Telenor Broadcast Day – Oslo. Conax has confirmed it is to provide conditional access services to the new Europa 7 pay-TV platform. The network of eight HD channels will launch in June, marking the end of a long legal battle for the Italian broadcaster.
“The decoder will be sold through retailers all through Italy. The good news is that all the channels will be secured by Conax,” said CEO Berit Svendsen. As with all its clients, Conax will use chipset pairing, meaning that although a CI module will be used it will be tied to a particular set-top box.
Europa 7 will be in competition with Mediaset Premium, which already has 4.1 million cards in the market.
Although it obtained a TV concession in 1998, the broadcaster founded and owned by Francesco Di Stefano never went on air because the necessary frequencies were always used by Rete 4, a TV channel belonging to Silvio Berlusconi’s media group Mediaset.
The European Court of Justice delivered its judgment in January 2008, putting forward transitional arrangements ahead of a ruling by the regulator Agcom the following October.
About Julian Clover
"In an industry that experiences rapid change and often a confusing subsequent
constant supply of news, it is often refreshing to read an insightful perspective. Broadband
TV News and its editorial team regularly provide a context and
helpful analysis to breaking news.”
Broadband TV News is the must-read publication for those working in the Business of the Multiscreen Television. We deliver news, insight and data direct to your desktop. As well as our constantly updated website you can sign-up to our Daily and Weekly email bulletins. 
Connected TV Forecasts NEW REPORT. The number of TV sets connected to the Internet will reach 551 million by 2016 for the 40 countries covered in this report from Digital TV Research, up from 124 million at end-2010. The report states that this translates to 20% of global TV sets by 2016, up from only 6% at end-2010. Published in November 2011, this 83-page PDF report is the most geographically comprehensive to ever be published.