Advanced Television

AMOS-17 HTS satellite reaches milestone

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, has announced that its AMOS-17 communication satellite has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) and entered full production. Specifically designed for the African continent and scheduled for launch in early 2019, AMOS-17 will operate from 17°E to expand and strengthen Spacecom’s coverage in Africa, the Middle East […]

November 6, 2017

Vubiquity partners with Cell C

Vubiquity has agreed a deal with cellular operator Cell C, to provide new and exclusive content and entertainment services throughout South Africa. The deal encompasses a substantial linear channel entertainment bundle provided to Cell C via Vubiquity and their partners. The deal also covers the licensing and distribution of VoD covering SVoD, TVoD and the […]

November 6, 2017

Switzerland: UPC acquires Mellingen cable network

UPC has completed a full takeover of the cable network in the old town of the municipality of Mellingen in the canton of Aargau. A large part of the network infrastructure in the municipality of Mellingen was already owned by UPC. Some 300 residents who already use the UPC services will also be able to […]

November 6, 2017

MoMedia herds Simon’s Cat into TVoD

MoMedia, the digital distributor and content management company, has signed a string of TVoD deals for the second season of Simon’s Cat, under which Endemol Shine Group’s animated comedy series will roll out across the major EST (electronic sell-through) stores in the run-up to Christmas. The new Simon’s Cat package will initially be available on […]

November 6, 2017

Arqiva pulls IPO

UK transmission and TV facilities company Arqiva has postponed its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London stock market. The decision was unexpected, and could indicate that Arqiva is in negotiation for a trade sale, which was its initial plan. The IPO was expected to raise some £6 billion (€6.72bn) in what would have been the […]

November 3, 2017By Chris Forrester

Altice debuts cloud-based Altice One

Broadband communications and video services provider Altice USA has unveiled Altice One, a new connectivity platform that it says reinvents the way consumers connect to the entertainment and content they want. According to Altice, Altice One provides a better, personalised and simple all-in-one video, broadband, WiFi and phone experience with new and enhanced features such […]

November 3, 2017

Digital boost for BBC Sport

The BBC has announced plans to reinvent free-to-air sports broadcasting, with its biggest increase of live sport coverage in a generation. Over a thousand extra hours of live sport could be available for audiences to watch online every year through BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer. Sport fans can also personalise the service to make sure […]

November 3, 2017By Colin Mann

D-BOOK 10 defines UK TV requirements

The DTG, the UK’s collaboration centre for innovation in digital media technology, has published its D-Book 10, the industry-determined, next-generation, universally-deployed specification which supports future interactive services and enables the continuing transition towards HbbTV. Whereas D-Book 9 introduced HbbTV references for Freeview Play at the MHEG to HbbTV transition which included the introduction of support […]

November 3, 2017By Colin Mann

Italy: No demand for fibre

Italy has made great strides in expanding fixed broadband coverage from 43.9 per cent in 2015 to 72.3 per cent in 2016, reducing the gap from the European average to just 3.7 percentage points. However, on the demand side, fibre accounted for only 3 per cent of total broadband subscribers in 2016, well below the […]

November 3, 2017From Branislav Pekic in Rome

SES: “No meaningful growth until 2019”

Another negative report on satellite operator SES has emerged from investment bank Berenberg. The bank downgraded its advice to investors from “Buy” to “Hold”, saying a combination of delayed satellite launches, satellite health issues and the termination of low-value added contracts means that – in the bank’s view – SES will not deliver meaningful growth […]

November 3, 2017