On Demand Group (ODG), a subsidiary of SeaChange International, has been appointed to manage a Video-on-Demand service solution for TTNET, Turkey's largest ISP. TTNET was the 13th largest ISP in the world in terms total subscribers in 2007 and reached 4.9 million subscribers as of first half 2008. The roll out of IPTV services to […]
BskyB is to raise $600m in a bond issue to institutional investors to provide funding for activities including possible acquisitions and the refinancing of debt. It launched a private placement late yesterday of 10-year bond notes at 9.5% interest. “It is expected that the net proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate […]
The BBC Trust has hinted it will rein in the broadcaster's commercial ambitions. The BBC Trust will tighten the guidelines for the operation of BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, Sir Michael Lyons told MPs. Sir Michael said the Trust had heard the chorus of complaint from the commercial sector about the reach of BBC […]
From Branislav Pekic Rome Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has sold a total of 2.7 million pre-paid cards for the reception of its pay-TV service on digital terrestrial, Mediaset Premium, launched in 2005. This figure represents an increase of 100,000 smart cards since the end of June. Also, around 1.5 million Italian families subscribe to the […]
Ad-funded, youth-oriented mobile virtual network operator Blyk has raised an impressive E40 million round from its existing investors. CEO Pekka Ala-Pietilä warned that, "like everyone else, [we] are feeling the impact of the world's financial situation" and Blyk has "taken decisive steps to cut costs and streamline our organisation." Since its launch in September 2007, […]
BSkyB is adding its channel lineup to 3's mobile TV offering in the UK. The satcaster's channels are already available through services offered by Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and in O2's now-finished mobile TV trial since 2005. Sky will be charged at £5 (E6.3) a month. It says its 30 live linear channels have over 200,000 […]
BigBand Networks has announced interoperability between its recently unveiled media services platform, the BigBand MSP2000, and Verimatrix’s Video Content Authority System (VCAS). This provides a cost-effective solution for inserting advertising on encrypted high-definition and standard-definition video streams, in both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 formats. The ability to insert ads directly into encrypted streams improves the operational […]
The growing popularity of IPTV services offered by a number of leading service providers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) bodes well for the region’s telecoms industry, as it searches for ways to diversify its voice and Internet access businesses. A study published by IDC indicates that, despite relatively limited uptake of IPTV in previous […]
Video delivery platform provider GridNetworks has launched GridCast TV, a new service that enables content distributors and owners to stream video directly over the Internet to viewers’ TVs. The GridCast TV service can already reach over 35 million homes, because it leverages existing UPnP (universal plug and play) devices such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation […]
Intelsat announced that Sonema, a provider of leading telecommunication services in Europe and Africa, expanded its current agreement with Intelsat for contracted satellite capacity, which will increase Sonema's enterprise services offerings. Sonema, a company that has been developing telecommunications services for more than two decades, uses Intelsat's capacity to provide satellite communication transmissions to businesses, […]