Advanced Television

Broadband

MTN brings Internet on TV to South Africa

MTN has unveiled InternetOnTV, bringing affordable Internet access to South Africa’s unconnected masses. MTN InternetOnTV is a home phone and Internet device in one, including a built-in 3G modem that supports 7.2Mbps connectivity. The package includes a keyboard, RCA cable and mouse. The MTN InternetOnTV device can be used with a PayAsYouGo SIM card and […]

February 17, 2011

Google TV: We are not about cord cutting!

In a ‘read my lips’ moment here at Cable Congress, Donagh O’Mally, Head of Partnerships UK, Ireland and Benelux for YouTube, declared: “Google TV is not about cord cutting. Anyone who cancels pay-TV to get Google TV is going to be disappointed.” That promise didn’t entirely convince all members of the following panel on ‘How […]

February 16, 2011From Nick Snow @ Cable Congress

Liberty: Ziggo is better fit than KBW

Confirming CEO Mike Fries’ declaration yesterday that Liberty Global is on watch for acquisitions, Shane O’Neill, Chief Strategy Officer, took the opportunity of the Investor panel to confirm they were appraising KBW, but also that, given the choice and the right price, “Ziggo [the Dutch operator] is a much better fit for us.” Mixed news […]

February 16, 2011Nick Snow@Cable Congress

Deutsche Telekom, Sky Deutschland distribution deal

Deutsche Telekom and pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland have agreed a deal to include Sky’s channels as part of DT’s cable TV offering. Deutsche Telekom (DT) will feed Sky’s programmes into its so-called NE 3 and NE 4 cable networks and households, giving consumers access to the whole range of Sky products and services. The deal […]

February 16, 2011

‘Techtonic Forces’ drive European Cable

In a reference to the tectonic plates that created the Alpine peaks towering above Cable Congress’s Lucerne venue, Manuel Kohnstamm, Cable Europe President, told delegates that organisers had coined the phrase ‘Techtonic Forces’ to describe the 2011 event, because “we want the world to know that cable is pushing the communications industry to new peaks […]

February 15, 2011Nick Snow@Cable Congress

Wanna Roadmap? Get a Brazilian…

Now I’ve got your attention I’ll explain. A session here at Cable Congress posed the question what should operator’s digital home strategies be? No surprise that everybody nodded enthusiastically to enabling the home network, developing the Set Top as the home gateway and delivering ‘blow me away’ user interfaces. But panellists also admitted that this […]

February 15, 2011

Embracing OTT and a plea to regulators

The Plenary session at Cable Congress is always a good place to judge the current ‘group think’ of the European cable sector. For a few years now, the big question has been about the ‘opportunity’ and/or ‘threat’ of OTT services and this year’s Plenary again updated us on the latest take. In recent years, OTT […]

February 15, 2011Nick Snow@Cable Congress

Strong growth for European Cable

Figures released by trade body Cable Europe, as the European cable industry convenes for the Cable Congress, show that the sector’s ongoing investments in next-generation Internet access and digital television keeps paying off. With product innovations following one after the other, the industry announced strong 2010 year-end numbers. Manuel Kohnstamm, President, Cable Europe, reported that […]

February 15, 2011Nick Snow@Cable Congress

woomi takes blinkx OTT

Video search engine blinkx is teaming up with woomi, the new Connected TV destination from cloud-based video distribution platform  Miniweb Technologies. The deal gives audiences worldwide access to blinkx’s index of over 35 million hours of online video through the woomi service. woomi enables device manufacturers to enhance their products with a feature-rich connected TV […]

February 15, 2011

EU plans fast broadband meeting with CEOs

Heads of telecommunications and Internet companies will gather in Brussels in March and July to discuss plans to provide all European Union citizens with fast broadband by 2020, a spokesman for EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes has stated. “I can confirm that Kroes has invited CEOs from the companies in the telecoms networks, telecoms […]

February 15, 2011