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NEWS Monday August 16th to Friday August 20th 2004
Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
| Tuesday | |||||
An ambitious project is under way in the UK to find a way to send TV broadcast signals to mobiles by 2010. Dubbed Instinct, (IP-based Networks, Services and Terminals for Converging Systems), the project is being led by the UK's Brunel University.
The aim is to create a cellular broadcasting network that will bring together the internet and TV, making 3G handsets more attractive to users. The technology will also be cheaper for end users because it is being delivered via a one-to-many broadcast signal rather than a one-to-one phone call. The project will have £6.4 million (E9.6 million) of EU funding and bring together academic and industrial partners in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain and Brazil.
Users would need
a Bluetooth-enabled phone linked to a transmitter in their local post office
to make use of such a service, explained project co-ordinator Dr Thomas Owens.
Other potential uses include downloading TV programmes stored in a set-top
box to mobiles, to watch at users' convenience while away from home.
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French media group M6 announced operating profits of E143 million for the first half of 2004 on consolidated turnover of E626.5 million, an increase of 3.1 per cent on the same period last year.
Overall, theme channels and home shopping channels did well and the restructuring of the group's Internet activities has also contributed. Advertising sales grew strongly, by 8.8 per cent to E327.4 million.
The company stated
that these first half results lead it to expect profit and sales growth for
the year, but the exact results will depend on the state of the TV advertising
market.
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Satellite TV providers are keeping their US customers happier than cable companies, a survey released by J.D. Power and Associates showed. On a 1,000-point scale, satellite TV companies scored a 723 in overall customer satisfaction, compared to 659 for digital cable providers and 621 for analogue cable businesses, according to the 8,668 American households which took part in the survey.
While cable still dominates the industry, satellite providers have been steadily increasing their market share over the last eight years, with 1 in 4 households now subscribing to satellite pay TV.
Among the 13 companies rated, DISH Network and DirecTV held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. The remainder of the top five in order were cable companies WideOpenWest, Cox Communications and RCN.
Customer service was the top driver of consumer satisfaction this year, contributing to 26 percent of the overall index score, which is also influenced by other factors, such as billing, cost of service, offers and promotions, image and performance and reliability. Over the last three years, customer service had contributed only 10 per cent to the overall rating.
"Customer service is now king," J.D. Power analyst Steve Kirkeby said and added: "there is a direct correlation between happy customers and their willingness to buy more products. Failing to provide good customer services will result in subscribers switching to competitors offering price promotions."
The study also
found that the average monthly cost for pay TV service is $49.08 for satellite
TV and $50.98 for cable.
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Indian-Americans will now have access to popular Bollywood movies on cable television following a joint venture by entertainment companies 212 Media and Schramm Sports & Entertainment.
They have tied
up with Comcast Corp and Time-Warner Cable to add Bollywood movies to their
video-on-demand channels. The venture enables over six million digital cable
subscribers of Comcast and Time-Warner direct access to "Bollywood-On-Demand/Video-on-Demand"
(BOD-VOD).
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A special panel on international television services has been set up in Canada to look at how cable television reflects the country's multicultural society and especially whether more channels, including some from outside Canada, should be allowed in for Canadian viewing.
The panel, which will report to new federal Heritage Minister Liza Frulla by September 30 and to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission by October 13, was set up following two recent controversial decisions by the CRTC.
These included the allowing of subscription to the Arabic Al Jazeera network - under strict guidelines - and the refusal to allow the Italian RAI International network. RAI programs have been broadcast for more than 20 years as part of Telelatino and other networks' programming, and the CRTC felt that to allow approval of Rogers' application for RAI would be detrimental to these. The latter decision raised protests from thousands of Italian-Canadians.
The CRTC has also launched its own study regarding how it handles applications for third-language services.
The special panel
will review the broadcast policies within the framework of the Broadcast Act,
but there are no plans to change the Act itself.
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Cable MSO Cox Communications may accept an offer from the founding family to take the company private once more. According to the US press, the No 4 US cable provider said it formed a committee of independent directors to ponder a $7.9 billion offer from its controlling family to take the company private.
Cox Enterprises,
whose businesses include TV and radio stations as well as print media, is
controlled by billionaire sisters Barbara Cox Anthony and Anne Cox Chambers,
daughters of founder James Cox. The family-run group offered on August 2 to
buy the 38 per cent of Cox Communications it does not already own.
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Rupert Murdoch's
Hong Kong-based satellite station Star Group is set to buy a 21 percent stake
in Indian TV production house Balaji Telefilms Limited through an affiliate
for 1.23 billion rupees (E 21.6 million). The deal, which is subject to regulatory
approval, is part of the company's strategy to increase its number of productions
in India.
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Alcatel has been awarded a contract by China Telecom, to deploy 1.3 million Digital Subscriber Lines in southern China.
Alcatel will
provide its Alcatel 7300 Advanced Services Access Manager (ASAM) to China
Telecom's subsidiaries in 15 provinces and municipalities across southern
China. They see a strong demand for high-speed internet access services and
high quality broadband applications like IP TV. The 7300 ASAM has the capability
to be deployed both as an ATM or IP DSLAM.
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Chunghwa Telecom, the largest primary telecommunications provider in Taiwan and one of the top ten broadband providers in the world, has selected Redback Networks' Redback SmartEdge Service Gateway systems to expand its national broadband network and provide new per-subscriber services, including broadcast television, video-on-demand, VoIP, and Internet access.
The SmartEdge
Service Gateway systems enable Chunghwa Telecom to have a Smart Broadband
Network that provides customised services based on each user's requirements.
The SmartEdge Service Gateway systems perform intelligent video replication
for broadcast feeds in the new network topology.
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EUROSPORT International and Visiware have launched a new interactive service available exclusively on the satellite package offered by Greek platform Nova.
The interactive
service appears super-imposed on the channel image, allowing constant live
viewing of the Olympic Games. By pressing the OK button on the remote control,
the viewer can access the service that provides a summary of the days events,
plus a menu with 'News', 'Meddal Board' and a 'Guide' which gives access to
Eurosport's program guide each day.
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Since the new year 3UK has revived its fortunes thanks to a series of cheap tariffs, a pre-pay offering and a clutch of lighter, more attractive handsets from Nokia and South Korean manufacturer LG.
Analysts expect
Hutchison 3G, which operates in several countries, to reveal that it has raised
its subscriber base to more than 3m, up from 1.7m in May.
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Alison Ritchie, BT's chief broadband officer said: "We are now well on our way to our target of five million wholesale broadband connections by 2006. But there will be no complacency. We will continue to work hard to maintain this momentum, building Broadband Britain now and for the future."
More than 91
per cent of UK homes and businesses are now connected to broadband-enabled
exchanges and that figure will reach 99.6 per cent by next summer, putting
the UK ahead of any other G7 country in terms of DSL availability.
The three million connections are shared between more than 150 service providers
with BT's own retail arm having approximately 41 per cent of total DSL customers
as at the end of June. There are also an estimated 1.7 million cable broadband
customers in the UK.
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Google has been forced to cut its target price by around a quarter to below $100 a share - wiping around $10bn off the total potential value of the internet search giant - following muted investor interest in its long-awaited flotation.
The company said today it was cutting its estimated price range to between $85 and $95 per share - well below the price range of $108 and $135 per share it had originally hoped to achieve. The maximum valuation of the company following the IPO has been reduced by $10bn to around $26bn. The company also said it was cutting the number of shares on offer in an effort to bolster the price. The reduction means that a total of 19.6 million shares will now be available, a decrease of about 6.1 million shares.
The move follows market speculation that many institutional investors will steer clear of the share offering, preferring instead to see how the shares fare when they start trading.
Trading should
now, finally, be underway, the SEC had not given its expected clearance by
the original deadline of Tuesday evening.
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Top cable broadband
providers maintained a 6.4 million subscriber advantage over DSL and have
a 61 percent share of the total market when compared to DSL. The top cable
broadband providers have more than 17 percent of cumulative penetration of
all those who could receive broadband service, Leichtman said.
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The report said that Zhao has warned domestic TV set makers not to launch a price war, as many intellectual property rights, including those for audio and visual components as well as monitors, are held by foreign makers.
All broadcasting in China will be available in digital in six years time and
existing analog broadcasts will be terminated by 2015, according to a plan
by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Meanwhile, China
is considering granting permission to private investors to acquire stakes
in digital pay-TV channels in a run-up to replace its current analogue television
system with nationwide digital broadcasting by 2015. However, if private investors
get the nod for equity participation, they will be barred from any operational
role, officials with the State Administration of Radio Film and Television
(SARFT) said.
According to reports in local media, an official said, "The right of
reviewing and broadcasting television programmes and any big decisions will
remain in the hands (of SARFT)." Recently, the Chinese government issued
digital television broadcasting licenses to four state-owned companies - CHC
Home Cinema, China Broadcast Network Company, Shanghai TV, and a five company
consortium including China National Radio. Foreign companies are still unable
to acquire licenses to operate in China, but are provided with limited broadcast
rights. Currently, only a few foreign channels have limited access to some
cable systems in parts of Guangdong and satellite access in high-end hotels
and residential compounds.
The official said that Beijing may allow other state-owned media institutions
to set up pay-TV joint ventures, although SARFT has no timetable for when
another batch of new licences will be issued. He also said SARFT may permit
domestic companies that have the capital, resources and television production
experience, including privately run ones, to take stakes in joint-venture
digital pay-TV channels.
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Ad spending rose
6.4 per cent in the first half, led by gains in cable TV and local magazines,
Nielsen Monitor-Plus reports. Factory-sponsored automotive and political advertising
sparked the growth, which came atop an increase of 5.1 per cent for full-year
2003. Last year's growth built slowly, with a 1.5 per cent rise in ad spending
for the first quarter building to a torrid 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.
This year's ad economy could follow the same course, with Nielsen Monitor-Plus
predicting that the presidential election and the Summer Olympics would boost
second-half ad spend. Procter & Gamble Co. spent an estimated $1.4 billion
on advertising in the first half, up 10.6 per cent compared with the same
period last year. It edged General Motors Corp. as the first half's top advertiser;
GM's ad spend rose 7.7 per cent to $1.2 billion.
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A consortium of companies collaborating under the "WWiSE" industry group announced their intended submission of a complete joint proposal to IEE. 802.11 Task Group N, which is tasked with developing a next-generation WiFi standard capable of sustaining data throughput in excess of 100Mbps.
The technology foundation is based on MIMO-OFDM. IEEE 802.11n will be an especially important standard in the WLAN market as it will build upon and extend the capabilities for the vast number of users currently enjoying the benefits of Wi-Fi connectivity. Companies within the WWiSE consortium that contributed to the proposal include Airgo Networks, Bermai, Broadcom, Conexant Systems, Inc., STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments.
"WWiSE" stands for worldwide spectrum efficiency, a key element for all proposals submitted to Task Group N. As such, the WWiSE proposal was developed with global deployment and backwards compatibility with all other Wi-Fi standards as its principal and mandatory requirements. Additional
The WWiSE proposal
builds on the existing and globally adopted 20MHz channel format of the tens
of millions of Wi-Fi devices already in use. This approach ensures support
for the existing worldwide installed base, while improving the performance
of Wi-Fi networks within the designated RF spectrum. Further, the coalition
companies represent an important cross-section of both the IC supply and consumption
segments that comprise the Wi-Fi marketplace, promoting a strong relationship
between developers and end-product manufacturers.
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Some Australia-based shareholders, which account for up to 30 per cent of News Corp stock, had voiced concerns about abruptly moving the primary listing to New York given that the company accounts for about 8 per cent of Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX index. An information memorandum on the reincorporation is due in mid-September, with a shareholder vote at the company's annual meeting in late October. News Corps board has already approved the move.
Executives including Murdoch, his eldest son Lachlan the company's deputy chief operating officer and David DeVoe, chief financial officer, have this week told investors that moving the domicile to the US would lower its cost of capital and improve its access to US capital markets.
Credit Suisse
First Boston, which hosted an investor meeting for News Corp in Sydney, said:
"Mr Murdoch reiterated his motivation for the change in domicile as the
elimination of the 15-20 per cent valuation differential he sees with peer
group companies."
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Dean Olmstead,
President & CEO of SES AMERICOM, said, "AMC-15 is pivotal to our
strategic and expanding relationship with EchoStar, as well as to the development
of broadband solutions for both the residential and enterprise markets. We
worked closely with EchoStar on the technical design of the spacecraft to
ensure complete compatibility with their existing and future services. AMERICOM
is ready to operate its first Ka-band payload, and we believe EchoStar will
fully utilize the satellite’s spectrum to expand their offerings to their
subscribers."
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BSkyB has confirmed
it is taking legal action against US IT outsourcing giant Electronic Data
Systems for "deceit, negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract".
BSkyB said it was filing a claim "for a material amount" relating
to a contract to design, build and implement a new customer service system
for two call centres in Scotland. The company had signalled it was planning
legal action against an IT provider when it unveiled annual results earlier
this month.
In an announcement to the City today, BSkyB said it was taking the action
after EDS "failed to perform its contractual obligations". BSkyB
added "Our view is that the decision by BSkyB to select EDS... was founded
on fraudulent representations made by EDS. They were made to induce BSkyB
to award the contract."
The contract with EDS, which was signed in summer 2000, was terminated in
early 2002 "after BSkyB became convinced that EDS would not deliver a
CRM [Customer Relationship Management] system in accordance with its contractual
obligations." After ending its relationship with EDS, BSkyB took over
responsibility for the customer support systems, and the group says it has
spent £170m the project over the past four years. The investment covers
software, technical infrastructure, systems integration and refurbishment
at the company's call centres, which are based at Livingston and Dunfermline.
BSkyB chief executive, James Murdoch, announced earlier this month the company
would be investing another £50m over the next four years to complete
the project.
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A range of Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels are to become available on the HomeChoice platform for the first time following an agreement between UK broadband service provider Video Networks and BSkyB. Under the agreement, Sky will retail Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra and Sky Movies (Screens 1,3,5,7,9) to HomeChoice customers from August 2004.
The addition of these new channels means the HomeChoice platform now offers over 80 digital TV and on-demand film, music and entertainment channels and a broadband Internet connection of up to 2Mb, all via a standard BT phone line.
Roger Lynch, Chairman and CEO, Video Networks recognised that over the past 15 years, Sky had helped shape the UK's TV sector. "The addition of Sky Movies means even more choice for our customers," he claimed. Martin Goswami, Sky's Commercial Director, said that the agreement with Video Networks was "a new initiative for Sky and a further broadening of the distribution of our channels."
Video Networks
Ltd provides broadband entertainment through its digital TV, video-on-demand
(VOD) and Internet services under the brand name HomeChoice, passing some
1.25 million homes in the London area. It also offers customers always-on
broadband Internet connections with speeds ranging from 512Kb to 2Mb and a
multi-channel digital television service through one set top box.
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Liberty Media International on Monday posted a second-quarter loss after weakness at its European cable operator diluted gains from its Japanese telecoms and programming interests.
The recently spun-off division of Liberty Media posted a second-quarter loss of $1.04 million, compared with a profit of $10.5 million. Revenue rose to $580.7 million from $27.1 million as a result of Liberty's purchase of a majority stake in UnitedGlobalCom in January.
Liberty Media
International is comprised of interests in European cable operator UnitedGlobalCom
Inc., Japan-based Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd. and Liberty Cablevision
of Puerto Rico Inc.
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The European Commission has extended until August 25 a deadline for its review of a planned joint venture between US software giant Microsoft and Time Warner.
The joint venture
would allow Microsoft and Time Warner, the world's largest media company,
to jointly control ContentGuard Holdings, a digital rights management company.
The previous deadline for a decision on the planned merger was August 16.
The Commission did not comment on the reasons behind Monday's delay.
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Like most of its rivals, including Apple's iTunes, Real normally charges $ 0.99 a track and by cutting its prices hopes to boost its market share.
Real has also launched the latest version of its RealPlayer jukebox software that competes with iTunes. The company has already infuriated Apple by making its downloads compatible with the iPod, the biggest selling digital music player, without its permission.
Real is set to
launch its biggest yet promotional campaign for digital music in the US, with
print, radio and online ads focused on the idea of "Freedom of Choice",
the company unveiled. However, it added that the price cuts and marketing
campaign would lead to increased losses in the current quarter.
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Former MD of the German commercial TV channel Sat.1 has become CEO of the newly structured publicly listed TV production conglomerate MME. The company has merged with Moviemento which owns two other production companies specialising in TV fiction, Filmpool and Allmedia.
Hamburg based MME is an expert on music and game formats. Together the new conglomerate will have combined revenues of about E80 million.
Last year, Hoffmann
left Sat.1 chair after Haim Saban had taken control over the channel's holding
company ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG and Roger Schawinski was appointed as the
channel's new managing director.
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The NFL Network agreed to a multiyear agreement with US cable company Comcast. Beginning this month, NFL Network will be added to Comcast's lineup for most of the cable giant's 8 million digital cable customers.
NFL Network's
programming includes preseason games, NFL Europe League games and various
NFL analysis and talk programs.
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Primus Telecommunications
has selected VegaStream as the gateway provider for its global VoIP service
offering. VegaStream has developed for Primus a complete web-based system
for the automated delivery and provisioning of VoIP gateways to its customers,
from the largest corporate down to the single residential customer.
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Four private equity firms: Apax, Permira, Apollo, and Madison Dearborn have bought Intelsat, the worlds' second-largest satellite operator, for about $3 billion.
Each of the private equity firms will buy a 25 per cent stake for more than $18 a share, valuing the equity at about $3 billion. They also have agreed to refinance Intelsat's $2 billion of debt.
Intelsat's three largest investors are Lockheed Martin with a 24 per cent stake, Tata Sons of India with 5.4 per cent and France Telecom with five per cent.
The deal comes after Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co purchased DirectTV's PanAmSat unit for more than $3.5 billion and then sold off 27 per cent to each of Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners.
Private equity firms are attracted by satellite companies' cash-flow potential, which allows them to take on a significant amount of debt to finance the transaction. US-based private equity firm Blackstone agreed in June to buy Netherlands-based New Skies Satellites for $956 million.
Intelsat has
attempted unsuccessfully to go public at least three times over the past three
years and failed to acquire Paris-based rival Eutelsat in 2002.
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China is planning to facilitate the growth of digital cable television in the country by providing low-interest loans to cable companies to convert 100 million urban households to digital television by 2008. The loans will be made through China Development Bank.
"We want to be a digital society. We want to phase out all analogue and convert to digital by 2015. We are going to have to fund some of the technology required," said Wang Xiaojie, director-general in charge of digital TV at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Wang said that the initial plan is to shift 100 million urban households now on cable to digital television by 2008 and that would require at least $7 billion worth of set-top boxes, based on the current cost of digital set-top box equipment.
China will reschedule its timetable of developing digital cable television in cities. As per the recent timetable published by SARFT, the country is hoping for at least 30 million digital cable TV subscribers by the end of 2005. "The problem lies in the digital cable providers of these cities, who were trying to promote digital cable TV in China in the same way as in other countries, but this does not conform with China's reality. The reality in China is that people have been accustomed to enjoying free television, and Chinese digital cable providers are forbidden to broadcast pornography like some foreign digital cables do to attract subscribers," said Wang.
The television
regulator in China approved 40 digital pay-TV channels last year and sixty
more will be approved in the next two weeks, Wang said. State-owned China
Central Television, which has 15 channels, began operating six digital pay-TV
channels earlier this month.
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Chip maker Intel has announced the shelving of its heralded LCOS chip for big flat screen TVs. In January the company said its unique one megapixel Liquid Crystal On Silicon chips would be ready late this year.
However, it now says it will delay launch until a two megapixel version is ready – 'some time next year'. The problem according to analysts is that this is not an easy technology to master and current products from Texas Instruments and Sony have already captured the one megapixel market so Intel needs more product differentiation before it could enter the market.
Intel had originally
claimed the LCOS chips would half the cost of large FSTs.
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Roland Steindorf, CEO Kabel Deutschland commented "We have continued both operational and financial improvements as a result of our fundamental repositioning of Kabel Deutschland into a marketing and sales organisation since March 2003. We streamlined our cost structure, actively managed our client base."
KDG builds on its strength in the analog cable television business that currently generates approximately 86 per cent of its total revenues and accounts for the majority of its more than 10.5 million revenue generating units. Analogue cable television subscribers increased by approximately 17.7 thousand customers from December 31, 2003, the second consecutive quarterly increase. The comparatively new digital TV offerings reached approximately 90 thousand subscribers at June 30, 2004.
Extensive efforts
are invested in the High Speed Internet segment. Trial projects were rolled
out in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig and Bayreuth, with three more cities to follow
during the second half of this year.
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ProSiebenSat.1 Media, the German television broadcaster controlled by US billionaire Haim Saban, said second-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by higher sales and cost cuts.
Net income rose to E47.6 million from E22.1 million a year earlier, the company said. Sales in the second quarter rose six per cent to E496 million. Net debt fell 47 per cent from a year ago to E423.3 million as of June 30.
Chief Executive Officer Guillaume de Posch commented that ProSiebenSat.1's sales will grow faster than the market this year. The company reiterated a forecast from last month that the television advertising market will grow two per cent this year.
ProSiebenSat.1 forecast that EBITDA will rise to E330 million, helped by an increase in sales and lower costs. Sales growth in the second half will be slower than in the first six months, Chief Financial Officer Lothar Lanz pointed out.
The company said it expects to raise its share of Germany's target television audience by 0.5 to 0.6 percentage points in 2004.
ProSiebenSat.1
plans to enter the pay TV market to become more independent from advertising,
though it won't invest in Premiere, Germany's only pay TV company, de Posch
reportedly said. ProSiebenSat.1 at the end of July abandoned negotiations
about the purchase of three of Premiere's channels after the companies couldn't
agree on the price. Cooperation with Kabel Deutschland, Germany's dominant
cable network operator, on pay TV is an "interesting option'' de Posch
added.
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Earnings at Germany's only pay-TV operator Premiere are up reaching are also E18.1 million for the first half against losses of E15m last time.
The turnaround
was down to a 25 percent uplift in core subscriptions revenue, mainly from
price hikes introduced in April. Turnover rose by 9.2 per cent to E255.1 million
for the second quarter. The company announced it has 2.95 million subscribers.
CEO Georg Kofler promised further strong growth and predicted Premiere would
stick to its floatation plans in the coming year.
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Vodafone's Japanese unit has selected former NTT DoCoMo executive Shiro Tsuda to head its business, after losing share in its largest market.
Tsuda, 58, will take over on December 1 as President and CEO of Tokyo-based based Vodafone KK and Vodafone Holdings K.K. Japan accounts for 23 per cent of group sales and only a tenth of operating profit.
Vodafone Chief Executive Officer Arun Sarin vowed in May to bring ``serious change'' to Japan. Operating profit from the country fell 20 per cent in the year ended in March as Vodafone lagged DoCoMo and KDDI in selling services that allow users to download e-mails, video and music more quickly.
Meanwhile Vodafone Group unveiled intentions to bid for the 51 per cent stake in Cesky Telecom, the biggest Czech phone company, that the government plans to sell next year for at least E2.76 billion. The mobile-phone company hired Citigroup for advice 'in case opportunities arise' from the proposed sale.
The Czech government
plans to invite bidders for the sale of the Prague-based company next month
and wants to complete the transaction next year.
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While EasyGroup prepares for a battle with mobile phone company Orange over using the colour orange for EasyMobile brand, the group's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, admitted that the failure to register the Easy brand's shade of orange "may be an oversight" by his legal team.
But Haji-Ioannou
reportedly said he will not drop the colour for the launch of his low-cost
mobile phone service, EasyMobile, and believes a compromise can be reached
with Orange over how the colour is used.
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STAR announced
the appointment of Grace Gu as General Manager of Channel V China, replacing
Scarlett Li who has resigned for personal reasons. Gu will assume day-to-day
operational responsibility at Channel [V] China, reporting directly to Jamie
Davis, President of STAR China.
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The multi-system operators (MSOs) and cable television operators have threatened to go on a nationwide strike this week, blacking out all except the news channels. The cable television fraternity is protesting against the imposition of service tax on cable TV services by Central Government.
The government had increased the service tax from eight per cent to 10 per cent in the Union Budget and widened its net to include cable network companies, among other services. The government had earlier said that cable companies would not be allowed to pass the hike on to consumers.
"Cable operators have been pursuing with Government for withdrawal of service tax for long. Instead of it's withdrawal it has been extended to MSO's also. Cable operators are being forced by Government to increase the subscription from consumers as at present they are not collecting any tax from public / subscribers till now. All the tax is being paid from the collection of the cable operators and this is a reason for poor collection by exchequer. This tax is not justified at all on the subscribers of the cable TV which is general public," says a statement from the MSOs‚ and cable operators association.
The forum is
protesting against the fact that other distribution services like DTH or broadband
haven't any service tax.
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The International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission granted a request from DirecTV to move one of its satellites to an orbital location controlled by Telesat Canada.
The bureau's
OK will allow DirecTV to relocate DirecTV 5 to Telesat's 72.5-degree orbital
location. The authorisation also gives DirecTV a blanket permission for up
to 1 million dishes that will connect to DirecTV 5 for local TV services.
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Intelsat deal close while PanAmSat price falls $200m
According to reports the sale of international satellite operator Intelsat to private equity groups could be closed early this week as the board met over the weekend to consider a preferred bid believed to offer up to $4.5bn for the operation.
Meanwhile another large chunk of the space segment market looked set to finally find its way into private equity hands as DirecTV agreed to cut $200M from the price of PanAmSat in its deal with KKR, Providence Equity and Carlyle. The cut in the original $3.55bn price was triggered when a PanAmSat satellite malfunctioned meaning the buyers could walk away. DirecTV will swallow the whole of the discount so public shareholders will still get the original $23.5 a share strike price.
KKR, Providence
and Carlyle have also been in the Intelsat running as have Blackstone, and
groups made up of Apax /Permira and Apollo / Madison Dearborn. It is unclear
who has got the "preferred" nod and some believe the Apax and Apollo
consortia may have pooled resources.
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Asserting its supremacy in the Hong Kong pay-TV market, i-Cable Communications has posted $18.9 million in net profit in the first half of this year, 55 per cent on the same period last year.
The growth was attributed to higher advertising sales from the Euro 2004 football tournament and improved ARPUs from pay-TV and broadband operations.
i-Cable, added 57,000 subscribers to take its tally to 682,000 and monthly revenue per subscriber rose to $28.5. The performance contributed $30.15 million to the company's operating profit.
The main competitor is PCCW's NOW Broadband TV, which has gained a base of 300,000 subscribers since its launch in September last year. The other players are Television Broadcasts‚ Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting and City Telecom's Hong Kong Broadband Network.
The company's
broadband business reduced its operating loss from $6.16 million to $3.45
million from a year earlier, mainly due to a seven per cent rise in the user
base to 263,000 and a 14 per cent increase in average revenue per user (ARPU)
to $18.2.
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Taiwan's government plans to restructure its broadcasting market by the end of 2005 in an attempt to remove political influence on the media and create fair competition.
According to a report in the FT, the new government policy will redistribute the island's broadcast spectrum by March 2005. Channels owned by political parties, the military and government will form a public broadcasting network and new entrants will be encouraged.
Tight government control of the media during five decades of one-party rule and 10 years of ensuing liberalisation have left the market in chaos. The formerly ruling Kuomintang party, the government, police and military operate TV and radio stations, opposition leaders host talk shows and over 90 pirate radio stations campaign mostly in favour of the ruling Democratic Progressive party.
"Our media badly need to be de-politicised," said Luo Wen-jia, Chairman of the cabinet-level Hakka affairs council, who spearheaded media reform plans for the DPP last year.
Legal amendments
passed in December 2003 require all political parties and politicians to dispose
of stakes in television and radio stations by 2005.
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EchoStar revealed in its 10-Q filing this week an anomaly aboard EchoStar VIII, one of the company's newer satellites located at 110 degrees that launched in August 2002.
The company said
that in June the satellite experienced an anomaly that impacted operation
of a primary gyroscope. A spare gyroscope has been switched in and is performing
nominally, EchoStar VIII was originally configured with three primary and
one spare gyroscope. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of
the anomaly and develop procedures for continued spacecraft operation in the
event of future gyroscope anomalies, the company said.
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Dutch telco KPN is planning to offer TV services as part of a new 'triple-play' offering of voice, data and TV services sometime in the next three months.
The telco has
signed an agreement with Dutch broadcaster Digitenne, which was behind the
abortive DTT effort, to deliver digital video broadcasting services. Currently
DVB service coverage is restricted to the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Hague conurbation.
A country-wide offering is expected to be delivered by 2007, according to
telecoms news site PriMetrica.
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Blu-ray Disc Founders, a group of consumer electronics makers, approved the format for a new generation of discs that can store five times the data of DVDs at the same cost.
The group has approved version 1.0 of the BD-ROM format and made it available to disc manufacturers. Aimed at recording and storing HD video, Blu-ray, so named because the standard requires a blue laser instead of the red one used for DVD reading and recording, is designed to store 25 GB of data on a single-layered disc.
The founders' group has 13 members comprising the leading names in consumer electronics and computing, among them Sony Corp., Philips, Thomson, Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
The Blu-ray format
those companies are backing is expected to compete with another blue-laser
standard, HD DVD, backed by NEC Corp and Toshiba Corp.
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Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) is to produce 300 hours of TV from the Olympic Games for mobile phones and the Internet. The broadcaster will offer on demand clips from all major events in addition to two live streams. The television content will be a part of a bigger package with news reports, a complete result service, athlete profiles and statistics
"This will
be our most extensive Internet coverage of a sport event ever. You will be
able to watch absolutely everything from the Olympic Games on web tv. We have
also decided to offer television content for mobile phones, even though it's
early market. At the next Olympics our users will expect such mobile content,"
Commisioning Editor of NRKs New Media Channels, Are Nundal says.
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