SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine

MEDIA Satellite & Broadband News
SINGAPORE
MIO TV TO AIR CONTENT FROM HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Disney-ABC, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox will air more
than 50 series on Singapore’s Mio TV IPTV platform in a firstof-its-kind
syndication deal with the country’s dominant telecom,
SingTel. The exclusive deal with the one-year-old platform will
see series air as early as 24 hours after their U.S. broadcast.
Financial terms of the licensing agreements were not disclosed.
The exclusive on-demand window will last five to six months.
STARHUB TO ADD FIVE HDTV CHANNELS
Pay-TV operator StarHub plans to be offering five high-definition
channels on its digital cable platform by the end of this year, including
a sports service. HD5 and Sports HD have already joined the
the existing National Geographic Channel HD and Discovery HD.
A fifth high-definition channel will be up and running by year end.
SOUTH KOREA
CABLE OPERATORS CRITICISE IPTV ACT
Cable TV operators have protested against the IPTV Act prepared by
the Korea Communications Commission, saying that it is disappointing
to cable TV and the entire broadcasting industry as the Act is
biased in favor of certain communications operators, especially KT.
The KCC’s IPTV Act confirms accounting separation that all backbone
operators are subject to is enough to prevent them from transferring
their dominating power. In addition, the IPTV act also includes PAR
or Program Access Rule that cable networks have opposed, citing
that the rule might cause infringement on content providers’ property
rights and disrupt the nation’s content industry, the companies said.
THREE IPTV OPERATORS SELECTED FOR PILOT PROJECT
Korea Communications Commission has selected KT Consortium,
Hanaro Consortium and LG Dacom Consortium for a pilot project of
convergence of broadcasting and telecommunication. The selected
consortium, run with 3 billion won of the public and private matching
fund, plans to provide contents owned by national and public institutions
to subscribers so that they can see the contents at home through
IPTV. It will kick off pilot service for 600 households in December.
SRI LANKA
SRI LANKA TELECOM PICKS UTSTARCOM IPTV SOLUTION
UTStarcom has signed a contract with Just In Time Holdings to
supply its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution to Sri Lanka
Telecom (SLT).SLT will use the RollingStream platform to bring
IPTV services to its growing customer base throughout Sri Lanka.
SLT, with more than 87 per cent market share and a subscriber
base of more than 1.300.000 customers, expects to grow its
residential and commercial business through its increased triple
play capabilities now available with this IPTV deployment.
A F R I C A
SOUTH AFRICA
MULTICHOICE LAUNCHES HDTV
MultiChoice launched HDTV in the South African market in July,
the first of its kind in Africa. The Beijing Olympics were the first
event to broadcast in HD format at the beginning of August. A
new M-Net HD channel will launch at the end of August when HD
PVR decoders will go on sale at major retail stores throughout
the country at the price of R2499.00 (for a limited period only). To
view DStv channels in HD, a customer will need a DStv decoder.
W O R L D
AFN TO GO HD BY 2014
American Forces Network won’t convert its satellite broadcast to a
system that’s compatible with high-definition television until 2013 for
Pacific viewers and 2014 for viewers in Europe, according to Larry
Sichter, Defense Media Center public affairs officer. AFN’s current
digital compression system packs 10 channels into a slither of satellite
broadband. AFN will announce and publicize the exact details
of its conversion plans sometime within the next 12 to 18 months.