SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine
SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine
SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
of Beijing Olympics in August. The Zhongxing-9 <strong>satellite</strong><br />
was built by Thales Alenia Space for China Satellite<br />
Communications Corporations (Satcom), one<br />
of the six basic telecommunications operators in the<br />
country under the Ministry of Information Industry.<br />
INDIA<br />
AKSH LAUNCHES IPTV WITHOUT<br />
BROADBAND CONNECTION<br />
Aksh Optifibres in association with telecom firm<br />
MTNL has launched country’s first IPTV service<br />
which can be viewed without any high speed<br />
broadband connection. The company plans to<br />
invest around Rs 150 in its icontrol IPTV platform<br />
in Mumbai and Delhi, which would provide more<br />
than 100 channels to its customers. It carries all<br />
the major popular entertainment channels from<br />
the Star and Sony group and sports channels<br />
from Neo and Ten Sports. Aksh has also entered<br />
with an agreement with telecom giant BSNL and<br />
MTNL, aiming for a strong presence in urban<br />
and rural areas where the government-controlled<br />
telecom firms have vast subscriber base.<br />
BHARTI AIRTEL LAUNCHES IPTV<br />
WITHOUT AUTHORISATION<br />
The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has<br />
asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to initiate<br />
action against Bharti Airtel for launching IPTV services<br />
without obtaining the requisite approvals. While,<br />
Bharti in its response has said it has not launched<br />
commercial IPTV services, but was only doing<br />
pilots, the I&B ministry has told the DoT that private<br />
telcos have not been cleared to offer this service.<br />
MTNL PROVIDES 74 IPTV CHANNELS<br />
MTNL is currently providing as many as 74 channels<br />
through their IPTV service, compared to just around<br />
26 free-to-air channels during launch. The company<br />
has signed up a deal with Time Broadband Services<br />
and its Israeli partner Optibase for developing and<br />
handling the content delivery network for its IPTV<br />
services. They are currently using Optibase’s IPTV<br />
MGW 5100 platforms for its digital IPTV headend<br />
operation at the company’s network operating<br />
centre. Time Broadband is now preparing to<br />
deploy IPTV services on both TV & PC delivery.<br />
MINISTRY ACCEPTS IPTV RECOMMENDATIONS<br />
India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting<br />
has accepted recommendations from the Telecoms<br />
and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for IPTV,<br />
according to local reports. The uplinking/downlinking<br />
norms will be amended to enable all broadcasters<br />
to provide signals to all distributors of TV channels,<br />
including IPTV operators, TRAI has also received<br />
a consensus from broadcasters to adopt non-discriminatory<br />
price regime on the composition of<br />
channel bouquets and the pricing of channels on an<br />
a-la-carte and bouquets basis for IPTV services.<br />
INDONESIA<br />
BNS TO DESIGN HD IPTV PLATFORM FOR PT<br />
IP solutions provider BNS has been appointed<br />
by Indonesian telecommunications provider PT.<br />
Multi Kontrol Nusantara (MKN), a subsidiary<br />
company of Bakrie Group, to design and procure<br />
a turnkey HD & SD IPTV service platform. BNS’s<br />
IPTV Service Platform design will enable MKN to<br />
deliver high and standard definition video services,<br />
including multicast, VOD, Network PVR,<br />
Time-Shift-TV, eShopping, games and others.<br />
ISRAEL<br />
SPACECOM TO PURCHASE AMOS 5 SATELLITE<br />
Spacecom Satellite Communications will buy<br />
the Amos 5 communications <strong>satellite</strong> from Russia’s<br />
JSC Academician MF Reshetnev Informa-<br />
tion Satellite Systems for USD 157 million. The<br />
Amos 5 <strong>satellite</strong> is scheduled for delivery and<br />
launch by March 31, 2011, and is due to operate<br />
for 15 years. Spacecom can cancel the agreement<br />
to buy the Amos 5 up to the launch if the <strong>satellite</strong><br />
cannot be delivered, if it is found to be flawed<br />
during ground tests, or if it is lost after launch.<br />
JAPAN<br />
SKY PERFECT JSAT CONSIDERS HDTV<br />
Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. is exploring the option<br />
of expanding its <strong>satellite</strong> television business by<br />
launching a broadcasting-<strong>satellite</strong>-based digital<br />
service in 2011 to complement its communications-<strong>satellite</strong><br />
TV offerings. In the communications<strong>satellite</strong><br />
TV service, the company plans to start<br />
offering 12 high-definition TV channels in October.<br />
By 2011, the number is expected to be raised to<br />
nearly 100, roughly half the firm’s communications-<strong>satellite</strong><br />
TV channels. “We aim to become<br />
one of the top high-definition TV broadcasters in<br />
the world,” said Chairman Masanori Akiyama.<br />
JAPANESE COMPANIES AGREE<br />
ON IPTV STANDARDS<br />
Telecoms companies Nippon Telegraph and<br />
Telephone (NTT), KDDI and Softbank BB have<br />
teamed together with technology vendors including<br />
Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Toshiba,<br />
Sharp and Hitachi, as well as the country’s five<br />
major commercial TV broadcasters and public<br />
broadcaster NHK. The companies expect to draw<br />
up unified IPTV standards and urge local IPTV<br />
operators and consumer electronics manufacturers<br />
to develop compatible technologies and equipment.<br />
KAZAKHSTAN<br />
KAZSAT-1 LOST<br />
Kazakhstan’s sole communications <strong>satellite</strong>, used<br />
by many of the country’s TV broadcasters, is out<br />
of control due to a computer glitch and is likely<br />
to be lost altogether. Kazakhstan launched the<br />
Russian-built KazSat-1 <strong>satellite</strong> in June 2006,<br />
the first of four which it aimed to have in orbit by<br />
2020 and which it said would establish the Central<br />
Asian country as a global space power. The head<br />
of Kazakhstan’s National Space Agency, Talgat<br />
Musabayev, said the <strong>satellite</strong> has been out of touch<br />
since June 8 and could no longer be controlled from<br />
a space command centre in neighbouring Russia.<br />
MALAYSIA<br />
<strong>TELE</strong>KOM MALAYSIA TO LAUNCH IPTV IN 2009<br />
Telekom Malaysia is to launch IPTV commercially<br />
in the second quarter of next year, as part of its<br />
drive to increase the usage of broadband services<br />
in the country, the company’s CEO Datuk Zamzamzairani<br />
has said. Telekom Malaysia has reportedly<br />
been conducting trials in 400 homes in the Klang<br />
Valley, as well as in Kulim and Penang. When asked<br />
about channel offerings on the new service, the<br />
executive said that this is still in development.<br />
NEW ZEALAND<br />
SKY TV TO INVEST USD 17.5 MILLION IN HDTV<br />
SKY TV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s<br />
News Corporation, will spend $NZ22 million<br />
(USD17.5 million) over two years on high-definition<br />
broadcasts. The broadcaster said it aimed<br />
to get 80,000 set-top boxes installed. The<br />
new high-definition set-top boxes would cost<br />
$NZ599, or may be rented for $NZ15 a month.<br />
Sky TV’s HD content is via a My Sky HDi settop<br />
box that is identical to that offered by Foxtel.<br />
Sky TV subscribers also have access to five<br />
channels; Sky Sport 1 and 2, Sky Movies, Sky<br />
Movies Greats and free-to-air channel TV3.