing the Hallmark Channel and high-profile VOD titles from Crown Media's award-winning programming produced by Hallmark Entertainment, Yes Television will feature Crown Interactive's 'Crayola Kids Club,' an interactive arts and crafts service for children. Consumers will also be able to deliver Hallmark video greetings over the broadband network.
Regarding the announcement, Henry noted, "The launch of Hallmark Interactive's service in Hong Kong is an important plank in the diversification of our products using the new technology. Through these digital offerings, viewers can enjoy the quality and creativity that Hallmark and Crayola are known for through an entirely new, interactive television experience. The digital product will be distributed to other parts of Asia and the rest of the world later this year."
Microsoft iTV launches in Portugal
Microsoft Corp has launched its top interactive TV product on a Portuguese cable network as part of a multibillion-dollar gamble that the world's 1.5 billion television sets could be a new focus for the Redmond, Washington, company.
The rollout over Portugal's TV Cabo system marks part of a shift by Microsoft, the world's biggest maker of personal computer software, away from the relatively slow-growing PC market. Besides interactive TV, Microsoft is also investing in handheld devices, video games and mobile phones.
Features of Microsoft's TV Advanced digital system include recording live programs, displaying live programming frame by frame and personalised viewing and includes high-speed Internet access. Video on demand is scheduled for the near future.
TV Cabo, a unit of Internet and cable TV company PT Multimedia, will be the first cable network in the world to have the Microsoft digital product available on a broadband, or high-speed digital, system. TV Cabo has about a million subscribers and Microsoft holds a 1.87 per cent stake in PT Multimedia.
Microsoft
will also introduce a test version of Windows this week which is designed
to significantly boosts the abilities of instant messaging software to
provide text, chat, video, audio and telephony services.
Dubbed Windows Messenger, the new product is Microsoft's effort to bundle
other communication technologies with Internet instant messaging and to
gain an advantage over rival AOL Time Warner. The move also represents
another facet of .Net, the company's software-as-a-service strategy.
Microsoft already provides some of these features, such as chat, file
sharing, Internet phone calling and teleconferencing, with its MSN Messenger
service when used with NetMeeting or in association with services from
Net2Phone and other companies.
But Windows Messenger will be more closely tied to the operating system
than the MSN messaging service. The strategy has been described as similar
to Microsoft's integration of the Internet Explorer Web browser with Windows
95.
WEDNESDAY 6 JUNE 2001
Viacom plans international expansion
Intelsat opens in South Africa
Cartoon Network popular in Norway
Diva launches in Forth Worth and S.Louis
News Corp backs out of Tandberg
SVC announces price changes
Pace/Myrio in DSL deal
Sonera delays 3G service
Bertelsmann cuts costs pre-flotation
EMI in deal with Roxio
Napster makes major label deal
Sega/Sony develop net games
Telewest turnover grows 34%
Excite@Home announces new COO
OpenTV empowers network operators with Predictive
Viacom
plans international expansion
Viacom, the US broadcasting and media company, is believed to be planning
a strategy session in London this week focussing on international expansion
Mel Karmazin, Viacom's President and Chief Operating Officer said that
one of the group's highest priorities is to expand globally.
Some of Viacom's properties are already global brands, such as MTV and
Nickelodeon. Right now, Viacom generates about 15 per cent of its revenue
outside the US from operations in 140 countries.
On Monday (June 4), Karmazin also sought to ease investor fears about
the weak state of the advertising market. "There's a ton of advertising
out there. We are dealing with a very difficult comparison last year,
but advertising is doing great. Everyone is crying poverty because they
want the rates to go down," he said.
Intelsat opens in South Africa
Intelsat, which has scheduled its privatisation for next month, opened its first office in Africa - in Johannesburg, South Africa - late last week.
The office is responsible for Intelsat's marketing and sales support activities throughout the continent of Africa.
Intelsat CEO Conny Kullman said at the opening that sub-Saharan Africa generates about eight per cent of the organisation's global revenue of $1.1 billion and shareholders from the region own 5.6 per cent of Intelsat.
The largest African shareholder is Telekom Ltd. of South Africa, the country's largest carrier. Intelsat said recent projects between it and Telekom have included doubling the capacity available to South Africa's two main ISPs, establishing corporate networks for two major oil companies and a mining company and various domestic services, including rural telephony.
Cartoon Network popular in Norway
Cartoon Network, the all-animation channel, launched its Norwegian language service on March 3rd its ratings rocketed by a 40 per cent, now making it the fifth most popular channel of all amongst Norwegian kids.
At the same time the channel increased its share by 59 per cent month on month and its reach by 10 per cent. Favourites on the channel were Cartoon Network productions, The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory.
Also during March Cartoon Network launched the Norwegian version of its BAFTA award winning website and a Norwegian edition of its comic into a market which has taken to the brand in all its forms.
Diva launches in Forth Worth & St.Louis
Fourth ranked American MSO Charters Communications has launched VOD service Diva in two new systems, Fort Worth Texas, America's seventh largest TV market and St Louis Missouri, the twenty-second largest TV market. More than 160,000 digital subscribers will be able to receive the service. The two markets combined have more than half a million Charters subscribers. Diva now has VOD deployments in 26 markets, including four of the top ten US television markets and the company says that it has 60 per cent of the currently deployed VOD systems in service in the US.
News Corp backs out of Tandberg
By Inge Naning
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is making yet another retreat from its few engagements in Scandinavia. News Corp and its affiliate Ordinto Investments has sold its shares in the Norwegian digital technologies company Tandberg Television. Simultaneously News Corp is on the offensive on the television arena, through a new partnership with SBS Broadcasting, creating major controversy.
News Corp became a major shareholder in Tandberg Televsion in 1999 when the Norwegian company made headlines through its acquisition of Digital Broadcasting Business, DBB, then part of the News Corp empire. The deal was described as 'one of the biggest international deals ever in the history of Norwegian business.' Norwegian press comment on June 5th claimed that the deal was "... also one of the biggest failures ever."
Tandberg Television paid a record 2.1 billion krone (£140 million) for DBB in 1999. One billion was paid in cash, the remainder by shares in Tandberg Data, and the parent company. Thus News Corp and Ordinto became the biggest shareholders in Tandberg Television, with almost 20 per cent of the shares.
Just weeks ago Tandberg Television announced the signing of a contract to provide technical broadcasting solutions to all the three Finnish DTT multiplexes, which are planned for a massive common, national launch at the end of August.
In recent years News Corp has also tried to enter the Scandinavian radio industry. At the end of the Nineties Sky Radio acquired a private radio licence in Stockholm, invested from a failed venture. By Scandinavian standards big money was spent in lavish marketing campaigns but the company pulled out after only one year.
On the television side News Corp, through Fox Television, has now also entered the Nordic scene, through the back door. Some months ago a joint venture with SBS Broadcasting was announced, with the aim of setting up a Nordic production centre, supplying the growing number of SBS-controlled TV stations across Europe. For a number of years SBS Broadcasting (originally Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems) and its founder- controller Harry Sloan, focused on Scandinavia, but in later years SBS has also become a major operator in the Netherlands, today with three national services. The group is also running a growing number of networks in Central and Eastern Europe.
The first result of the Fox ° SBS liaison in Scandinavia seems to become a local version of controversial US 'sex soap' 'Temptation Island'. Production will start later this summer, and has already caused major chaos in both Sweden and Norway. Some months ago the director of programmes at Swedish Kanal 5, Anders Knave, handed in his resignation, in protest against SBS plans for increased central programme management. Last week Knave admitted that it was really the plans for a Swedish version of 'Temptation Island' that triggered his resignation.
At TVNorge, SBS' Norwegian television operation, the Managing Director, Paal Traelvik, also voiced his moral scepticism towards the project. Only days after the first interviews with Traelvik in the Norwegian press on this issue he was fired, with immediate effect.
SVC announces price changes
Singapore Cable Vision (SCV), the island republic's monopoly pay TV provider, has announced significant changes to its pricing structure as it approaches its sixth anniversary.
SCV management has been concerned for some time that subscriber numbers had plateaued, even after it had stemmed the outflow of subscribers caused by churn.
The current total of around 265,000 SCV subscribers out of a total of 890,000 TV homes means that the penetration rate has remained at far below 30 per cent, much less than SCV's pioneers forecast it would reach in six years after it went operational in 1995. SCV also has 50,000 broadband users.
Under the changes SCV has repackaged its channels into genre offerings that subscribers can include in their basic package of programming. Sports services like ESPN STAR Sports and SCV's SuperSports, news providers like the BBC, CNBC and CNNI and Chinese channels including CTN, MTV Mandarin and TVBS Asia will each become part of a pick and mix approach to consumers.
Hallmark Channel is among the services that have been moved into the basic tier that will now cost $11, compared to the last basic tier cost of $19. Getting five groups will cost a total of $16.
Pace /Myrio in DSL deal
Pace Micro Technology Americas, the dedicated developer of digital home gateway technology, has signed the industry's largest order for IPTV with Myrio Corporation. Under the terms of this agreement, Myrio has agreed to purchase 85,000 home gateways. The initial order will be for 10,000 DSL4000s over the next 12 months. The remaining volume will be delivered during the subsequent 18-months and will include Pace's next generation home gateway. Pace's next generation gateway will support low bit-rate video streams and allow operators to deploy a wider range of revenue-generating services, such as music-on-demand, personal video recording, and video telephony. Additionally, Myrio and Pace announced integration of Myrio's enabling software technology, Myriotm Interactive, with Pace's DSL4000 digital home gateway to deliver interactive TV services over IP-based networks.
With this integration, Myrio will offer its customers, network operators, what it describes as an extremely cost-effective set-top-box platform for delivery of digital TV, entertainment-on-demand and high-speed Internet access over residential DSL and FTTH connections. Myrio and Pace have also agreed to collaborate on future IP-based interactive TV solutions that support fibre to the home and wireless infrastructures.
The DSL4000 set-top box features high quality MPEG-2 decoding, an Ethernet interface and an integrated 'TV-friendly' Web browser. The television services are delivered over IP (Internet Protocol) from a variety of industry standard video encoder and video server platforms.
Sonera delays 3G service
Finnish operator Sonera is to delay the introduction of its third-generation mobile phone services in Finland and in the other European countries where it is active, because of a shortage of compatible mobile phones.
The group intends to put off its planned investments in UMTS because mobile phone manufacturers, such as Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola, will be unable to provide the devices before the third quarter of 2002.
In Finland, Sonera will initiate UMTS services only in large cities on the planned date (early in 2002) and will launch a national network only when the demand warrants. In other countries where Sonera is associated with UMTS consortia, Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway, the launches will be postponed until the third quarter of 2002.
Bertelsmann cuts costs pre-flotation
Bertelsmann, the German media group, is planning a cost-cutting programme and a series of disposals as it prepares for life as a publicly listed company.
Several parts of the business have fallen into loss, notably Bertelsmann Music Group. The book clubs business has been in decline for years and is in the process of a costly restructuring.
Bertelsmann opened a route to market this year when it restructured the ownership of RTL, the pan-European broadcaster. As part of a complicated share-swap, the Belgian financier Albert Frere took control of a 25.1 per cent stake in Bertelsmann. As part of the restructuring of the portfolio, Bertelsmann is understood to be looking to sell its minority stake in Lycos Europe, the Internet portal. As part of the cost-cutting drive, Bertelsmann E-Commerce Group has already decided to close its Hamburg office.
The German group will also drastically scale back its plans for Internet investment. Arnold Bahlmann, a Bertelsmann board director, said the company planned to start with $20 million next year.
EMI in deal with Roxio to cut costs
EMI, the UK-based group, was expected yesterday (June 5) to announce a deal with Roxio, a digital media company, to develop a secure way of reproducing songs on to blank CDs, in a move to cut its manufacturing and distribution costs.
After the collapse of talks with German rival BMG earlier this month, EMI said it could save 'tens of millions of pounds' a year by rationalising its back-office functions, possibly in partnership with a rival.
The company has already made moves to outsource some of its CD manufacturing business and has been striking deals with internet companies over different forms of digital distribution.
Revenue for copyright owners from CD burning is unlikely to be substantial initially but it is key to the success of online sales, according to Chris Gorog, Chief Executive of Roxio.
Napster in major labels deal
Napster is close to a deal to licence music from three of the world's major recording companies who are currently involved in a landmark copyright lawsuit to shut the company's existing version of its song-swap service down.
Napster and officials from the three labels, which include AOL Time Warner's Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG's BMG Entertainment and EMI Group, declined comment or were not immediately available, but sources said the deal would pave the way for Napster in its effort to transform the service into a secure, pay service that pays royalties.
Since the recording industry argued successfully in court for an injunction that has barred Napster since March from offering their copyrighted songs on its service, the labels have accelerated efforts to come up with online subscription services with lots of content that will lure fans as Napster did.
In one of these alliances, the three labels mentioned above announced a joint venture this spring called MusicNet. The partnership also includes RealNetworks and seeks to create a platform to license the music of these companies with RealNetworks' secure technology for distribution over the Web through several affiliates. Under the deal with Napster, which could be announced any time, Napster would become an affiliate distribution partner, thus offering its 70 million plus members access to major record label content.
Sega /Sony develop net games
Japanese game maker Sega and Sony's game unit plan to enable users of their consoles to play video games via the Internet, enabling Sega's Dreamcast console to connect with Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 2.
Sega plans to release a new version of its popular online game software series in August for Dreamcast, which will be followed by the release of the same titles for PlayStation 2 and personal computers.
The discontinued Dreamcast console, launched in 1999, was the first advanced game system offering realistic graphics and online play, and has attracted around 800,000 online members, nearly 30 per cent of the total Dreamcast users in Japan.
Telewest turnover grows 34%
Britain's Telewest Communications said turnover grew 34 per cent and top-line earnings 17 per cent in the three months to March 31 as customers, happier with its services, spent more and disconnected less.
But the cost of servicing its huge debt and amortisation from its acquisition of programme distributor Flextech swelled its pre-tax loss to £208 million from £137 million a year earlier, in line with forecasts.
Turnover rose to £321 million, helped by a four per cent increase in revenue per household to £38.80, Telewest said, and it plans to increase revenue per customer to £60 to £70 in five years.
Excite@Home announces new COO
Excite@Home, announced that Matt Jones, 41, becomes Chief Operating Officer, a newly created position for Excite@Home.
In his role as COO for Excite@Home, Jones will spearhead the Company's revenue-generating operations including its media, consumer broadband, and commercial divisions as well as oversee company functions including marketing, corporate communications and customer service.
Jones recently served as president and CEO of Lipstream Networks, a provider of real-time voice over the Internet and was responsible for overseeing and executing the company's vision of bringing real-time voice to the Internet and developed the company's relationships with Excite, Cisco, American Express, Compaq and HP.
Separately, Excite@Home announced that Byron Smith, Executive Vice President, Excite Network and Mark O'Leary, Executive Vice President, Broadband Services have resigned and will leave the company in July to pursue other opportunities, pending completion of projects. Jones will assume responsibility for the @Home, @Work, media and Matchlogic.
OpenTV adds targeting with privacy
OpenTV, the interactive television (iTV) and media solutions company, and Predictive Networks, creator of anonymous, behavioural models of user preferences and affinities for iTV, have signed a partnership to empower network operators, content providers and advertisers to understand and reach individual TV viewers, while adhering to strict user-privacy standards.
The partnership is expected to enable the management and delivery of targeted and personalised advertisements into interactive applications from OpenTV and its partners.
The partnership incorporates Predictive Networks' ad management and targeted ad delivery tools to OpenTV's Service Platform Suite, an integrated software solution designed to provide operators with the ability to manage the operational and transactional demands of a full-featured, revenue-generating interactive TV service.
Predictive Networks is also developing a set of APIs for application developers to 'advertising-enable' their applications running on OpenTV's Service Platform Suite. OpenTV's Service Platform Suite offers a turnkey solution for cable, satellite or digital terrestrial network operators that want to quickly launch an iTV service with a range of applications. Operators can deploy these services across multiple operating systems, middleware and set-top box platforms.
THURSDAY 7 JUNE 2001
Alcatel in OEM agreement
Swedish Boxer criticised for DTT channel plans
OpenTV appoints Kalifa
Hong Kong invests in online gambling
AT&T Broadband launches Spanish channels
Sofia Digital joins MHP Group
Jump to be heard
TW Telecom to offer tel service
TwoWayTV in US merger
BBC redesigns CBBC
Viacom in a deal with Deutsche Bank
Lucent cuts workforce
Intelsat provides islands with ISPs
Alcatel
in OEM agreement
Alcatel and RAD Data Communications, a manufacturer of access solutions
for telecoms and data applications, have signed an OEM agreement enabling
Alcatel to offer RAD's LA-140 Integrated Access Device, giving end-users
access to a range of digital subscriber line based services.
RAD's LA-140 is fully interoperable with Alcatel's 7300 Advanced Services
Access Manager, believed to be the world's most widely-deployed broadband
access platform.
In addition to asymmetric DSL (ADSL) services, the 7300 ASAM offers both
voice over DSL (VoDSL) and symmetrical DSL, based on the ITU's G.SHDSL
standard, from one integrated platform, maximising carriers' revenue per
copper line.
Complementing its standards-based ADSL functionality, the LA-140 is available
with an interface for symmetrical DSL, also based on G.SHDSL and capable
of delivering upstream and downstream data at the same speed, up to 2.3
Mbps. Both companies intend to achieve interoperability between RAD's
LA-140 and Alcatel's 7300 ASAM based VoDSL gateway by the third quarter
of 2001. Voice over DSL technology allows multiple voice lines to be deployed
over a single copper telephone wire, creating new revenue for carriers
and economies of scale for business subscribers.
Broadnet, a wireless broadband solution provider, is using Geneva for
the rollout of its German network. The Geneva software from Convergys
is being installed in Broadnet's Brussels headquarters and used to bill
for voice and data services across a range of broadband technologies,
including ISDN, IP, and ATM. The Geneva software became part of Convergys'
solutions portfolio in April when the company completed its merger with
UK-based Geneva Technology Ltd.
Swedish Boxer criticised for DTT channel plans
Boxer, the Swedish DTT set-top box distributor, has now taken several new steps in its plans to launch a channel of its own in the Swedish DTT system. A deal for technological platform development and applications has just been signed with Stockholm-based Polopoly.
At the same time Boxer has been criticised for violating existing Swedish broadcasting laws. Boxer does not have a formal broadcasting licence, therefore some critics claim that it is 'in clear breach of Swedish broadcasting laws,' through its plans to lease free frequency space from K-World. This was one of the first operations to be given a DTT licence, launching its e-learning and educational services in the autumn of 1999.
Lars Maren, a media executive at the Ministry of Culture, admits that Boxer does not have a formal licence to broadcast television signals, but there are no rules against the broadcasting of searchable teletext. The basic licence conditions permit licence holders to share frequency space with other licensees. A main problem today is that there are no clear definitions. Does an EPG fall under traditional 'broadcasting' or is it 'teletext'? In the end this must be a matter for regulating authorities.
For Polopoly this new order means another big move into television. The company was formed in 1996 by a group of Java developers, all with a background in the defence industry, in areas like simulation systems. The first main order was from Sweden's biggest national morning paper, Dagens Nyheter, which needed help to develop its Internet site, with a focus on content management, 'easy to use, yet flexible enough not to limit advanced users.'
Since then Polopoly has made it its speciality to develop and implement scalable standard applications for electronic publishing and digital relations management, not only for the web and television, but also for WAP, PDA; SMS etc. After the contract with Dagens Nyheter, Polopoly has secured deals with another major Swedish daily newspaper, Goeteborgs-Posten, K-World, SIDA (the Swedish International Development Authority), some of Sweden's major unions, the Cooperative Union. Today Poloploy has more than 30 developers on its pay roll.
Today 10 per cent of the company is controlled by Bonnier, Sweden's oldest and biggest media group, with its roots in book publishing, and for decades also Sweden's major newspaper and magazines publisher. Bonnier also controls Sweden's leading film production - distribution company and cinema owner, Svensk Filmindustri, SF, and is one of the major shareholders in Sweden's biggest TV station, TV4. The rest of the Polopoly shares are with individual entrepreneurs.
OpenTV appoints Kalifa
OpenTV, the interactive television and media solutions company, yesterday (June 6) announced the appointment of Mickey Kalifa as UK General Manager. Kalifa brings 10 years of experience in senior management, business development and finance at a number of key blue-chip European media corporations, including UPC, Pacific Century Cyberworks, BSkyB, Time Warner and The Walt Disney Company.
Kalifa joins OpenTV from PCCW/NOW, a premier global converged media business, where he held the position of Head of Business Development. At
PCCW/NOW, Kalifa was responsible for devising and executing the company's broadband Internet and TV business plan as well as defining the service's programming and content.
"Our UK team offers a depth of knowledge and skills from every aspect of the interactive television industry, from back-end TV-commerce through platform development and television delivery," said James Ackerman, CEO of OpenTV.
"We believe that the combination of Mickey's business leadership and new media experience compliments and reinforces OpenTV's tremendous capabilities as it moves up the interactive television value chain."
Kalifa will lead the senior management team at OpenTV's UK operations, based in Covent Garden, London and will report in to Regis Saint Girons, Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Sales for Europe at OpenTV.
Hong Kong invests in online gambling
Hong Kong casino mogul Stanley Ho has invested $20 million in a online gambling project that features streaming video of croupiers counting cards.
The site, www.DrHo.com claims to be the first to use live to broadcast games of poker, blackjack and others, with real time video of 60 women dealers who work in front of lights and monitors.
The site is run from a mock-up casino created in a studio in Antigua, a former British colony in the Caribbean. It includes computer graphics that act as 'assistants' to the croupiers. The games are in English and Chinese.
The operation is based in New York and run by a son in law of Ho's, Peter Kjaer.
AT&T Broadband launches Spanish channels
AT&T Broadband, a business unit of AT&T, which provides analogue and digital television entertainment services launched 'Canales Espanol,' a new Spanish language cable television lineup featuring nine channels in parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Canales Espanol on the digital tier includes, special interest channels including Discovery en Espanol, CNN en Espanol, Fox Sports World Espanol, Toon
Disney en Espanol, MTV S, VH Uno, Telemundo Internacional, Cine Latino, Rio de la Plata as well as eight channels of DMX Latino-formatted music digital audio.
Current AT&T Digital Cable customers can order Canales Espanol in three packages economico, clasico and maximo for an additional $19.99 to $49.99 per month. Customers with AT&T Digital Cable can obtain the Hispanic Tier for an additional $5.99.
Sofia Digital joins MHP Group
Sofia Digital, a company specialising in building DVB MHP services, has been admitted as a member in the MHP Implementers Group. The MHP Implementers Group is an association of 59 companies, including developers of the new DVB MHP digital television technology. Previously the group included among others Deutsche Telecom, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Sun.
A prerequisite for being admitted to the group is internationally recognised high-level expertise in the DVB MHP technology.
DVB MHP is a new technology for implementing the superteletext, electronic program guide, and additional services for the digital television. It can also be used for creating interactive services for digital television.
Jump to be heard
The Copyright Board of Canada has granted Montreal-based JumpTV a hearing on its application to broadcast TV over the Internet. The decision defeats a stay of proceedings filed last week by a coalition of broadcasters, content producers and distributors. JumpTV is applying for a licence to retransmit over the Internet using the same royalty schedule as cable. The coalition sees JumpTV as undermining their ability to strike their own content deals with ISPs and portals and has lobbied the federal government to change the Copyright Act in their favour.
TW Telecom to offer tel service
Time Warner Telecom, 44 per cent owned by AOL Time Warner, plans to offer telephone services this month to businesses in Minneapolis.
The move will put Time Warner Telecom in competition with Qwest Communications, the dominant local phone company. Time Warner Telecom offers voice, data and Internet access services to corporations in 39 metro markets across the country and is completing a telephone switching centre in Minnetonka that will support its entry into the market.
In addition to voice telephone services, Time Warner Telecom provides Internet access and data services to corporate customers. Last year, about 40 per cent of its business came from telephone operations, while 60 per cent came from Internet and data services, said Tom Henley, a Time Warner Telecom spokesman in Denver.
TwoWayTV merges in US
Two Way TV, the developer of games for interactive television, has announced that its partner Interactive Network will be merged into their joint venture TWIN Entertainment, which will be renamed Two Way TV (US).
Under the terms of the agreement, Two Way TV will own 45 per cent of Two Way TV (US). The London-based Two Way TV will grant the new US-based company an exclusive licence to all of its games, technologies and patents to market and further develop them for US and Canadian interactive television markets.
BBC redesigns CBBC
The BBC will present plans for a new-look CBBC with an appointment expected to be made within weeks, to face the intense competition from ITV and children's cable channels.
The corporation is on the hunt for a design agency to rebrand CBBC and has asked five agencies to pitch for the project alongside its own in-house design department.
The new brand identity will be used to promote the broadcaster's children content on television, radio and the internet and will also appear on merchandise such as books and videos.
Viacom in a deal with Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank has signed a deal with US media group Viacom to finance film production as part of plans for a E1.2 billion fund.
Deutsche plans to finance up to seven films with Viacom, owner of Paramount Pictures, and will receive copyrights to the films in return.
Deutsche's film investment fund would have a volume of up to E1.19 billion.
Lucent cuts workforce
Lucent Technologies is planning to cut its workforce by another 5,000 people and tap the financial markets for new capital.
Henry Schacht, Chairman, spoke publicly for the first time about why he abandoned merger talks with Alcatel saing that the French company had been planning a takeover rather than the merger that the two sides had initially discussed.
Lucent is preparing a buy-out, or early retirement plan for mid-level managers in the US that it hopes will slice another 5,000 jobs. It is already removing 10,000 jobs through redundancies by the end of this month.
Lucent is studying ways of raising new capital that would reduce the pressure to sell assets before a deadline of September 30. If market conditions permit, that could involve the sale of convertible securities to raise more than $1billion.
Intelsat provides islands with ISPs
In a region of low bandwidth demand, which nonetheless seeks satellite delivered Internet, Intelsat has begun a 64 Kbps service for ISPs serving small island nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean basin.
The service uses demand assigned multiple access (DAMA) technology and has been designed to provide usage-based, per-minute charges for answered calls. There is no charge for unanswered calls and does not require any long-term or volume commitments.
The main site or hub uses a 42.7 foot antenna, with a remote site using a 24.6-foot antenna. Intelsat said it can run the service over any of three of its satellites at 335.5 deg E, 174 deg E and 60 deg E.
FRIDAY 8 JUNE 2001
Hot
to become HSE over Europe
Globalstar
delists from NASDAQ
Polish
channel now on Astra
SIC
and PT Multimedia develop platform for iTV
Levin
and King at NCTA
Napster
in a deal with MusicNet
Broadnet
to use Geneva for German rollout
Bertelsmann
buys MyPlay.com
WorldGate
shows at Cable 2001
Coke
to sponsor ITV
German
KEK approves more digital roll-out
Excite@Home
closes offices across Europe
Telia
build commercial network
GM
to negotiate with News Corp
TV Gateway IPG
on Hits
UK
pay-TV hits 20% share
Atlantic/Energis German DSL pact
DT accepts cable payment
Alcatel modems sold to Thomson
Hot
to become HSE over Europe
The German shopping channel Home Order Television has set up a base in
Brussels with the aim of broadcasting in five languages (German, French,
English, Dutch and Italian) to a number of European countries. At the
same time it has changed its name to Home Shopping Europe, or HSE. The
operation involves an investment of E62 million. HSE is owned 46.7 per
cent by the American Home Shopping Network and 26.7 per cent by Leo Kirch.
HSE expects to reach 61 million homes in Europe during 2002. It aims to
use its presence on several continents to be able to procure items that
are frequently not available in some countries.
As well as selling via TV, HSE intends to develop sale via the Internet
and mobile phones.
The German operation, which started in 1995, made sales of E244 million
in 2000, a six-fold increase in four years, with an average of 17,000
orders a day. Net profit in 2000 was E20 million.
Globalstar delists from NASDAQ
The US NASDAQ stock market has informed Globalstar Telecommunications that it no longer complies with the minimum bid price requirements for continued listing and so Globalstar will delist from the NASDAQ National Market.
Globalstar has applied to transition its listing to the NASDAQ Small Cap Market, so delisting from the NASDAQ National Market has been stayed until a final determination regarding the application is made.
If the company's application for listing on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market is not approved, the company will transfer its listing to the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board, a regulated quotation service that offers real-time quotes, last-sale prices and volume information on selected over-the-counter equity securities.
Polish
channel now on Astra
TV Puls hopes to reach more Polish houses via analogue satellite broadcasting
of the channel on Astra in addition to Hot Bird satellites. More than
2.5 million analogue receiver sets are in use in Poland, and many receive
signals from both Astra and Hot Bird satellites.
SIC/PT Multimedia develop iTV platform
SIC and PT Multimedia plan in the US to develop a platform for interactive digital television based on the content of SIC, SIC Notice, Radix SIC and SIC Online channels, sheduled to launch yesterday (June 7th).
It will be accessible only for the viewers who already use TV Cabo bi-directional access. This system is based on the digital video broadcasting system (DVB-T) which will replace analogue television in 2007. Mediacom Communications plans to sell stock and senior notes for an initial combined amount of $1 billion to use toward the purchase price of cable systems which it agreed to buy in February.
The company plans to sell 24 million shares of its Class A common stock for aggregate gross proceeds of about $450 million. Mediacom also plans to sell $150 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2006 and $400 million in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2013.
Levin and King talk about the future of cable
Gerald Levin, CEO of AOL-Time Warner will join Larry King for platform session on 'The future of cable' at the closing general session of Cable 2001, NCTA's 50th Annual Convention and International Exposition, in Chicago, IL, Wednesday June 13th. The event starts with a plenary session on Sunday June 10th.
"AOL-Time Warner is a programming leader and is also the nation's second largest cable system operator. I can think of no one better than Jerry Levin to have the final word at the National Show," said Robert Sachs, NCTA President and CEO.
Sachs said that the Cable 2001 convention theme "We're Making Broadband Happen," will be discussed by speakers and panels throughout the four-day event. "Cable is ready to meet the telecommunications challenges of the 21st Century. We have two-way broadband technology, the most critically-acclaimed programming, and weØre providing advanced services that consumers want," added Sachs.
Schedule summary:
Opening Plenary
° Sunday, June 10
Moderator: Char Beales, President and CEO, CTAM
Speakers:
* George
Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc.
* Steve Burke, President, Comcast Cable
* Patrick Esser, EVP, Operations, Cox Communications, Inc.
* Richard Green, President and CEO, CableLabs
* Kim Kelly, EVP, CFO & COO, Insight Communications, Inc.
Opening General
° Monday, June 11
Welcome: Jerry Kent, President and CEO, Charter Communications, Inc.
State of the Industry: Robert Sachs, President and CEO, NCTA
Moderator: Sue Herera, Anchor, Business Center, CNBC
Speakers:
* C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
* Mel Karmazin, President and COO, Viacom, Inc.
* Jerry Kent, President and CEO, Charter Communications, Inc.
* Brian Roberts, President, Comcast Corporation
General Session
° Tuesday, June 12
Introduction:
Joseph Collins, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner Cable
Keynote: Michael Powell, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission Moderator:
Jeff Greenfield, Senior Analyst, CNN
Speakers:
* Carole Black, President and CEO, Lifetime Entertainment Services
* Nickolas Davatzes, President and CEO, A&E Television Networks
* Jon DeVaan, SVP, Microsoft TV Division, Microsoft
* Dan Somers, President and CEO, AT&T Broadband
* Maggie Wilderotter, President and CEO, Wink Communications
* Michael Willner, President, Insight Communications, Inc.
Closing General Session ° Wednesday, June 13
Host: Larry King, CNN
Guest: Gerald Levin, Chief Executive Officer, AOL-Time Warner
"Our line-up of speakers underscores the message that cable is not just
the best programming on television ° cable is now digital video, video-on-demand,
high-speed Internet, and local phone service. We are truly making broadband
happen," concluded Sachs.
Napster in a deal with MusicNet
Napster has finally signed an affiliation agreement with MusicNet, the legal technology back-end and music catalogue developed by Real Networks, AOL Time Warner and BMG.
Napster will gain its legal model and retrain its strong ties with German media company Bertlesmann who it partnered with at the end of last year.
Broadnet to use Geneva for German rollout
Broadnet, a Pan-European wireless broadband solution provider, is using tGeneva (billing system) for the rollout of its German network. The Geneva software from Convergys is being installed in Broadnet's Brussels headquarters and used to bill for voice and data services across a range of broadband technologies, including ISDN, IP, and ATM. The Geneva software became part of US company Convergys' solutions portfolio in April when the company completed its merger with UK-based Geneva Technology Ltd.
Broadnet is currently deploying fixed wireless access networks in several European countries, including Norway, the Czech Republic, Spain, and France, all of which will join Germany as live operations later in the year. Majority owned and managed by Comcast Corporation, the US cable TV, telecommunications, and media group and a US billing client of Convergys, Broadnet holds licenses in 10 European countries.
Broadnet's centralised billing function is managed in Brussels and supports billing for its subsidiary companies throughout Europe. Geneva will form a central part of Broadnet's support system infrastructure for its German operation.
Bertelsmann buys MyPlay.com
Bertelsmann has bought MyPlay.com, a digital storage company for an estimated £21 million and plans to combine MyPlay and CDNow into a new unit called BeMusic.
WorldGate shows at Cable 2001
Interactive CATV solutions provider WorldGate has introduced its iTV Starter Kit, a new offering for cable operators to be introduced at Cable 2001, the National Cable Show, to be held next week in Chicago, USA. The iTV Starter Kit is described by the company as a comprehensive package containing the necessary hardware needed to deploy WorldGate's iTV applications at an 'extremely competitive' price.
"WorldGate's iTV Starter Kit has been priced to fit almost any business model. For just $39,995, cable systems can purchase this kit and immediately begin to enjoy the value that iTV brings to existing cable offerings," said Gerard Kunkel, Senior Vice President, sales, marketing and media services, WorldGate. "Operators can launch WorldGate quickly and inexpensively, with a quick return on investment."
WorldGate's new iTV Starter Kit takes up a minimal amount of rack space and can support up to 5,000 interactive subscribers. Along with e-mail and Web browsing, the kit also supports WorldGate's patented Channel HyperLinkingSM technology which allows subscribers to instantly link from television programs and adverts to directly related interactive content.
Engineered to allow for plug and play upgrades, the ITV Starter Kit can incorporate additional components to configure the system for an expanding subscriber base. The ITV Starter Kit is scalable, allowing systems to add more capacity as features such as e-mail, chat and games, become widely used by the subscriber base. The WorldGate ITV Starter Kit supports the standard WorldGate user interface and 'walled garden' content package.
Coke to sponsor ITV
UK terrestrial broadcasters Carlton and Granada, owners of ITV, have signed a £50 million deal with Coca-Cola to sponsor their coverage of Britain's Premier League soccer.
ITV won the right to broadcast Premier League highlights last year when it outbid the BBC, paying £183 million for two programmes a week. The main rights, covering the 40 best games, was won by BSkyB, which paid £1.65 billion.
Starting in August, Coca-Cola will have its brand displayed prominently in the highlights programmes, featuring Des Lynam, Terry Venables and Ally McCoist. It will place advertisements in the break as well as on the website.
ITV advertising revenue has come under severe pressure in the last six months and is believed to have fallen 20 per cent in May. The decline has been blamed on the downturn in the US, the bursting of the dotcom bubble and a lack of major sporting events.
Mick Desmond, the Chief Executive of Granada Enterprises, signed the deal with Coca-Cola. He said, "This deal is worth a minimum of £50 million over three years. It could be worth much more if we are innovative in our approach to sponsorship."
German KEK approves digital roll-out
The German federal anti-media concentration commission's (KEK's) has approved two new services named Forschungskanal (Research channel) and Sparkassen TV.
The Forschungskanal will focus on science/research and include interactive features. It will be partially encrypted and distributed both via cable and satellite.
Sparkassen TV will be the customer TV channel of Sparkasse, the national German savings bank. It will include programming from the German news channel n-tv and inform customers in local Sparkasse branches about news and information from the financial markets. Its satellite feed will be encrypted.
Excite@Home closes offices across Europe
Excite@Home, the Internet and broadband services company controlled by AT&T, will close 10 of its 12 Internet portal operations across Europe, including France, Germany and Spain, and lay off about 85 staff.
This would leave it with joint ventures in Italy, where internet service provider Tiscali is the partner, and the UK alongside British Telecommunications.
In April it said it was looking for a buyer for its European businesses, but said yesterday that no potential acquirer was, "able to meet our valuation expectations for the business in the time frame available."
Evan Rudowski, Managing Director of Excite Europe said, "Because of the downturn in the online advertising market we found our ability to get companies to profitability in a time frame that was acceptable was not there."
Telia build commercial network
Telia will build a commercial network based on the latest Internet protocol, IPv6.
The next generation of the Internet is described as offering a next to unlimited number of IP addresses and paves the way for enhanced services in the broadband and mobility spheres.
"The work building Telia's new IPv6 network is in full swing, with the first stage already completed in June 2001,'' says Ove Alm, Technical Director at Skanova, a wholesale network provider within the Telia group.
Connection points will be installed in Stockholm, London, Oslo, Kopenhamn, Malmo, Goteborg and Vasa in Finland, which makes it the most extensive IPv6 network in commercial operation in Europe.
GM to negotiate with News Corp
General Motors
stuck to the company line that it's negotiating with News Corp on a deal
for its Hughes Electronics business.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner Wagoner said at the annual meeting of shareholders
in Delaware, "We are engaged in detailed negotiations with News Corp on
a proposal to combine Hughes with Sky Global Networks during the meeting
of shareholders. These negotiations are our top priority right now, though
we will remain open to consider alternative proposals."
EchoStar, which would like to combine Hughes' DirecTV unit with its DISH
Network DBS service, has surfaced as a serious bidder for the satellite
assets. News Corp, which wants to put Hughes and DirecTV into Sky Global,
its proposed spin-off of worldwide satellite assets, has been pursuing
a deal with GM for some time.
TV Gateway IPG on Hits
Yesterday (Thursday 7th June) in the US AT&T's Headend In The Sky (HITS)
announced that the TVGateway IPG (a digital interactive program guide
from the IPG cable industry consortium) is now available to cable operator
affiliates of HITS and Motorola via the National Authorisation Service.
TVGateway and HITS have completed a multi-year agreement providing integration
of the interactive program guide, giving cable operators served by HITS
an additional IPG to offer to their subscribers. Through the integration,
the TVGateway guide can be deployed at a scalable level to suit specific
market requirements and system capabilities.
HITS provides a package of digitally compressed video and audio services
to cable operators using a sophisticated satellite distribution network.
The addition of TVGateway's IPG to HITS' offerings increases the availability
of the guide to millions of potential households. The HITS platform serves
more than 200 MSOs, reaching 2,000 cable headends throughout the US.
"Our goal is to provide our cable affiliates with top level digital video
services that give them a comprehensive set of choices. Adding TVGateway
gives our customers the flexibility to choose the applications for their
customers," said Rich Fickle, AT&T Broadband's senior vice president of
HITS. "By combining TVGateway's guide with our tested HITS infrastructure
and Motorola's set-top technology and national control, we continue to
improve our service offerings to our current and potential affiliates."
"The TVGateway guide is attractive to cable operators because it enables
them to deploy additional ITV applications on the current generation of
digital set top boxes, without the need for an extensive, expensive, and
time-consuming third-party integration," said Peter Mondics, General Manager
TVGateway LLC and senior vice president, WorldGate Communications.
The move onto hits is intended to, "transform TVGateway into the 'guide
of choice' for cable operators who want to manage additional IPG options
for their ITV platform." Adds Mondics
Operations and marketing teams from both TVGateway and HITS will work
together to support installation, deployment, and promotion of the new
interactive program guide to cable operators and their customers.
UK pay-TV hits 20% share
Latest viewing figures in the UK show non-terrestrial TV channels - which
effectively means pay TV on digital terrestrial, cable and satellite -
have won an audience share of more than 20 per cent for the first time
last week.
Non-terrestrial services accounted for 21.7 per cent of all viewing -
a new high, during the UK schools' half-term which would have boosted
audiences for kids' channels Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney and
Fox Kids.
Other factors include a full week of 18 hours-a-day Big Brother coverage
on E4 and Sky Sports 1 ran four days of live Test cricket, England v Pakistan.
Non-terrestrial viewing in multichannel homes reached 44.3 per cent -
also a new record.
Sky One showed the last in the current series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
in which the heroine Buffy Summers dies, an episode attracting 880,000
viewers.
Atlantic/Energis German DSL pact
UK companies Atlantic Telecom and Energis have formed pact to deliver
high-speed Internet in Germany. Telecoms carrier Atlantic is to supply
Energis with wholesale SDSL (Synchronous Digital Subscriber Line) connections
in Germany.
Energis, which provides telephony and data services to business customers,
will offer Atlantic SDSL services to its small and medium-sized enterprises
in Germany.
In April Atlantic had 8,650 potential European DSL lines, which is expected
to grow fast as telcos choose to resell wholesale DSL services rather
than build their own networks. Atlantic shares gained 5p - 23 per cent,
trading at 27p yesterday morning while Energis added 1p at 272.25p.
DT accepts cable payment
As trailed in yesterday morning's advanced-television.com, Deutsche Telekom
yesterday (June 7) accepted a 10 to 15 per cent deferred payment on the
sale of its cable systems to the Liberty Media/Klesch & Coconsortium.
It is reported in the UK press that this concession was made by DT to
speed up agreement and get a response from Liberty Media on a deal now
due to close. Liberty Media had sought to reduce the price of DT's cable
networks after the original letter of intent was signed with Klesch &
Co and DT. A Reuters report estimates the deal to be worth E2.5 billion
in cash and shares.
Alcatel modems sold to Thomson
Alcatel is to sell its high-speed Internet modem business to Thomson Multimedia
as part of moves to focus on communication networks.
Alcatel will sell its DSL modem business for 9.5 million new TMM shares,
valuing the deal at E456 million.
Shares in both groups fell, despite analysts describing the sale as positive
for both. Alcatel shares fell 2.27 per cent to E29.76 and TMM dropped
0.84 per cent to E45.80.
Alcatel had a 6.4 per cent stake in TMM at the end of March. The 9.5 million
new shares are equivalent to 3.58 per cent of TMM before the capital increase
and Alcatel's stake will rise to 9.6 per cent following the share issue.
The deal is due to be finalised by the end of June and the transfer is
expected at the end of the year.
Alcatel will still to make parts for DSL networks, including DSM multiplexers
where it has a 52 per cent market share, but it expects the modem market
to evolve more into a retail business model more suited to Thomson Multimedia.
WEEKEND NEWS from FRI 8-MON 11 JUNE 2001
Microsoft launches iTV software in Portugal
Network Seven to buy Optus
CNN to pull out of Norway
MetaTV names new CEO
Viaccess presents new product
AT&T lets Microsoft down
Broadcom expects full recovery
BarcoNet tests Philips
Canadian cable content rules change
SES to expand in Europe
Echostar/DirecTV saga continues
Microsoft
launches iTV in Portugal
As trailed
on ATV (Tuesday June 5-News Archive), US software giant Microsoft has
launched its first commercial application of interactive TV software in
Portugal.
Analysts have forecast explosive growth for interactive TV; connections
to 70 million homes in Europe by 2005 from a current 15 million, and to
as many as 58 million in the United States by 2005 from one million now.
Interactive TV allows subscribers to receive e-mail, bank, shop, place
bets and play games through a set-top box. Microsoft's TV Advanced digital
system includes features such as recording live programs and displaying
live programming frame by frame.
TV Cabo will charge a one-off subscription of 30,000 escudos ($126.80)
and monthly fees of 1,500 escudos for the rent of its interactive TV set-top
box and another 1,500 escudos for the service. The combination of the
two monthly fees is about the same as TV Cabo charges for its standard
cable package.
Network Seven to buy Optus
Australian terrestrial operator Network Seven has emerged as a potential buyer for Cable & Wireless Optus' satellite and multimedia operations after a leaked document highlighted its concerns about the company's sale to Singapore Telecom.
Network Seven made a submission to Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) that spoke of its, "grave concerns," over SingTel's $8.9 billion cash and shares offer to buy Optus that is still under review by regulators.
Some observers suggest that the leak of the document is part of Network Seven's plans to buy the satellite and multimedia operation that also includes its pay TV platform that currently reaches around 225,000 homes.
The leak this week of the supposedly highly confidential document to Australian newspapers, came just two days after it was submitted to FIRB, Communications Minister Richard Alston, Prime Minister John Howard's office and to the Australian treasury.
Network Seven and SingTel have been in talks about the units for several weeks, but without a clear resolution.
However Network Seven denied it was behind the leak, saying that it has, "No issues with either SingTel or Cable & Wireless Optus," and adding that it had written the submission to ensure the, "Integrity of our communications infrastructure and promoting competition and delivery of services to consumers." A statement from Network Seven denied categorically that it was responsible for the leaked document that suggests foreign ownership of Optus assets was not in Australia's national interests.
Concerns had been raised earlier this year that if the sale went through SingTel would have control of a telecommunciations satellite operated by Optus that is also used by Australia's military, although Washington has agreed to the sale which involved components manufactured by US companies.
CNN to pull out of Norway
CNN is now moving out of Norway, following a recent decision by the Turner- Time Warner headquarters in the US that the Norwegian CNN Internet news site is about to be closed down. The main reason is that CNN's major Norwegian partner, Scandinavia On Line, SOL, a joint venture where Norwegian Schibsted and Swedish Telia are the main shareholders, has decided to pull out of the operation, hit by the present IT crisis that is considerably affecting Scandinavia.
A main reason for SOL to pull out is obviously the group's intention to focus on its own Internet portal, instead of being a content provider to others, like CNN.
Some months ago CNN also decided to reduce its operations in Sweden to a bare minimum, after its principal Swedish partner, Telia, decided to withdraw its investments in the lack-lustre operation.
As in Sweden, CNN has tried to interest other parties to support its operations, but to no avail, "We have only to accept that SOL has decided to cease its liaison with us. But this is an important territory for us, so we just won‘t give up", Chris Cramer of CNN Networks comments. "But we have chosen to close our Norwgian Internet news operations until further notice. On the other hand, we clearly aim at a come-back."
MetaTV names new CEO
MetaTV, a global provider of software technology which enables interactive TV (iTV) portals, services, and enhanced TV applications, announced that its Board of Directors has named Andrew S Lev Company President and Chief Executive Officer. Lev is a co-founder of MetaTV and has served as company president since its inception in March of 1999. He succeeds Ranjit Sahota.
MetaTV is currently working with global network operators, technology partners, and e-business companies to deploy content, community, and commerce services to consumers through interactive television.
"During the past two years, the MetaTV Board of Directors has been extremely impressed with the way Andrew Lev has led the company and run its day-to-day operations," said William Esrey, chairman and CEO of Sprint Corporation and a member of the MetaTV Board of Directors.
With his appointment to president and CEO, the company's engineering department will now report to Lev as the sales, marketing, business development, and administration departments have since 1999. He will continue to oversee day-to-day company operations; in addition, he will have added focus on long-term business and technology vision, and enhancing relationships with global customers and partners.
Viaccess presents new product
Viaccess will attend the 7th Asian International Broadcast and Multimedia Technology Exhibition for presenting its new product: Viaccess-Net, the Conditional Access System for IP content.
Responding to the increasing demand for multimedia and data streams over a network, Viaccess SA now introduces its IP scrambling solution for IP content distribution, based on its extensive experience in protecting broadcast content over TV network.
The Viaccess-Net solution combines the Viaccess Conditional Access System based on smart card and IP network technologies. It offers a powerful way to control access to many IP services such as video and audio streaming, web pushing, file downloading. The IP solution can be deployed on different platforms (Ethernet, ADSL, Cable and Satellite networks).
The solution is built on head-end equipment that performs the IP scrambling and entitlement management and client software with a smart card to descramble IP stream.
AT&T lets Microsoft down
Two years ago AT&T selected Microsoft Corp to develop a sophisticated interactive-television service. Now the company is looking to offer cable subscribers two other set-top boxes with more limited capabilities.
AT&T had agreed to use Microsoft TV, the software maker's server software for cable and satellite providers, after Microsoft invested $5 billion in the telecommunications company in 1999. However, Microsoft's TV group has suffered several setbacks, including delays in releasing set-top boxes in Europe and AT&T's decision to also work with Liberate.
The decision is a significant change of course for AT&T, the US's largest cable operator, and a blow to Microsoft.
AT&T has been testing advanced software from a Microsoft competitor, and AT&T officials concluded that consumers were not ready for many of the advanced features that the phone and cable company envisioned offering.
As a result, AT&T has now asked Microsoft, and rival software maker Liberate Technologies, to develop software for a simpler set-top box.
Broadcom expects full recovery
Broadcom, a US manufacturer of communications chips expected to see a full recovery in its chip sales next year.
"No one has any visibility on what's going to happen," said Mark Lipacis, an analyst with Merrill Lynch. He reckoned that a sector-wide rise in share prices yesterday emulated investor behaviour last quarter when stocks rose on the belief that the bad news was out and already accounted for.
Broadcom was expecting a sequential drop in revenues of 32 to 35 per cent, totalling $205 million to $215 million, against Wall Street estimates of $254.7 million, and a pro forma second-quarter loss of 16 to 18 cents.
Third-quarter revenues are expected to be flat and gross margins will be below 50 per cent over the next couple of quarters, Nicholas said.
Second-quarter sales in the cable modem, cable set-top box and enterprise networking divisions will all come in under targets announced in April. Nicholas said overall problems with inventory were being worked through and that sales cancellations have "come almost to a stop."
However, Lipacis suggests demand still looks weak and that participants at an industry conference in Atlanta this week, "Were dumbfounded with how bad things still are."
BarcoNet tests Philips
BarcoNet and Philips Digital Networks announced today that the integration of Philips' CryptoWorks conditional access (CA) system has successfully been tested on BarcoNet's Krypton DVB Simulcrypt-compliant transport stream scrambler. The test proves the feasibility of the concept of an open platform in digital television and guarantees interoperability between manufacturers of CA systems and digital TV broadcast equipment. BarcoNet now supports Philips CryptoWorks in addition to the CA systems of other suppliers.
BarcoNet, based in Kortrijk, Belgium, is a supplier of multimedia distribution solutions for the professional broadcast, cable and telecommunications industries, mainly focusing on broadband operators worldwide.
Canadian cable content rules change
Federal regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has changed the rules regarding the ownership of pay television and speciality networks. MSOs are now free to purchase speciality channels. Previously the cable industry was limited in the number of cable channels it could own, due to fears of preferential treatment. The change was driven when Bell Canada Enterprises took over national network CTV and its stable of cable channels, creating an uneven playing field. The new rules may prompt a wave of consolidation in content and distribution, raising the price of cable channels along the way.
SES to expand in Europe
Societe Europeenne des Satellites owner of the Astra system and holder of stakes in other systems in Europe and around the world, is discussing the possibility of further expanding its presence in Europe.
SES is in talks to buy 30.3 percent of Spanish satellite operator Hispasat, held by Auna, a telecom holding company owned by two Spanish electric utilities, Union Electrica Fenosa SA and Endesa SA, and by Telecom Italia.
The owners reportedly want to sell their stake in Hispasat in order to concentrate Auna on providing telecommunications while withdrawing from non-strategic businesses such as satellites and digital TV.
Echostar/DirecTV saga continues
Charlie Ergen, the EchoStar chairman seeking to beat Rupert Murdoch's bid to buy DirecTV, has approached AOL Time Warner to support his counterbid.
Murdoch is believed to be near to an agreement of a a $50bn deal which would give News Corporation control of DirecTV.
Ergen is still trying to put together a deal of his own and has attempted to line up AOL Time Warner as a supporter of his efforts.
It is believed that AOL Time Warner does not with to offer any financial backing for a bid by Echostar. This is partly because regulators in Washington would most likely be strongly opposed to seeing satellite TV in the US come under the influence of AOL Time Warner, one of the country's biggest cable operators.
If Murdoch succeeds, as is increasingly expected on Wall Street, AOL Time Warner's relationship with DirecTV, a competitor to its cable networks and a buyer of its cable programming, is likely to be more complicated.
But Ergen faces substantial obstacles to any counterbid for DirecTV, especially the difficulting of finding financial backing.