Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.
Iran, for some time a pariah nation, is finally suffering the reality of increasingly tough sanctions. In the past few weeks Eutelsat and Intelsat have taken down Iran’s state-backed channels, including those belonging to Press TV, its English-language propaganda station. Now Hong Kong-based AsiaSat has removed all Iranian TV and radio channels “in line with […]
EU’s foreign policy minister on has denounced Iran’s “deliberate jamming” of TV and radio satellite broadcasts that deprive its citizens of access to free information, and called on Tehran to obey global telecommunications laws. “Since 2009, repeated waves of jamming have affected the signals of European satellites in the Middle East,” the EU’s Catherine Ashton […]
France’s telecommunications agency is formally asking the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to take action on persistent satellite jamming by Iran. France’s National Agency of Frequency Regulation (ANFR) says it is “extremely concerned” about Iranian jamming, and reports suggest that discussions between France and other national bodies are discussing sanctions against Iran. In other news Iran […]
Eutelsat and Intelsat have already taken down Iranian TV transmissions coming from IRIB and Press TV. On November 8th the US government applied sanctions on certain named individuals connected to Iran’s broadcasting efforts, as well as criticising Iran’s deliberate jamming of its neighbour’s satellite transmissions and local Internet censorship policies. The US State Department has […]
Iran’s IRIB state-backed TV channels have been dropped by the Eutelsat and Intelsat organisations. The decision also affected the controversial Press TV signals. Press TV has been proscribed by German and British media regulators. Now, according to communiqués from the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) the channels are being reinstated for satellite viewers from satellites […]
Eutelsat has increased its level of cooperation with a major state-backed Russian satellite operator. Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) has signed a fresh agreement with Eutelsat which sees Eutelsat leasing capacity on two RSCC craft which will launch next year and in 2015. The leases are for the 15-year lifetime of the satellites, and have […]
During a post-results financial statement late on October 25th the CEO of Eutelsat, Michel de Rosen, made a robust defence of its position regarding the 28.5 degrees East orbit slot, and from where hundreds of TV and radio channels are beamed into the UK and Ireland. SES Astra is also claiming certain transmission rights from […]
Iran is not having a good week. Its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is increasingly sidelined, and it has seen much of its powerful overseas television influence severely diminished. Now, its parliament is proposing an urgent review of its satellite strategy, and to urgently build its own satellite. Buying a satellite would be extremely difficult given the […]
Satellite operator Intelsat says it is not required to drop Iran’s international TV channels from its satellite services, as did France-based satellite operator Eutelsat earlier this week. A report carried by BBC Monitoring regarding Luxembourg-based Intelsat’s position in relation to increased EU sanctions on Iran, Intelsat’s director of corporate communications, Alex Horwitz, said Intelsat’s situation […]
Eutelsat has stopped carrying channels from Iranian state broadcaster IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting). UK-based Arqiva is the service supplier and holds the IRIB contract, and has terminated its contract with IRIB. 19 TV and radio channels are affected, mostly transmitting from Eutelsat’s popular ‘Hotbird’ satellites. French media regulator, the Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel […]
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