India’s parliament has approved the country’s TV digitisation plan. The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2011 was entered onto the statute books, and will force cable operators to digitise their networks in a staged manner but to have the complete country digitised by December 31st 2014. The new bill also gives India’s government the […]
With analogue switch-off in France completed on 29 November, Eutelsat’s Fransat service is firmly anchored as a key digital platform delivering national free-to-air channels to viewers beyond range of over-the-air, cable or ADSL reception. Launched in 2009 as a subscription-free platform, Fransat is available to homes in metropolitan France equipped with a dish, a Fransat […]
Fitch Ratings says that the introduction of mandatory cable television digitisation in India would improve the business profile of multi-system operators (MSOs) over the medium- to long-term, driven by improved transparency through accurate reporting of subscriber base. This in turn will provide greater comfort to investors to provide capital to this sector. The greater transparency […]
The Irish Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte T.D. has released research which reveals that 87 per cent per cent of Irish people are now aware of the digital TV switchover and 35 per cent are aware that the analogue TV network will be officially switched off in October 2012. These encouraging […]
The government mandate to digitise cable networks across India will bring a significant transformation to the $7 billion TV industry with a positive impact on the nascent broadband market, says a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA). Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia, said: “India’s broadcasting and pay-TV market is on the cusp […]
Following the news November 24 that Sky Television and Television New Zealand (TVNZ) had formed a partnership to launch a new digital pay television service, delivering pay channels over Sky’s digital terrestrial spectrum, Sky has released further details of the venture. The new service – to be called Igloo – will provide paid-for and free […]
Sky Italia says the current Italian scheme to allocate new digital frequencies is flawed and biased in favour of the two major network incumbents, public broadcaster RAI and Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset. Sky Italia has now faced Italy’s new Prime Minister Mario Monti with having to make a decision whether to change the rules – and […]
Sky Television and Television New Zealand (TVNZ) have formed a partnership to launch a new digital pay television service, delivering pay channels over Sky’s digital terrestrial spectrum. Sky has a 51 per cent shareholding and TVNZ a 49 per cent shareholding in the joint venture. The new service will provide paid-for and free content, including […]
The last socialist cabinet meeting has approved the digital dividend roadmap to be implemented between next July 2012 and December 31st 2014. Present DTT broadcasters, which are now using the 790-862 MHz frequency bands, will have to migrate to 470-790 MHz bands to free the so-called digital dividend whose bands (790-862 MHz) will be operated […]
The ITU’s giant World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-12) opens in Geneva on January 23rd and runs until February 17th. One of its priorities is the restructuring of the ‘digital dividend’ following on from switching off analogue TV, “and the development of Ultra HDTV”. The ITU sessions have 3 other major items on its agenda, including the […]