08-09 - TELE-satellite International Magazine

MEDIA Satellite & Broadband News
L A T I N A M E R I C A
OPERATORS SEEK IPTV ALTERNATIVES
IPTV will take a backseat to other pay-TV platforms
as operators seek alternative strategies to meet
the significant market demand, according to a new
report from Pyramid Research. IPTV is simply not
living up to expectations in Latin America, with less
than 0.1 per cent of households in Latin America
subscribed to IPTV at year-end 2008 and the technology
had very few net additions during the year.
Pyramid does not expect IPTV to break out of its
niche until around 2012, when it will be approaching
a 5 per cent share of total pay-TV subscriptions.
Pyramid estimates that by 2014, the region will be
home to more than 4.4 million IPTV subscriptions,
which will reach 2.6 per cent of all households.
BRAZIL
SKY BRASIL LAUNCHES HDTV SERVICE
Sky has launched its new HD service, SKY HDTV,
simoultaneously reaching 5,000 cities in Latin
America’s largest country. The HD line-up is as
follows: Discovery Theater HD, FOX-NatGeo
HD, ESPN HD, MGM HD, TNT HD, Voom HD,
Space HD, HBO HD, HBO and SexZone HD.
PERU
KOREAN FIRMS TO BUILD
IPTV INFRASTRUCTURE
A consortium of Korean IPTV firms had signed an
agreement with a Peruvian group to build out the
IPTV infrastructure in the country. The US$ 173
million (KRW 230 bn) first phase of the contract is
to build out the network and a broadcast center,
first in Lima and its environs, to reach about one
million households. Subsequent phases will
expand to a few other cities, when the value of the
contract is expected to grow to over US$ 1 billion.
VENEZUELA
ZTE TO SUPPORT CANTV’S IPTV PLAN
CANTV has selected ZTE to deliver equipment and
integration services to support a USD 00 million
plan to launch IPTV services. In a first deployment
phase, ZTE will provide a head-end system,
middleware, a video distribution network including
VoD servers and VoD management system,
content protection, STB and IP network infrastructure.
The aim of the first phase is to offer IPTV
services to 67.00 trial users with an offering that
could potentially include over 140 linear channels.
CANTV is targeting 1.26 million IPTV customers
within the next six years, according to ZTE.
A S I A
YAHLIVE TO LAUNCH DTH SERVICE IN 2009
YahLive, a joint venture between SES Astra and
Abu Dhabi’s Al Yah Satellite Communications
(Yahsat), plans to launch its first satellite and offer
DTH services from the fourth quarter of 2009, Chief
Executive Jassem al-Zaabi said. Yahsat, which is
launching two satellites in 2010 and 2011, is wholly
owned by Abu Dhabi investment firm Mubadala and
holds 65 per cent of YahLive. SES Astra is investing
US$ 50 million in the project while Yahsat will invest
around US$ 100 million. Yahsat’s two satellites are
being built at a cost of US$ 1.6 billion by a consortium
of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space.
ASIASAT SELECTS LORAL FOR ASIASAT 5C
Asiasat has selected Space Systems/Loral (SS/L)
to provide a new communications satellite Asiasat
5C. Asiasat 5C will serve as a backup for AsiaSat
5, which is currently being built by Space Systems/Loral
and is scheduled for launch in the third
quarter of 2009. Asiasat 5 will replace Asiasat 2
at the orbital location of 100.5 degrees East.
ECHOSTAR TO ENTER ASIAN DTH MARKET
EchoStar Corp. is expanding into the Asian DTH
market following the creation of a joint venture
with regional satellite operator Asia Satellite
Telecommunications. The new service, expected
to begin transmission in the second half of the
year, will use the AsiaSat 4 satellite to broadcast
an all-digital mix of video and audio channels to
DTH consumers using small satellite antennas.
The companies said they will each invest US$ 17.5
million in the new venture and together provide it
with another US$ 18 million in shareholder loans.
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are among the
first territories where the service will operate.
CHINA
PCCW REACHES 686.000 IPTV SUBSCRIBERS
Hong Kong-based PCCW reached an installed
base of 953.000 subscribers for its IPTV service
now TV by the end of 2008, with 686.000 of