SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine

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