Advanced Television

Regulation

Groups contest FCC net neutrality proposal

A wide selection of public interest groups is arguing that the open Internet principles suggested by the FCC last week fall short of “real” net neutrality More than 80 public interest groups, businesses and civil rights groups signed the letter to the Federal Communications Commission, saying net neutrality rules should ban paid prioritisation of online […]

December 13, 2010

Ofcom green lights product placement

Many of Britain’s top TV programmes could feature product placement within months. The move allowing programme-makers to take payment to promote products within their show – a British television first – is set to be given final approval by media regulator Ofcom this week and come into force from February. Many industry experts suggest there […]

December 13, 2010

New laws may be required to support local TV

Ofcom has set out a range of ways in which the current system of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) might be changed to help deliver local TV services. A report has been prepared for the Culture and Media Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who asked Ofcom to produce the report in his speech at the RTS International Conference […]

December 13, 2010

India: Digitisation in a hurry

Industry leaders at CASBAA’s “Addressable India 2010” meeting have united to urge the government to move rapidly towards the addressable digitalisation of India’s pay-TV industry. Spearheaded by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), MSO Alliance, News Broadcasters Association (NBA), DTH Association of India, IPTV India Forum, Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI) and CASBAA, the seven […]

December 10, 2010

Europe fines Flat-Panel makers on price fixing

The European Commission has imposed fines on five South Korean and Taiwanese companies for fixing the prices of liquid-crystal display panels in popular devices like flat-screen televisions, computers and notebook devices. The fines, totaling €649 million were related to violations dating to 2001, when the companies started meeting to fix prices of LCD screens. Although […]

December 9, 2010

Orbit-Showtime cuts off 5m pirates

Middle East pay-TV operator Orbit Showtime Network is about to initiate an improved conditional access system designed to disable an estimated five million pirates, many viewing on so-called Dreambox receivers. Owners of Dreambox units use the internet to update the latest pirate software to view encrypted programming. Orbit Showtime (OSN), which merged their rival services […]

December 7, 2010Chris Forrester

UK plans super fast broadband future

The UK Government has revealed plans to spend £830 million (€979m) in an effort to give the UK the best broadband network in Europe by 2015. An action plan – Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future – published by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, sets out the ambition to create a ‘digital hub’ in every community in the […]

December 6, 2010From Colin Mann in London

DVB choice under question in Colombia

The decision to adopt the DVB digital television standard in Colombia has been suspended. There are local reports of “irregularities” over the decision-making process which ended up with DVB being selected. According to the El Espectador newspaper, the Colombian State Council has accepted the request to cancel the DVB decision pending a decision on whether […]

December 6, 2010By Chris Forrester

PALS to obtain Newtec ASBU-MENOS Open DSNG Certification for its satellite systems

Newtec, a global player in satellite communications, has announced that PALS Electronics has successfully achieved the Multimedia Exchange Network over Satellite (MENOS) certification of its vehicle-mounted and fly drive satellite antenna systems for use with Newtec’s ASBU-MENOS Open DSNG networking solution. The certification process ensures that the proposed solution is fully compliant with the MENOS […]

December 6, 2010

Europe extends Sky deadline as concessions offered

  The European Commission has given itself an extra fortnight to consider the competition implications of News Corp’s bid to take control of Sky as News reportedly offers significant concessions to try and ensure the deal is approved. The EC decision deadline has been moved back from 8th December to the 22nd after it received […]

December 3, 2010