Details of a draft law on the transition to digital broadcasting have been announced in Hungary. Aside from a DTT tender, they include proposals on several aspects of programme distribution. Speaking exclusively to Broadband TV News, Ferenc Kéry, the president of the Hungarian Cable Communications Association (HCA), said that the draft law includes a reference […]
Virgin and Sky begin High Court tussle
Virgin Media has begun its High Court case against BSkyB. In papers submitted to the Court, Virgin has accuses the pay-TV platform of abusing a dominant position. The two companies have been involved in heated exchanges since February, when the former NTL-Telewest took the Virgin name, though the dispute over the carriage of Sky’s basic […]
90% HD penetration if Ofcom grants DTT spectrum
Ninety per cent of UK homes will be watching high definition by 2020, but only if Ofcom allocates additional spectrum for the HD format. Research from Strategy Analytics suggests that without further gifted capacity the availability will be restricted to just 60%. Strategy Analytics report HDTV and DTT: The Impact Of Platform Evolution Decisions On […]
SES in C-band call
SES New Skies has written to its customers, calling on them to challenge proposals to have the so-called C-band reassigned to terrestrial mobile services. In a letter signed by both SES New Skies President and CEO Robert Bednarek and SES President and CEO Romain Bausch, the company calls on its customers to lobby their national […]
Finnish minister considers licence fee replacement
Finland’s new communications minister has told the Finnish press that the current television licence fee should be replaced. Suvi Lindén told Sunnuntaisuomalainen that the public broadcaster YLE should be funded either through regular taxes or by a special supplement that would be paid for by all tax payers. She said the licence fee could no […]
32 applicants for Austrian DTT
Thirty-two applications have been received for the second DTT mulitplex in Austria due to launch this October. These include 16 proposals for TV channels and 16 for radio stations. Due to the limited availability of spectrum space television will have priority. The Österreichische Rundfunksender GmbH & Co KG (ORS), the technical subsidiary of pubic broadcaster […]
Life TV fined in product placement breach
Ofcom’s Content Sanctions Committee has fined Life TV £125,000 for a series of breaches of its Broadcasting Code covering editorial independence and product placement. The offending programme, Britain’s Best Breaks, has been on air since 2003 and has already been the subject of a number of sanctions by the regulator. During the course of the […]
Czech mobile TV hits roadblock
CACC 2007, PRAGUE – The greatest obstacle to the introduction of mobile TV services in the Czech Republic is regulatory, according to Richard Stonavsky, the head of regulatory affairs at T-Mobile, Czech Republic. Stonavsky was speaking at the 8th Czech Broadband Communications (CACC) conference being held this week in Prague and also revealed the findings […]
Ericsson completes Tandberg offer
Ericsson has finalised its offer for Tandberg Television after receiving favourable rulings from the relevant competition authorities. Ericsson says that all the conditions laid out in its February 26 offer document have now been met and the company will now complete the offer in line with the offer document. Settlement of the shares in the […]
EU piracy proposals are ‘Pandora’s Box’
The European Anti-Piracy Association AEPOC has warned that the proposed EU Directive for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights creates a dangerous concept in ‘legal piracy’. It warns of potentially dangerous side effects from the Directive’s admission that piracy committed by consumers within their own homes should be allowed to continue without sanction. AEPOC says […]