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Scroll down page or click below for news - latest first
Tuesday
Friday 10th March 2006
Liberty: more tracking stocks to try and ‘reveal value’
United and Sat1 launch broadband VOD
EC urges mobile TV harmonization
Spanish broadcasters want switch-off delay
TiVo losses narrow
Foxtel commits to new technology
NDS, first Express win
Nagravision for SES
Shenick appoints trend
Liberty: more tracking stocks to try and ‘reveal value’Liberty Media reported a fourth-quarter loss that was greater than a year ago as a 14 percent increase in revenue from its QVC shopping channel was offset by flat sales of the Starz and Encore premium movie channels.
Gregory B. Maffei, the chief executive, said that the company would create new tracking stocks that would divide operations into Liberty Interactive, with video and online commerce businesses, and Liberty Capital, to include the remaining businesses. He also said the company continued to search for a "tax-efficient solution" for Liberty Media's minority stake in the News Corporation. "In the interim, we hold an asset that we like, and we feel good about, and frankly one that we might be able to exert more influence upon," he told analysts.
For the quarter that ended December 31st, Liberty Media reported a loss of $86 million compared with a loss of $2 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Revenue totalled $2.45 billion, up from $2.17 billion in the same period of 2004. For the year, Liberty Media posted a loss from continuing operations before taxes and minority interest of $164 million, reversing earnings of $224 million in 2004.
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United and Sat1 launch broadband VODUnited Internet and the ProSiebenSat.1 are to launch the video-on-demand portal ‘maxdome’ in the second quarter of 2006. It will offer an extensive catalogue of films, comedy shows and TV series. Users will be able to access it either on their PC via or on TV through the set-top box.
Maxdome is a strategic cooperation between the Sat.1 and United Internet. With its 1&1, WEB.DE and GMX brands, United is one of Germany_s largest internet providers with some 18 million active users. On the basis of a 50/50 JV, the partners aim to play a significant role in the development of Germany’s video-on-demand market. Guillaume de Posch, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1, says: "DSL represents a new way for us to reach the viewer - especially the younger generations who have grown up with computers. Maxdome will open up additional exploitation possibilities for ProSiebenSat.1 content."
ProSiebenSat.1 has already secured a wide range of video-on-demand rights for ‘maxdome’. It will be available directly via www.maxdome.de and also integrated into the 1&1, WEB.DE and GMX portals. In spring 2006, 1&1 will launch a specially certified set-top box for TV streaming which is "ready for maxdome". The plug-and-play device is installed between the user’s IP connection and a normal TV set. As part of the strategic cooperation, 1&1 will be responsible for streaming, billing and customer management. Maxdome will be produced and operated by SevenSenses, a new subsidiary of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group in their Diversification division. The company is responsible for the Group’s video-on-demand, IPTV and pay-TV activities. Encoding and digital rights management are supplied by broadband CA provider entriq.
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EC urges mobile TV harmonization
The European Commission has urged rapid action to harmonize regulations for mobile television, saying Europe cannot wait until 2012, when sufficient radio spectrum will become available. EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said that decisions must be taken "in the coming 12 months."
"I am more and more convinced that we cannot wait until 2012 to deploy new services such as mobile TV on a large scale," she said. "We cannot afford to sleep on this. Actions are already well underway outside Europe. That is why we should act now to allocate at least some common European spectrum bandwidths for Mobile TV."
"We had better make sure that we create enough space for these (mobile TV) services to take off," Reding said. "In particular, we have to make sure that harmonized spectrum is available across Europe, so that consumers can access services on their travels." Bandwidth may need to be freed up earlier than planned to give these new mobile television services room to grow. "This means we should start serious discussions now about the use of the digital dividend for spectrum, including further harmonization at EU level of frequency bands for potential use by services such as mobile TV."
At the moment, not all vendors and telecoms firms agree which of the six available technologies for mobile TV should be used, although most agree that scarcity of radio spectrum is holding back development of the service.
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Spanish broadcasters want switch-off delay
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spanish broadcasters will ask the Government to postpone the analogue switch-off, scheduled for April 2010, as well as the digital coverage deadlines. The broadcasters have taken the decision after sales of set-top-boxes sharply dropped in the first two months of the year.
Despite Christmas sales of 500,000-600,000, DTT take-up has slowed down and they do not think that the established deadlines can be met. They even doubt analogue transmissions can be switched off in 2012, as recommended by the European Commission.
The broadcasters have been complaining from the beginning about the lack of financial support from the Government to develop the market. Now, 100 days after the re-launch of the DTT market in Spain (with a free-to-air platform with 20 TV channels), initial optimism has changed into a global pessimism about the DTT market.
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TiVo losses narrow
TiVo said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed, as subscriptions to its television recording service grew. The company also announced a change in its pricing structure that allows customers to bundle the purchases of TiVo set-top boxes and subscription fees in one- to three-year commitments. TiVo reported a net loss of $19.5 million, compared with a net loss of $33.7 million, in the year ago period.
TiVo-owned net subscriber additions were 183,000 subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total subscriber base to about 4.4 million.The company said it added 173,000 subscribers through its relationship with DirecTV, which is set to end early next year.
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Foxtel commits to new technology
From Rose Major in Melbourne
Australian pay-television operator Foxtel is pushing ahead with a slate of new technologies off the back of its growing digital platform. Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams told the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association conference that the company was exploring a portable hard-disk drive TV, dubbed iQ2go, which could launch this year. Two manufacturers are developing the iQ2go, which would enable Foxtel to download content to handheld devices.
"Portability with television is the next logical step," Williams said, adding that Foxtel would also soon offer content to mobile phones. Foxtel launched its hard-disk set-top, Foxtel iQ, in February 2005. Downloads to the set-top boxes are planned tostart later this year, enabling a video-on-demand service. But despite Foxtel also exploring the possibilities offered by broadband TV, Williams cautioned that
broadband could become a threat to pay-television because it is not regulated. "There is no regulatory impediment to broadband taking out a whole football
code's content exclusive and in its entirety," he said.
Williams called for the "anti-siphoning" list, which protects key sports events for free-to-air television, to be abolished as part of the government's forthcoming media legislation, currently held up in the prime minister's office. Foxtel is worried that the free-to-air networks may be overly protected if the government rules out a fourth commercial network while not abolishing the list and simultaneously
allowing the existing networks to launch digital-terrestrial spin-off channels, currently outlawed. Williams called instead for the immediate abolition of anti-siphoning, while allowing digital spin-off channels from 2008.
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NDS, first Express winNDS Group announced that Serbia Broadband, the leading cable operator in Serbia, has selected the NDS VideoGuard Express solution to secure premium content on their new DTH service. The solution includes NDS MediaHighway middleware and EPG. Serbia Broadband is Serbia’s largest cable operator.
Serbia Broadband CEO, Dragan Solak said: "We already have a successful cable system and we now want to offer customers who cannot receive the cable service a new satellite platform. The new satellite operation will be able to offer a great choice of content with 25 channels to start."
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The Kudelski Group announced that its Nagravision end-to-end turnkey conditional access system has been selected by SES ASTRA, for the launch of the company’s new digital TV infrastructure for the German market. The new infrastructure for digital TV and additional interactive services will be available to all broadcasters and will facilitate the introduction and development of digital services on an open and non-discriminatory technological basis.
The offer will consist of services like encryption and smart card distribution and registration. For technical services, SES ASTRA will rely on its existing subsidiary ASTRA Platform Services near Munich whilst logistics, distribution of smart cards and customer services will be handled by a new SES ASTRA subsidiary.
The Nagravision end-to-end turnkey conditional access system will be scaled to support up to 10 million registered customers with the capability to increase the capacity as per the requirements of SES ASTRA.
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Shenick Network Systems has appointed Trend Communications as a key reseller in its major European country markets including the UK, Germany, Austria, Spain and Portugal. Through Trend's complementary and well-established test product suite and a customer base of network operators, network equipment manufacturers and large Enterprise/Government, Trend will provide sales and support functions for Shenick's diversifEye test systems.
Shenick has just released the latest diversifEye product offering, with enhanced Triple Play/IPTV test capabilities, providing the communications test industry with what it says is the first truly integrated, converged network test system. The diversifEye tester offers everything from the establishment of tens of thousands of customer broadband connections with DHCP, PPP, VLAN support through to the emulation of real Triple Play customer scenarios over these services involving IPTV, VoIP, Data (such as Web, Email, P2P) and Video on Demand (VoD). In addition, diversifEye offers a full security attack emulation environment with the ability to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), Virus, Worm and Spam attacks.
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Thursday 09th March 2006
France: download licence still possible
ITV profits up, viewers down
TPS HDTV this month with Sony
Telecom Italia, Microsoft partner
TiVo on mobile
Toshiba HD DVD lap top
XM Canada Tops 50,000 Subs
Micronas dual tuner
France: download licence still possible
France may still adopt a general download licence that would legalise internet movie and music downloads. The proposal calls for a monthly fee of E8 to E15 to compensate for lost royalties.
This week French MPs debated the new digital copyright bill, tabled by MP Alain Suguenot, which says: "Authors cannot forbid the reproductions of Works that are made on any format from an online communication service when they are intended to be used privately and when they do not imply commercial means directly or indirectly." A final vote is expected on 14 March. The proposed licence is being resisted by the government, which has already excised clauses that would have legalised downloads. In the revised bill, fines for illegal downloading are reduced to E38, with higher penalties for breaking copyright protection on a commercial DVD.
A licence of any kind is opposed by the French record industry but consumer groups urged politicians "not to go against the tide of digital history".
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UK commercial broadcaster ITV reported a 36% rise in pre-tax profits at £452m (E655m) with revenues up by 6% to £2.17bn. However, advertising revenues fell 3.3% to £1.46bn at its flagship ITV1 channel, but growth at ITV2 and ITV3 pushed overall ad revenues up by 2.7%.
ITV1 has been battling falling ratings and advertising revenue as more households make the switch to digital TV. "What's happening is we're in a transition phase from analogue to digital," chief executive Charles Allen said. "More people in a multi-channel home are watching ITV this year than there were last year, and that's very good news for the future."
Meanwhile, ITV announced a major four-year deal with consumer products giant Unilever to buy £200m of airtime across its channels to the end of 2009. It also announced plans to buy back £300m of shares.
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TPS HDTV this month with Sony
From Sotires Eleftheriou in ParisFrench DTH platform TPS and Sony are to promote HDTV together. Gilles Maugars, VP technical services of TPS, said it had been at the cutting edge of technology and is the first to launch an HDTV in France. The HDTV decoders were finally ready (there had been a delay due to the shortage of MPEG4 decoder chips) and would be going out during March to the 10,000 subscribers who have pre-registered for them; the price is a premium of E5 over a standard TPS decoder.
Programming is beginning to ramp up. At present about 40 percent of the output of the premium channel TPS Star is in HDTV, this will be increased during the coming months at a rate of about 10 percent per month. Other channels will be introducing HDTV content as and when it is available. Viewers will be seamlessly switched between HDTV and SD versions of the programmes. A new HDTV Guide channel will broadcast during the six month start-up phase, which will give details of the week's HDTV programming content.
Meanwhile, 1500 selected retail outlets will show Sony HDTV LCD TVs and TPS content. Philippe Citroen, DG of Sony France, said that he fully expected a steep rise in HDTV sales this year, boosted by TPS, the Football World Cup this summer, and the launch of Blu-Ray player in the autumn. The forthcoming Playstation3, due for launch before the summer, will also have Blu-Ray HDTV playback.
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Telecom Italia, Microsoft partner
Telecom Italia has revealed more about its collaboration agreement with Microsoft for the joint development of new telecommunication services and entertainment applications, available from fixed as well as mobile terminals. It says it will enrich Telecom Italia’s IPTV with new features such as instant-channel changing and up to 16 video streams on one TV set for providing multiple camera angles used in sports broadcasting.
One of the first results of the agreement will be a new Alice Super-mailbox. The new service, based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 technology, will offer the ability to store up to 60,000 e-mails; this functionality is already available on over 27 million TIM mobile lines and on 4.3 million Telecom Italia broadband access points.
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TiVo on mobile
TiVo and Verizon Wireless announced an agreement that will allow Verizon to debut TiVo Mobile, a new downloadable application that lets TiVo service subscribers schedule recordings on their DVR directly from their Get It Now equipped Verizon Wireless handset. "This arrangement will allow TiVo subscribers to integrate control of their TV life with the most widespread piece of consumer electronics, the wireless phone," said Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo.
Starting in summer 2006, in an exclusive arrangement with Verizon Wireless, users will be able to download the application from the Verizon Wireless Get It Now suite of services onto applicable handsets. Verizon Wireless and TiVo will also collaborate on a joint marketing campaign to promote availability of the new TiVo Mobile feature.
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Toshiba HD DVD lap top
Toshiba has unveiled the first high definition laptop computer with a HD DVD optical drive for the new generation of DVD disks and a high resolution display. It will retail for between E2,500 and E3,500 and will be available in within a few weeks, said Oscar Koenders, European computer marketing manager at Toshiba.
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XM Canada Tops 50,000 Subs
Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings, which sells the satellite radio service north of the border via the XM Canada brand, said it has attracted more than 50,000 self-paying and trial subscribers since service launch. Itsaid subscriber growth is being driven primarily through retail radio hardware sales. XM Canada has an exclusive agreement with GM Canada to factory-install XM radios in more than 50 of its 2006 models as well as an exclusive agreement with Subaru Canada to begin installing XM radios in three of its 2007 models.
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Micronas dual tuner
Micronas announced the launch of MicPythonT2H-X, a
dual-tuner DVB-T PCI Express card for home theatre solutions. A universalantenna connection lets the user watch and record analog, digital, and future HDTV signals without worrying about complicated cable connections or even switching antennas. MicPython 2H-X works with Windows XP Media Center and other third-party applications, guaranteeing ease-of-use. "MicPython 2H-X integrates two independent tuners on a single card, allowing OEMs and system integrators to build small, living-room quality home theatre systems at lower costs," says Kai Scheffer, director media home at Micronas.
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Four more for BT 21CN
Philips and UPC boost Netherlands HDTV
Conax wins Dubai deal
Aussie adversaries talking over pay-TV football rights
UPC Austria buys DSL operator
Wegener and Verimatrix partner for IPTV watermarking
PCCW acquires 50% of China Netcom Broadband
Ruckus claims European wireless first
FastWeb reaches for the SkyStream
Canal Digital IPTV from Kreatel and Accedo
Euronews on Surpass
Telekom Austria launches aonDigital TV
Four more for BT 21CNBT has concluded negotiations and signed contracts with the remaining four preferred suppliers for its next generation network transformation programme – the 21st Century Network (21CN). Contracts have been signed with Alcatel, Cisco, Ericsson and Fujitsu. This follows an earlier announcement that contracts have been signed with Ciena, Huawei, Lucent and Siemens.
Alcatel and Cisco have been selected to supply metro nodes providing routing and signalling for 21CN’s voice, data and video services. Cisco has also been selected to supply large scale routers providing high capacity, cost efficient connections between metro nodes. Ericsson has been selected in the i-node domain – in essence the intelligence that controls the services. Fujitsu will be providing access technology which will link BT’s existing network with the new 21CN.
Paul Reynolds, BT Wholesale chief executive, said that the telecommunications industry worldwide was watching what BT was doing very closely. "BT’s customers will be the first to enjoy the next generation of converged network services that 21CN enables." he added.
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Philips and UPC boost Netherlands HDTVPhilips and cable operator UPC Netherlands have agreed an exclusive deal aimed at accelerating the delivery of High Definition Television (HDTV) to Dutch UPC subscribers during 2006. UPC will introduce a digital interactive HDTV. Both companies will start marketing activities during March to promote UPC HD products and Philips HD-Ready Flat TVs jointly.
Philips has also reached a partnership agreement with chellomedia, a sister company of UPC Netherlands and owner of Dutch pay-TV services Sport1 and Film1. Sport1 and Film1 are launching the first HD pay-TV channels in the Netherlands in early June 2006, in partnership with Philips.
Gene Musselman, President and Chief Operating Officer of UPC Broadband said that the deal meant that the Netherlands would be one of the leading countries on HDTV in Europe.
Separately, Philips Semiconductor business announced a highly integrated, hybrid Nexperia TV520 reference design designed to offer best in class picture quality for HD LCD TVs at considerably lowered costs.
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Conditional access technology specialist Conax has signed an agreement with a Dubai-based ZeeNet FZCO for the delivery of Conax’s conditional access system, Conax CAS7, and Conax Voucher Server. ZeeNet is technical solution provider in the broadcasting, video over IP, multimedia information systems, surveillance and security sectors.
Conax CAS7, a highly scalable conditional access system built on Conax’s strong security technology platform, will be delivered as a part of a turn-key solution for an MMDS operation, which will be in operation shortly.
"The Middle East is a relatively new market for Conax. The signed agreement with ZeeNet FZCO is an approval of successful focusing and efforts in gaining access to this market," commented Geir Bjørndal, COO & EVP of Conax.
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Aussie adversaries talking over pay-TV football rights
From Rose Major in MelbourneTalks over pay-television rights to Australian Rules football (AFL) have started, despite the protagonists still being at loggerheads in a federal court.
A barrister for the Ten Network told the court that there were now "ongoing negotiations about the pay television rights" to the league. But he did not indicate to which companies rights holders Seven and Ten were talking.
The Seven Network, which recently won television rights to the league from 2007 to 2011 in a joint bid with Ten, is suing companies including News Corp and
PBL, the owners of broadcaster Fox Sports and part-owners of the Foxtel pay-TV platform, over the 2002 collapse of its C7 pay-TV arm. Seven alleges the companies paid too much for the last pay-TV contract in order to put C7 out of business.Seven and Ten have won rights to all eight matches played each weekend. All of the games must be televised, so it is likely the broadcasters will sub-license some of these rights to a pay-television broadcaster. Fox Sports is Australia's only specialist sports broadcaster.
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UPC Austria buys DSL operator
Liberty Global announced that its subsidiary, UPC Austria, has completed the acquisition of all shares of Inode, one of Austria’s leading companies in the DSL market, for an enterprise value of approximately E95 million.
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Wegener and Verimatrix partner for IPTV watermarking
Digital solutions provider Wegener Corporation is to integrate Verimatrix's forensic watermarking technology into its IPTV set-top box. VideoMark is a robust and invisible content tracking solution that enables forensic, user-specific marking of individual video copies to track piracy to the individual IPTV set top.
"Wegener understands security is a critical component to any deployment of revenue generating IPTV services," stated Ross Cooper, President of Verimatrix.
The integrated Wegener and Verimatrix solution will deploy to several IPTV networks across the United States during 2006.
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PCCW acquires 50% of China Netcom Broadband
PCCW, Hong Kong’s largest communications provider, has signed a formal agreement with China Netcom to acquire 50 per cent of the stake of China Netcom Broadband Corporation Ltd. (CNBC), an affiliate of China Netcom.
The deal is worth RMB318 million (E33 million).
PCCW said that it would assign a financial supervisor and operation supervisor to take part in CNBC's daily operations and may nominate members for the Board of Directors in proportion to the share it holds. The acquisition will be completed within one year.
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Ruckus claims European wireless firstRuckus Wireless has been selected by Dublin-based digital services operator Magnet Entertainment to provide its products and technology for Europe's first commercial deployment of wireless digital TV in the home.
Ruckus suggest that Magnet will be able to slash installation time, cable and labour costs by up to 84 per cent for each new installation.
Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless, said that the home had become the new battleground for providers. "They need a way to quickly and easily enable new revenue-generating services at the lowest possible cost. We've developed a platform precisely for this purpose. It's that simple, and simple to use."
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FastWeb reaches for the SkyStream
From Nick Snow in LondonIP video delivery solutions specialist SkyStream revealed at the IPTV World Forum that Italian IPTV operator FastWeb, had deployed its Mediaplex-20 headend to provide 36 channels of ‘FastWeb TV’, its premium television and video-on-demand service in Milan.
Steve Wallbank, general manager of EMEA field operations for SkyStream, said the choice was an example of the headend's ability to support large-scale, high-growth deployments.
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Canal Digital IPTV from Kreatel and Accedo
Canal Digital Sweden is delivering an IPTV service provided by systems integrator and STB maker Kreatel and content aggregator Accedo to offer three new interactive value added services.
o A game portal including popular games such as Black Jack, Poker, Sudoku, Solitaire etc
o KaraokeParty – a Karaoke On Demand service where friends and families can play together
o PlasmaArt – a set of high quality video themes such as aquariums, fire places, shark tank etc for use as on demand ‘screensavers’ on TV sets"IPTV enables so many possibilities for immediate on-demand content and interactive value-adding services are extremely important in order to differentiate and create a compelling product," noted Victor Theander, product manager IPTV Canal Digital Sweden. "Our IP set-top platform is future proof and promotes the idea that interactive services will be a key ingredient in the IPTV environment," added Lars Bengtsson, CEO at Kreatel.
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Euronews on SurpassEuroNews can now be viewed live on the Internet with SuperPass, RealNetworks’s broadband entertainment service. Real’s European SuperPass subscribers will be able to access EuroNews in six languages – English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish all day every day.
Philippe Cayla, Chairman and CEO of EuroNews said: "Partnering with RealNetworks has given EuroNews a great opportunity to reach broadband users for the first time in six languages. Wherever they are they will benefit direct to their desktop from the most watched international news channel in Europe."
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Telekom Austria launches aonDigital TVTelekom Austria Group has announced the commercial launch of its aonDigital TV in Vienna. Stefan Tweraser, Head of Marketing Retail at Telekom Austria said the telco was among the innovation leaders on the European-wide television
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AT&T $67bn Bell South buy
London trial for ‘fastest broadband’
Microsoft ‘Origami’ hand held
Commercial TV big business in Spain
Singapore seeks 1Gb partners
AT&T $67bn Bell South buy
The long-expected deal sees AT&T confirmed as the largest US carrier and take full control of Cingular, the two companies’ mobile joint venture, which will be re-branded to take the AT&T name when the deal closes.
By combining overhead and marketing costs, as well as AT&T and BellSouth’s local phone networks, the companies are expecting to generate at least $10bn in savings. News of the discussions also immediately triggered speculation that the deal could spark a round of consolidation among the largest telecoms equipment makers, such as Lucent and Nortel.
It is too early to tell what the impact will be on the companies’ DBS partnerships: EchoStar's DISH Network is sold by AT&T and DirecTV is bundled with BellSouth service. In its fourth quarter reporting, BellSouth said 523,000 of its customers have added DirecTV service to their BellSouth Answers bundle since 2004. In September, SBC/AT&T and EchoStar extended their strategic agreement to continue marketing the co-branded SBC/DISH Network satellite TV service. Midway through 2005 SBC's DISH Network subscriber base was 400,000.
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London trial for ‘fastest broadband’
Residents in East London, will become the first to test a new advance in broadband technology says The Times. The system will allow 20,000 households to connect at up to 2Gb/s. The key is, apparently, a high-security "powerhouse" located in London’s Docklands. The Telehouse data centre houses 13,000 square metres of fibre-optic telecommunications and IT infrastructure required to power the most high-speed connections.
Said to be one of the most secure locations in Britain, it is designed to provide back-up power for Britain’s vital network services in the event of a terrorist attack. Ministers have earmarked £12 million (E17.3m) for the project. It is designed to connect residents of deprived estates with a range of internet services and community television channels. Residents will receive an infra-red wireless keyboard and remote control. Microsoft, Homechoice and ITN are providing software and television channels for the project.
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Microsoft is expected to unveil a portable computer sized between a mobile telephone and a laptop. It will be part of the growing trend to develop devices that allow users to personalise and carry with them web search and media services. Last autumn, Sony, the consumer electronics company, launched a line of small wi-fi tablet computers about the size of a paperback book. Nokia, the mobile handset maker, launched a small, Linux-powered tablet device. Google is also said to have talked to electronics companies about devices to make its services more widely available than on PCs.
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Commercial TV big business in Spain
From David Del Valle in MadridThe two main commercial private networks, Mediaset-controlled network Tele 5 and Planeta-led Antena 3 made a combined profit of E500 million in 2005. The boom of the advertising market (with both private channels having an ad revenue growth of around 20 per cent) and the decline of state-owned channel TVE have made both Tele 5 and Antena 3 among the most profitable channels in Europe.
Tele 5 has declared a net profit of E 290.33 million, and an EBITDA of E 423.26 million, 40.8 per cent more than the previous year. The channel also broke its ad revenue record reaching E 870.95 million.
Antena 3 TV has said that its net profit rose to E 226.01 million from E 113.06 million a year earlier. Total revenues reached E 863 million with an EBITDA of E325 million.
In terms of audience, Tele 5 led the ratings in 2005, with 22.3 per cent, followed by Antena 3 with 21.3 per cent and TVE, with 19.6 per cent. The audience battle is intensifying this year, with Antena 3 leading the ratings over the last four months with an average share in February of 21.1 per cent, followed by Tele 5, with 20.8 per cent and TVE with 19 per cent.
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Singapore seeks 1Gb partnersThe Singapore government said it will begin to seek ideas and partners to roll out a national ultra fast broadband network. The Next Generation National Infocomm Infrastruture, or Next Gen NII, will comprise both wireless and wired networks, the city-state's Infocomm Development Authority said.
The government's plan to build an advanced national broadband infrastructure could stir up more competition in the local market dominated by Singapore Telecommunications and StarHub as this could lead to new players and squeezed margins. SingTel said it "will actively engage the IDA in the coming months." StarHub also said it was "keen to participate and work closely with IDA on this effort."
IDA said the wired broadband network will have ultra-high access speeds capable of beyond 1 Gbps. Singapore has a broadband penetration rate of just above 50%.
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Monday 6th March 2006
BT stalked by private equity?
BT ups broadband speed for IPTV
US adds record broadband numbers
STB base will grow and grow
Philips and UPC partner for Netherlands HDTV
Cable’s operating profit falls
Kingston bid stalled on price
Lords says Parliament should set licence fee
Latens snags mid-west telcos
Sidsa secures Al-Jazeera Sport
According to London press reports, several private equity groups are looking at BT Group as a target for a possible £20 billion (E29bn) takeover bid. The Times said more than one group was sizing up BT with a view to a combined bid, despite obstacles like the size of BT’s pension fund deficit.
BT last month posted a smaller-than-expected decline in third-quarter core earnings and said underlying profit trends were good.
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BT ups broadband speed for IPTVBT announced it is to increase the speed of the UK's broadband internet access, paving the way for its autumn launch of IPTV. From the end of this month, BT's wholesale business will start upgrading 5,300 of Britain's local telephone exchanges - covering 99.6 per cent of homes and businesses – making speeds of up to 8Mb a second available.
BT's retail arm said it would offer a free upgrade to the new speed to its 2.3 million broadband customers from next month, provided they agree to a new 12-month contract. The new speed, already available in parts of the country from rival ISPs including Cable & Wireless's Bulldog and UK Online, will provide the bandwidth for customers to use BT's planned TV service in alliance with Freeview alongside other new access services.
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US adds record broadband numbers
Combined net additions for 2005 totalled more than 9.6 million subscribers, a number that exceeded the previous record set in 2004 by more than one million, Leichtman Research found.
When the numbers are broken down, the top cable broadband providers have a 57 percent share of the overall market when compared to DSL and account for more than 24.3 million high-speed Internet subscribers compared to 18.5 million for DSL. Cable operators added about 4.4 million broadband subscribers in 2005, a nearly identical to 2004 efforts.
But DSL is making a sizeable dent in the marketplace. The nation's top DSL providers netted 53 percent of broadband additions in 2005, and DSL providers added more than 5.2 million broadband subscribers in 2005, about 1 million more than in 2004.
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As manufacturers race to incorporate the latest digital technologies for pay-TV, worldwide shipments of digital set-top boxes will grow substantially through to the end of the decade, says IMS Research. It forecasts that worldwide shipments of digital cable and DTH set-top boxes will increase by 15% over the next five years, approaching 74.8 million units by the end of 2010.
According to analyst Mark Meza of IMS Research, "The desire for increased functionality and utilisation of interactive services offered by cable and satellite providers will fuel demand for set-top boxes that feature DVR capabilities and advanced compression technologies like MPEG-4/H.264. As the number of high-definition channels offered in programming packages increases, the need for advanced HD set-top boxes will further affect demand."
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Philips and UPC partner for Netherlands HDTV
Philips and UPC Netherlands signed an exclusive partnership that will accelerate the delivery of HDTV to Dutch UPC subscribers this year. UPC will introduce a digital interactive HDTV MediaBox, produced by Philips. With the MediaBoxes Dutch audiences will enjoy HDTV, starting with the football World Cup in June 2006. Both companies will start marketing activities this month to jointly promote UPC HD products and Philips HD-Ready Flat TVs.
Philips also reached a partnership agreement with chellomedia, a sister company of UPC Netherlands and owner of Dutch pay-TV services Sport1 and Film1. Sport1 and Film1 are launching the first HD pay-TV channels in the Netherlands in early June 2006, in partnership with Philips. Sport1 will be broadcasting this summer’s international football coverage in high definition, and will later show matches from the main European football competitions as well as a variety of other international sports in HDTV. Launching at the same time in early June, the Film1 HDTV channel will show the latest Hollywood movies in HDTV format.
The strategic co-operation between Philips and UPC, first announced in October 2005, means that both companies will also embark on joint marketing activities. These promote UPC’s HD package, which includes the new digital interactive Philips HDTV DCR7000 Euro-DOCSIS set-top box.
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Cable’s operating profit falls
From Shveta Malik in New Delhi
Hong Kong’ s dominant pay-television operator i-Cable Communications had a 5.5 percent decline in its operating profit last year. This was partly due to higher programming costs, which rose nine percent to HK$864 million (E92.6 million) after it raised the proportion of self-produced content. i-Cable said operating profit fell to HK$279 million (Euro 29.9 million) in 2005."The operating environment remains tough this year," chief executive Stephen Ng said. "However, we could see a brighter situation in 2007 and 2008." i-Cable added 36,000 pay- TV customers to 738,000 at the end of 2005, average spending by customers fell 5.7 percent to HK$212 (E22) a month.
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Kingston bid stalled on priceBid talks between Kingston Communications and Carlyle, the US private equity group, have stalled over price. The Hull-based telecoms operator announced in November that it had received an approach about a possible bid, which is thought to have valued the group at more than £400m (E579m). The buy-out group is thought to be interested in paying up to 85p a share, which would value the operator’s equity at £437m. Net debt stood at just under £130m. But the council, which owns 31 per cent of what is in effect the local incumbent, does not want to be seen to be selling Kingston too cheaply, these people said.
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Lords says Parliament should set licence fee
A UK House of Lords committee has called for the decision on the level of the licence fee to be debated in parliament, rather than decided in secret. The Lords select committee on the BBC charter review chaired by Lord Fowler said that the government could undermine support for the licence fee by charging the BBC with expenses that should be met by central government.
The committee argued that by asking the BBC to bear the costs of subsidising the switch from analogue to digital transmission, due to start in 2008 and be completed by 2012, the government risked pushing the licence fee ever higher and undermining public support.
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Latens snags mid-west telcosLatens Systems announced that Midwest TelNet, a consortium of thirteen IOCs in southwest Wisconsin, has selected Latens FCAS Conditional Access solution to secure its advanced IPTV services. FCAS will integrate with AmiNET110 and AmiNET500 set-top boxes from Amino, the leading IPTV set-top box supplier and with Minerva’s iTV Manager. Midwest TelNet can now offer its subscribers secured video services that include Pay-TV, HD, PVR, VOD, and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) as MPEG-2 streams.
"We chose Latens because they have an enviable track record in real-world deployments and offer a complete and flexible solution that satisfies our ambitious service offer in the short and long term," stated Rodney Olson, General Manager of Vernon Telephone, a member company of the Midwest TelNet consortium.
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Sidsa secures Al-Jazeera Sport
From David Del Valle in MadridMadrid-based Sidsa has entered into a partnership with Arabian sports channel Al-Jazeera Sport to provide it with the KeyFly CAS technology for its newly launched bouquet Plus (two channels AJSC+1 and AJSC+2).
The agreement allows Al-Jazeera Sport's subscribers to watch for one year
the main European Football Leagues -among them, the Spanish, the Italian,
and the Portuguese- as well as the FA and Carling Cups in England. The
subscribers only need a Conditional Access Module (CAM) for around
$US50.
The pay-TV rights for these Football Leagues and other sports are embedded
in Sidsa's CAMs The CAM also enables subscribers to have access to
other pay-TV platforms, such as Showtime or ART, using their official
smart cards. It is estimated that there is a market of around two million CI STBs
in the Arabian countries.According to the company, Sidsa's CAM is "the safest in the market as it does not require a smart card reducing thus the possibility of piracy". The CAM also allows the implementation of different subscription models (pay-per-view, impulsive pay-per-view, pay-per date) as well as a messaging system.
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