AB IPBox 910HD - TELE-satellite International Magazine

Colombia, including Bucaramanga and Cartagena,
as well as focusing on the capital of Bogota.
NETHERLAND ANTILLES
UTS CURACAO DELIVERS MORE
HD WITH RGB NETWORKS
United Telecommunication Services (UTS), the
parent company of TDS, the wireless cable service
provider servicing the Dutch islands of Curaçao
and Bonaire, has deployed RGB’s Broadcast
Network Processor (BNP) as a key element of its
next-generation video delivery network. Working
with Divitel, RGB’s system integration partner
in the Netherlands, UTS has migrated its TDS
system to a fully digital, IP-based platform. RGB’s
BNP, offering high density grooming, statistical
multiplexing and transrating, enables UTS to offer
their subscribers in Curaçao and Bonaire a number
of new services, including significantly more high
definition (HD) channels at extremely high quality.
URUGUAY
ANTEL TO LAUNCH IPTV
Telecommunications operator Antel will launch
IPTV services during the first quarter of 2009,
according to local media reports. Antel’s vice
president, Gonzalo Perera, said the company
has been working on the launch and already has
the necessary equipment to deliver the service,
which would be the country’s first IPTV offering.
A S I A
MIDDLE EAST SATELLITE REVENUES
TOP US$ 752 MILLION
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has
become one of the most dynamic emerging
markets for satellite and broadcast use, according
to a recent study by Euroconsult and The
London Satellite Exchange. Transponder demand
throughout MENA has risen 12 per cent per year
for the last five years. Commercial satellite-lease
revenues have grown by 17 per cent per year on
average since 2003, reaching US$ 752 million
in 2007. The report states that 42 per cent of Kuband
satellite usage within the MENA region was
from TV and radio broadcasts, while the remainder
was made up from voice and data traffic.
JAPAN HDTV LEADER IN ASIA
Of the 50 million total TV households in Japan,
almost 17 million have HDTV, according to a study
by IMS Research. In contrast, there are 400 million
total TV households in China, but HDTV is only
just beginning to be rolled out. Japan’s uptake of
HDTV has been driven by Japan Broadcasting
Corp. (NHK), the country’s sole public broadcaster.
NHK has introduced HD via free satellite,
thus creating a demand for the programming,
although NHK also delivers digital terrestrial with
additional HD programming as a pay service.
China’s uptake of HDTV may be driven more
by cable. The country’s primary video provider
is China Central TV (CCTV), the state-owned
broadcaster, which is slowly transitioning from
analog to digital terrestrial. There is no direct
broadcast satellite (DBS) operator in the country.
SMARTSAT FIRST PRIVATE
SATELLITE COMPANY
An alliance of Jordanian and Kuwaiti companies
announced in February the launch of a USD 500
million firm, which will be the MENA region’s
first private company specialised in the satellite
industry. The new UAE-based company has
been named SmartSat and will be headquartered
in Dubai Studio City. SmartSat will offer
its new services by launching the Arab World’s
first private satellite that will serve the MENA
region. The company will thus contribute in the
development of the quality of services for the
region’s internet service providers (ISPs), GSM
providers, broadband technology solutions
providers, television stations, and ministries of
communication, military agencies and companies
dealing with data systems among others.
ASTRIUM AND THALES TO DELIVER
NEW ARABSAT SATELLITES
Arabasat has selected the consortium of Astrium
and Thales Alenia Space to build and deliver in
orbit two new satellites, Arabsat 5C and Arabsat
6B. Astrium will supply the Eurostar E3000
platforms and integrate the satellites. Thales
Alenia Space will design and build the communications
payloads. Arabsat-5C will feature
26 active transponders in C-band and 12 in
Ka-band at the position 20°E. Arabsat-6B will
be co-located with the rest of Arabsat’s BADR
constellation at its 26° East “hot-spot” and will
feature 36 active transponders in Ku-band.
CHINA
ZHUJIANG DIGITAL OPTS FOR
MICROSOFT MEDIAROOM
Guangzhou Digital Media Group has formally
launched Zhujiang Digital, a connected TV
service powered by the Microsoft Mediaroom
IPTV platform. This is the first Mediaroomenabled
TV service to launch in China and the
first time Mediaroom has been delivered over a
cable network anywhere in the world. The new
service, available to residents in the Guangzhou
region of China, also includes the first deployment
of the Mediaroom Anytime feature set,
which will let subscribers access previously
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