Austria - DTT licence awarded to ORS
February 25, 2006 (DigiTAG) - The goverment has awarded the broadcast network operator ORS the licence to launch DTT services in Austria. It had been the only application received by the government.

New Zealand - Free digital TV on the way
February 25, 2006 (New Zealand Herald) - Decisions clearing the way for free-to-air digital television are expected by the end of the year.

Kudelski Group 2005 Results - Kudelski Group maintains momentum with record level top line and profitability
February 24, 2006 - Under the newly introduced IFRS accounting standards, total revenues and other operating income for the year 2005 amount to CHF 697.2m, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. EBIT reached CHF 121.1m, up 31.4% from 2004. Net profit at CHF 86.8m includes one-off, non-cash adjustments due to the migration to IFRS.
Digital TV was the main driver of these record level results. Revenues increased by 18%, due to a strong recovery of the Asian business (+38%), a continued strong momentum in Europe (+23%) and a further growth from a high revenue base in the Americas (+7%).
The Kudelski investment in IPTV and its open standards-based approach is paying off and gaining a strong market acceptance:
• neuf Telecom (France) - NagraIP ensures content protection for neuf's TV service. neuf's acquisition of Cegetel significantly increased the target subscriber base. Having passed the landmark of 50'000 subscribers in 2005, neuf Telecom's TV service plans to reach 200'000 subscribers in 2006.
• The Spanish broadband operator Jazztel has launched its DSL-based pay-TV service Jazztelia TV fully relying on NagraIP for content protection.
• PanAmSat (US) - Nagravision has signed a new contract to deliver an IPTV system including the NagraIP content protection solution and set top boxes for a high-definition MPEG4-based bouquet to be made available on a wholesale basis to cable and IPTV operators throughout the US.
• Ish (Germany) deploys an IPTV-based solution over cable fully relying on NagraIP for content protection.
As a further major extension of its IPTV offer, the Kudelski Group has formed a new UK-based subsidiary Quative Ltd, offering a next generation service delivery platform for IPTV, including content protection, content management & distribution and service delivery.
The Kudelski Group continues to expand in the mobile TV sector. Following the partnership with T-Mobile in the Czech Republic, Nagravision further strengthens its presence in this sector through a new agreement with 3 Italia (H3G) to secure the world's first mobile TV DVB-H commercial service.
3 Italia, the leading Italian mobile media company serving more than 5.5 million customers, has selected Nagravision to secure its mobile TV service to be launched prior to the FIFA World Cup in June 2006.
Nagravision continues to develop and extend the footprint of its prepaid solution originally deployed by Mediaset in Italy in 2005.
• EchoStar Communications, a Kudelski Group long-standing customer, announced last week its plan to launch its prepaid satellite TV service DishNow nationwide using technology supplied by NagraStar. DishNow comes in a number of packages including 60 channels with entertainment, sports, news and children's programming.
• Mediaset – Nagravision is to deploy the third release of the Mediaset rechargeable smart card solution suite, following a highly successful rollout of the first phases 2005. This new release enables Mediaset to expand its Pay-Per-View offering to include new features such as Pay-Per-Time and subscription services. This project is expected to be rolled out in late summer.
Nagravision continues to expand its early lead in Push Video on Demand. Following the recent announcement of a joint venture with Walt Disney Television International, Nagravision has completed the development of a next generation PVR with integrated Push VOD services. MovieBeam, a venture financially backed by Disney, Cisco and Intel, recently relaunched its Nagravision-secured movies-on-demand service in 29 major metropolitan areas across the U.S., including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, reaching nearly half of all U.S. households. The MovieBeam movies-on-demand service provides instant access in HDTV to an ever-changing lineup of new releases and other popular favorites from virtually every major Hollywood studio. Disney will release its films through the service on the same date they appear on DVD.
In addition to the above, Nagravision announces the following further new contracts:
• Telefonica del Peru – one of the largest telecom, Internet service and cable television providers in Peru, has selected Nagravision to supply a conditional access solution and Livewire OS software suite for its Cable Magico Digital TV network.
• R (Spain), the Galician fiber optic telecommunications operator, has selected Nagravision to supply a full conditional access suite for its digital TV network.
• In Brazil, TVA and Net Serviços are expanding their digital TV services using Nagravision technology by simultaneously launching new cities in Brazil and upgrading some networks to full digital.
• StarHub Cable Vision, Singapore's cable operator, is launching SmartTV, a new service that enables users to record their favourite TV programmes conveniently with their remote control. This new feature will be offered to subscribers through the deployment of Digital Video Recorders using Nagravision technology. An initial launch will take place end of February and full deployment is planned for the second quarter of the year. This will be the first deployment of a DVR project in Asia. Nagravision acts as a global integrator.
• Premiere (Germany) – in the last quarter of 2005, Premiere launched push PVR services using Nagravision turney solution.

Lithuania - National DTT licence awarded
February 24, 2006 (DigiTAG) - Industry sources indicate that UAB Mikrovisatos TV, which is based in the city of Kaunas, has secured a national DTT licence.

The Digital Home Entertainment Market Will Reach $411 Billion By 2010
February 24, 2006 - According to a new technical market research report, The Digital Home Entertainment Market (RG-302) from BCC Research, the total size of the digital home entertainment market was $166 billion in 2005 and will rise at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of almost 20%, reaching $411 billion by 2010. The market is divided between sales of home entertainment devices such as media PCs, TVs and DVD players, and accessories and supplies such as blank optical disks and batteries, as shown below.
The market for digital home entertainment devices can be divided into four categories: gateways (e.g., digital TV receivers, cable and satellite boxes), hubs and nodes (media PCs, digital audio and video players), output devices (digital TVs and loudspeakers) and networking devices. Hubs and nodes are the largest device segment, accounting for 56% of total device sales in 2004 and 55% in 2010.
Output devices such as digital TVs accounted for 16% of total digital home entertainment devices in 2004, a percentage that is expected to rise to more than 27% by 2010. Gateway devices are expected to increase their market share slightly between 2004 and 2010, i.e., from 25% to 26%. Networking devices consistently account for between 2% and 3% of the market.

Nagravision selected by 3 Italia to secure the world's first mobile TV DVB-H commercial service
February 24, 2006 - 3 Italia, the leading Italian Mobile Media Company serving more than 5,5 million customers (at the end of 2005) has selected Nagravision, the world leading independent provider of open conditional access and integrated solutions for digital TV operators and content providers to secure its Mobile TV service, to be launched prior to the FIFA World Cup in June/July 2006.
The Mobile TV service, based on DVB-H broadcast transmission, will use Nagravision Conditional Access technology to secure and protect the access to 3 Italia broadcast TV streams.
Nagra Mobile solution, integrated into 3 Italia’s SIM cards, handsets and network, manages the users’ access rights and will allow 3 Italia to deliver a wide variety of advanced business models, from Pay-per-Subscription to Pay-per-View and Pay-per-Time. By integrating the core Nagra Mobile security into 3 Italia SIM cards, the solution works as a Pay-TV Smart Card to provide 3 Italia with the required highest level of protection to deliver premium and value added mobile content to its large customer base while enabling 3 Italia to remain in control of its Mobile TV revenues.

Bharti Teletech launches DTH digital set top box
February 24, 2006 (WebIndia123) - Fixed line phones manufacturer Bharti Teletech has launched its direct-to-home (DTH) digital set top box in the domestic market under the brand name - Beetel.

China Sets Three IPTV Standards
February 24, 2006 - Experts from the telecom research institute of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) have disclosed the latest progress made on creating standards for IPTV.

“In the future, everyone will be able to produce their own TV channel”
February 23, 2006 (Globes) - Infogate, an Israeli company that develops solutions for IP-based television content, and Irdeto, which develops digital content protection, have teamed up to provide IP-based television services. This is an ideal opportunity to understand where this market stands and where it is headed.

Smart TV Is Coming Your Way; StarHub to commence initial launch of its Digital Video Recorder set-top box
February 23, 2006 - TV viewing experience in Singapore will never be the same again, with the introduction of StarHub’s latest offering to its cable TV customers. StarHub announced today that it will soon commence the initial launch of Smart TV, a new service which enables users to record their favourite TV programmes conveniently with just a single click on the remote control. In this way Smart TV allows our customers to “time shift” and have control over when TV programmes are viewed, instead of being restricted by schedules set by broadcasters. The time-shifting element provides users with the ability to pause, replay, reverse and fast-forward, even in the midst of viewing a ‘live’ TV broadcast. To enjoy Smart TV, existing cable TV customers simply need to own StarHub's new Digital Video Recorder (DVR) set-top box, which has a hard-disk recording capacity of 60 hours.
StarHub’s DVR set-top box is also a two-way interactive device with an inbuilt cable modem for interactivity. The unit has a high-capacity hard disk that will allow cable TV customers to record and store their favourite programmes, and watch them whenever they want and as many times as they wish. Recording a programme or movie is simple, as Smart TV is integrated with StarHub's On-screen TV Guide.

Singapore - StarHub Reports 2005 Fourth-Quarter And Full-Year Results
February 23, 2006 - StarHub ended 2005 on a high note with its operating revenue for the full year ended 31 December 2005 increasing 16% to S$1.57 billion. For 4Q2005, revenue also saw double-digit growth of 15% to S$415.1 million compared to the same period last year.
FY2005 Business Highlights:
• Cable TV customer base grew 9% to 448,000 as at 31 December 2005, crossing a household penetration rate of 40% for the first time. This is compared with 37% a year ago. Digital Cable TV customers grew by almost four-fold to reach 197,000 subscribers, versus 53,000 in 2004. The Cable TV business also maintained a low churn rate of 0.9% for the year.

Russia Prepares for IPTV and HD Television
February 23, 2006 (RedOrbit) - This month's CSTB [Cable, Satellite and TV Broadcasting] conference and exhibition in Moscow offered further evidence if it were needed of how far Russia's TV market has come in the last few years and a fascinating glimpse of what may now lie ahead.

Philips single-chip LCD TV solution adopted by Skyworth
February 23, 2006 - Royal Philips Electronics today announced that Skyworth's newly shipped LCD TV, 8T84 series, have adopted Philips' TDA15500 single-chip solution with it's TV505 reference design for mainstream and mid level LCD TV with screen size from 15 to 26 inches. The solution along with the reference design offers Skyworth the opportunity to shorten the development time and lower the manufacturing costs so that it can deliver feature-rich and affordable LCD TVs to its international and domestic customers.

Finland - Programme licences for television and radio broadcasting in digital television networks
February 23, 2006 - By virtue of section 9 of the Act on Television and Radio Operations (744/1998) the Finnish Government announces licences for television and radio broadcasting in digital television networks open for applications.

Via Licensing Expands Call for Patents for Its TV-Anytime Patent Licensing Program
February 23, 2006 - Via Licensing Corporation is pleased to expand its call for essential patents reading on the TV-Anytime specifications to include the TV-Anytime Phase 2 specifications.
The TVA-1 standard addresses the means by which consumers may search, select, and acquire broadcast and online audio-visual content in a world of set-top boxes with mass storage capabilities, currently referred to as personal video recorders (PVRs). The TVA-2 standard includes this functionality and adds interstitial content management (for advertisements, trailers, and so forth), content packaging, and the secure exchange of personal information.

Thomson Full Year 2005 IFRS Results
February 23, 2006 - The Board of Directors of Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453, NYSE:TMS), chaired by Frank Dangeard, met on 21 February 2006 to review and approve the Group’s full year 2005 results published today.
The Systems & Equipment division’s profitability was negatively impacted during the year by lower contribution from Access Platforms & Gateways, notably in the Set-Top Box operations in Satellite, Terrestrial and Cable due to increased R&D as well as the slower rate and timing of service rollouts in Set-Top Boxes not being fully offset by cost base savings and product mix improvement. The profitability of the Telecom operations, within Access Platforms & Gateways, was adversely affected by the decline in the traditional DSL modem business, compensated in the latter part of the year by improving profitability particularly from next generation dual/triple play products.

South Africa - Sentech rolls out digital terrestrial system
February 23, 2006 (INet-Bridge) - South African broadcasting and telecommunications company Sentech says during this year it will begin the process of upgrading the country's broadcasting infrastructure from an analogue system to a digital ready, terrestrial system, so that South Africa meets broadcasting requirements ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

Sony Rises from #4 to #1 in LCD TVs in Q4’05 According to DisplaySearch Report
February 23, 2006 - DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting and part of The NPD Group, has released Q4'05 worldwide LCD TV shipments and revenues by brand, region, size and resolution. Shipments for 43 different LCD TV brands as well as numerous sub-brands are identified in the latest report.
LCD TV panel shipments, LCD TV sell-in and LCD TV sell-through were all higher than expected in Q4'05 with shipments on a sell-in basis 12% higher than projected, rising 58% Q/Q and 137% to a record 8.6M units. For the year, LCD TV shipments rose 141% to 21.2M units.
LCD TV shipments enjoyed at least 25% Q/Q growth in each region led by China up 74% and Europe growing 73%. Europe had the highest LCD TV demand, reaching a 44% share, up from 40% with North America at 26%, down from 29%.

Regulations and Red Tape Fuel Hybrid Set-Top Box Markets
February 23, 2006 - These days it's not just the roads that are full of "hybrids." A new breed of set-top box (STB) that will receive and decode broadcast video content from satellite, terrestrial, or cable networks and interactive wireline services such as video-on-demand is finding its way into more and more households.
These "hybrid" boxes are the result of government regulations and red tape that limit the kind of electronic content that particular kinds of companies can supply to the public. They also provide a faster time to market for existing broadcast operators that wish to include interactive video services.
According to Michael Arden, Principal Analyst, Broadband and Multimedia Research at ABI Research, and author of a new set-top box study, the move to this format has been sparked by two scenarios. "In some countries, franchising and regulatory requirements do not allow telecom operators to broadcast certain kinds of information — essentially, they can't provide programming," he says. "So telecom operators are packaging existing satellite, terrestrial, or cable video services with interactive video-over-IP."
"On the other hand, DTT or satellite operators that already have broadcast approvals are giving their customers an STB that allows them to receive those satellite over-the-air signals as well as enabling interactive video-on-demand." Companies that offer over-the-air services are worried about losing customers because they lack a wireline service allowing interactivity. For example, Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB has purchased Easynet, a British DSL company, and market-watchers speculate about a combination of its DSL network with BSkyB's video service.

Modeo Licenses Digital Fountain FEC Technology For Its DVB-H Network
February 23, 2006 - Digital Fountain, Inc., the world's pre-eminent supplier of FEC (forward error correction) technology for reliable communications, announced today that Modeo™ LLC, a subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp., is the newest licensee of Digital Fountain's patented DF Raptor™ forward error correction (FEC) technology. Modeo plans to incorporate Digital Fountain's DF Raptor FEC technology in its DVB-H broadcast network file delivery service.
Digital Fountain's DF Raptor technology is an advanced and highly flexible FEC that enables the efficient and error-free download of multimedia data files in the presence of a wide range of network impairments. DF Raptor FEC has been standardized by DVB as part of IP datacasting services over DVB-H and by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a component of the Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) for GSM-based 3G cellular networks. As part of its overall network architecture, Modeo plans to employ Digital Fountain's optimized implementation of the DF Raptor FEC and the Digital Fountain® DVB-H File Delivery Engine technology, a standards-compliant software implementation of the DVB-H file download protocol.

Silicon Image Announces HDMI IP Core Design Wins With Pixelworks and Sunplus
February 23, 2006 - Silicon Image, Inc., a leader in the secure distribution, presentation and storage of high-definition content, today announced that Pixelworks Inc. and Sunplus Technology Co. have licensed High-Definition Multimedia Interface™ (HDMI™) intellectual property (IP) cores from Silicon Image for integration in their advanced integrated circuits (ICs). Pixelworks has incorporated the Silicon Image IP in a new video processor IC, while Sunplus has used the Silicon Image IP in both a DVD IC and a video processor.
Pixelworks’ Pearl ImageProcessor IC featuring Silicon Image’s HDMI IP core is a highly integrated mixed signal video and image processing chip for advanced televisions and digital projectors. The powerful all-in-one chip combines an on-board microprocessor, 12-bit video decoder, 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC), motion-adaptive deinterlacer and image scaling circuitry with an HDMI receiver. By integrating the HDMI receiver, the Pearl family of ImageProcessor ICs streamlines the system architecture for advanced TVs and projectors, which will lower costs of these products to consumers.
Sunplus has released two SoC devices with integrated HDMI. The SPHE6500 is an advanced DVD chip with a built-in scalar and HDMI transmitter that scales up standard definition video to high-definition resolutions and connects directly to HDTVs via the HDMI interface. The SPV7030 is a highly integrated video processor for mainstream LCD and CRT based TVs. It incorporates an RGB/YPbPr video ADC, state-of-the-art 3D motion adaptive video deinterlacing, and dual LVDS links output for full support of 1080p HDTV resolution. The SPV7030 also features a picture-in-picture (PIP) processor and advanced image processing controls, as well as an integrated microcontroller, a programmable on-screen-display engine and HDMI receiver.

Telekom Austria plans commercial IPTV launch in March
February 23, 2006 (Telecom Paper) - Telekom Austria has unveiled its IPTV service aonDigital TV offering around 40 TV channels and a video on demand service.

Transition to Digital Cable & DTH Expands Set-top Box Offerings, Presents Challenges to Operators
February 22, 2006 – In a recently published update to its Online Database, IMS Research forecasts that worldwide shipments of digital cable and DTH set-top boxes will increase by 15% over the next 5 years, approaching 74.8 million units by the end of 2010.
According to analyst Mark Meza of IMS Research, “The desire for increased functionality and utilization of interactive services offered by cable and satellite providers will fuel consumer demand for set-top boxes that feature DVR capabilities and advanced compression technologies like MPEG-4/H.264.” As the number of high-definition channels offered in programming packages increases, the need for more advanced digital set-top boxes will drive worldwide consumer demand.”

DIRECTV to launch online video-on-demand service
February 22, 2006 (MSN/FT) - DirectTV, the biggest US satellite TV operator, is to launch a broadband-based video-on-demand service this year to complement its existing satellite VOD service.

Fiber-to-The-Home Subscribers Increase 70% in the Last Third of 2005
February 22, 2006 – Two leading telecommunications industry organizations, the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), today announced new estimates showing FTTH deployments now passing over 3.6 million U.S. homes, an increase of almost 1 million homes in four months.
The new figures, released prior to the FTTH Council’s quarterly meeting in Washington, DC next week, show the most rapid growth of FTTH deployment to date, with more than 230,000 additional homes passed every month. (Charts showing growth are available here.)

DisplaySearch Reports Global Plasma TV Shipments Continue to Exceed Expectations – Q4'05 Shipments Rise 109%
February 22, 2006 - DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting and part of The NPD Group, today released Q4'05 shipments and revenues for plasma TVs by brand, region, size and resolution. Shipments for 33 different plasma TV brands as well as numerous sub-brands are included in the latest report.

Amstrad plc Interim Statement, Six Months Ended 31 December 2005
February 22, 2006 - The Group reported a profit before tax of £12.5m (2004: £14.2m) on sales of £49.6m (2004: £63.0m). The earnings per share were 10.6p (2004: 12.2p).
Satellite set top box volumes to the UK and Italian markets were similar overall to a year ago. The reduction in sales value largely reflects the higher volume of standard set top boxes compared to last year where the sales value was higher in the same period due to higher value PVR set top boxes representing a larger proportion of the volume mix. There is the inevitable downward pressure on selling prices which is an ongoing trend in this industry. However, our continuing focus on cost reduction through re-engineering and component price and manufacturing cost reductions has helped mitigate the impact of price pressure on profits.
In September 2005 we announced that we had agreed with BSkyB to develop and supply a new PVR set top box which should result in significant volumes of this new product being sold in the next financial year. The broadcasting industry is increasingly moving towards high definition television and we are working with our broadcasting customers to develop HDTV set top boxes and HDTV PVR boxes for supply in the next financial year.

South Korea - Big push for digital broadcasts planned this year
February 22, 2006 (Asia Media/Korea Herald) - The Ministry of Information and Communication is promoting a special law this year to expand digital broadcasting services.

MediaTek to ship TV chip solution to China
February 22, 2006 (DigiTimes) - MediaTek has sent samples of its TV chip solution to major China-based TV makers such as Haier, Changhong Electric, SVA Electronic, and TCL with volume shipments possibly starting next quarter, according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN).

ProSiebenSat.1 sees internet broadcasting, new digital TV channels by end April
February 22, 2006 (AFX) - German television company ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG wants to beef up its television offerings with new digital channels and online transmission of its programmes, reported Die Welt, citing ProSieben CEO Guillaume de Posch.

Belgacom Gets IPTV Customers Off to a Fast Start With SupportSoft Solution
February 22, 2006 - SupportSoft, Inc., a leading provider of Real-Time Service Management (RTSM™) software, today announced that Belgacom SA, Belgium's largest telecommunications company, has deployed SupportSoft SmartAccess™ software to speed deployment of its newest service offering, Belgacom TV. As a result, more than 800,000 broadband subscribers can quickly and easily self-install a new IP-based TV connection -- and immediately begin to enjoy unique digital programming, video on demand and other services.
SupportSoft SmartAccess software automates the self-installation of an iDTV (also referred to as IPTV) connection. The solution automatically assists in verifying customers' system characteristics, such as firmware version, modem and set-top box type, configuring their PC and wireless gateway with the latest software as needed, and providing interactive instructions to connect all the key components together. Everything needed for a successful installation is within easy reach of the customer, reducing time-consuming, expensive service calls or truck rolls to the customer premises as well as speeding adoption of this new service. Belgacom broadband customers already benefit from the use of other innovative SupportSoft software products, including automated solutions for customer self-service and assisted service.

UK - Kingston to close digital TV service
February 22, 2006 (Yorkshire Today) - Back in 2000 it was hyped as having the potential to provide internet access for every household in the country. But against global competitors like Sky, Kingston Communications' interactive TV service KIT never lived up to its promise and yesterday its demise was announced.

European DVR Deployments Moving into Fast Forward
February 21, 2006 - IMS Research estimates that by the end of 2005, over 2.6 million households in Europe were using a DVR. By 2010, this market is forecast to reach over 41 million households. Growth is expected to come primarily from operator deployments of integrated DVRs, although DTT and FTA satellite DVRs will make a significant contribution to the total market.
Before 2005, the only successful DVR story in Europe consisted of Sky+ DVR deployments in the UK. This is now beginning to change. In 2005, various pay-TV operators, including Sky Italia, Telewest, NTL, Viasat, Casema, and Premiere, launched or announced plans to launch a DVR service. Furthermore, significant growth in DTT DVR shipments took place in 2005 thanks to strong adoption of DTT services in the UK, France and Germany.

VOD and DVR Make an Attractive Combination; Nearly Two-Thirds of Digital Cable Subscribers Have Used VOD
February 21, 2006 - New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that digital cable subscribers are recognizing the benefits of having both Video-on-Demand (VOD) and a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Nearly three-quarters of VOD users who have a DVR from their cable company strongly agree that their cable service is better because they have both services. In addition, just 15% feel that, because they have on-demand service, they don’t really need a DVR, and 19% feel that, because they have a DVR, they don’t need on-demand service.
Nearly two-thirds of these key high-end subscribers are very satisfied with their cable operator, and few report that they are likely to switch providers. While over 14% of cable subscribers in the markets studied say that they are likely to switch from their current cable provider in the next six months, fewer than 6% of digital cable subscribers who have used VOD and have a DVR say that they are likely to switch.

European industry represented in the bmcoforum and IPDC Forum makes a plea to European Administrations to urgently provide regulatory certainty for mobile broadcast services
February 21, 2006 - In the face of a still stronger global market demand for the provision of digital TV-and multimedia services to mobile devices, both the bmcoforum and the IPDC Forum are looking forward to the European Commission to take regulatory initiatives and to adopt a new approach to spectrum access for such services.
Now is the time for Europe and the European based industry to take global leadership in this market based on an approach of regulatory certainty and spectrum availability across Europe.
Digital mobile broadcasting services are ready for commercial implementation in Europe. Extensive market research and commercial trials all over Europe indicate that the initial national requirement for digital mobile broadcasting is one dedicated multiplex in the UHF bands and that the consumers are demanding the services now. The urgent demand is confirmed by broadcasting-like services provided by some 3G operators.
But an adequate amount of UHF spectrum is currently not available and in a number of countries frequency spectrum may not be available to provide for new nation-wide coverage networks before the final digital switch-over as late as 2010-2012.
For the European industry represented by the bmcoforum and the IPDC Forum, waiting until the final digital transition is not an acceptable European approach and it would endanger the head start that European industry has already achieved in the standardisation process for mobile broadcasting in particular for DVB-H and in the related European research projects.

Czech Republic - Cesky develops IPTV brand
February 21, 2006 (TeleGeography) - The Czech Republic’s largest telecoms company Cesky Telecom is reported to be developing an internet protocol television (IPTV) service and to this end, has signed up eight TV and five radio stations to the service.

Reeltime Infotainment Ltd Selects SecureMedia's DRM Solution to Protect Hollywood VOD
February 21, 2006 - SecureMedia, the technology leader in conditional access and digital rights management (CA/DRM) software solutions for secure video content delivery over IP networks, announced today that Reeltime Infotainment Ltd has licensed SecureMedia’s Encryptonite System® to protect its new IPTV VOD service in Australia. Based on the use of the Encryptonite System, Reeltime has secured distribution agreements for movies from Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM, United Artists, Columbia Pictures and other studios.
Reeltime will launch its VOD service to the public shortly, on Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) set-top boxes and download to PCs, via its various ISP partners. The service is operated by Reeltime as a “white label” on behalf of ISPs, who market and bundle the service in conjunction with their traditional voice and data packages. Reeltime’s VOD transmission rights include the use of MPEG-4/H.264 over HFC (Cable), DSL, fiber optic and twisted pair.

Open Source "Democracy" Internet Video Player Launched
February 21, 2006 - We’re ready to go– the first Windows version of Democracy Player (formerly DTV) is now available on our new website. This is version 0.8, still a beta, and it’s got some known bugs. But it’s pretty fun and we’re working on bug fixes. The Mac version was also updated today to 0.8.
The Mac and Windows versions now offers two cool new features: 1. Built-in web video search: you can use Yahoo Video or Blogdigger, and 2. Video Bomb support: you can click on a bomb link on any video you’ve downloaded to either bomb it or, if it hasn’t been submitted yet, submit it to Video Bomb (currently we open your browser to bomb, but tighter integration is on the way soon).
The Mac version also has a nice feature that Windows version doesn’t have yet: pause, fast forward, rewind controls when you’re in fullscreen mode. It looks really nice.
[The Democract Player allows you to download and watch all the best internet TV shows and videos in one powerful application. New channels arrive daily in the built-in Channel Guide. Stop squinting at tedious web videos-- sit back and watch big, high resolution videos one after another. It's so easy to use that you'll be watching interesting videos in moments. Features: subscribe to video RSS feeds (including podcasts, video blogs, and BitTorrent feeds), watch fullscreen, share with friends.]

Widevine® Enters HD-DVD and Blu-ray Copy Protection Market
February 21, 2006 - Widevine Technologies, the most deployed provider of comprehensive downloadable content protection and digital forensics for video operators, today announced digital copy protection for high definition DVD-based content delivery formats Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
The introduction of Widevine Cypher® for high-definition DVD players extends the patented Cypher Virtual SmartCard™ to provide advanced copy protection on these new devices. This enables IPTV service operators to license and acquire premium content for extended service delivery to a wide variety of retail available, IPTV-enabled high definition consumer electronics devices.
Widevine Cypher for high-definition DVD players is expected to protect devices available at retail in summer 2006 and extend Widevine’s PC content protection to include Blu-ray and HD-DVD devices that run on Microsoft’s new Vista operating system, available later in the year.

South Korea - Policy Wavering Delays Switchover to Digital TV
February 21, 2006 (Korea Times) - While typically fast in adopting new technologies, tech-savvy Koreans are hardly paying attention to digital TV, forcing the government to consider delaying the analogue-to-digital switchover.

EWAN Embeds Set-Top Boxes with Proprietary 300 Hour Digital Recorder to Coincide with Launch of Global IPtv Service
February 21, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) - eWAN1, Inc. announced today that the Company has embedded its proprietary 'EVO' 300 hour digital video recorder into their "Triple Play" set-top boxes, the DMC 200 and DMC 300, to coincide with the launch of eWAN's global Internet television (IPtv) service on April 19, 2006 and the roll-out of its "Triple Play" set-top boxes in March 2006. Recording content without videotape and bundled with features including 'pause', 'rewind', 'slow-motion' and 'instant replay' of live TV, eWAN's global IPtv service will initially offer consumers 75 channels of High Definition (HD) clarity "On Demand" content delivered to their television screens via any broadband connection.

Next Generation Content Protection Specification - ADVANCED ACCESS CONTENT SYSTEM (AACS) - Made Available for Licensing
February 21, 2006 - AACS LA founders IBM, Intel Corporation, Microsoft, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Sony, Toshiba, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Studios today announced the immediate availability of AACS (ADVANCED ACCESS CONTENT SYSTEM) under interim licensing agreements.
The AACS specification accelerates the ability of consumers to enjoy exciting, new, flexible entertainment experiences and storage options, while continuing to provide the traditional, straightforward playback mode, for the next generation of prerecorded and recordable optical media such as Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Additionally, AACS is designed to create unprecedented flexibility, portability and security for entertainment content to be enjoyed on networked home, portable PC or CE devices.

Chinese A/V codec rises; Domestic rival to WMV-9 and MPEG-4 nears standardization
February 20, 2006 (EETimes) - A Chinese audio/video codec is on the verge of becoming a national standard--a domestic rival to MPEG-4/H.264 and WMV-9 that backers say will save China-based manufacturers and consumers at least tens of millions of dollars in fees and royalties during the next few years.

Shanghai Telecom Will Issue IPTV Numbers Ahead Of Schedule
February 20, 2006 (ChinaTechNews) - Shanghai Telecom and its partner Shanghai Media Group have been impressed by the rapid increase of IPTV service applicants, and they are now pressing to issue the IPTV numbers ahead of schedule.

Belgium - Be TV and Walloon CableCos Together For HDTV
February 20, 2006 (Dataxis) - Be Tv and the Walloon cablecos (Brutélé Brussels included) have announced February 18, 2006 they will “join their forces” to launch High Definition Television in Belgium.

Samsung to supply Triple-play Service, WiBro to Croatia
February 20, 2006 (EETimes) - South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said Monday (Feb. 20) it has agreed to supply an advanced fixed-line telecommunications technology, named triple-play service (TPS), to a Croatian service carrier.

3 Italia Sees 500,000 New Clients In 2006 For Mobile TV
February 20, 2006 (MF-Dow Jones) - Italian 3G phone service provider 3 Italia hopes to add as many as 500,000 new clients in 2006 with the launch of its phone-delivered television service La3, 3 Italia Chief Executive Vincenzo Novari said Monday.

LG Electronics uses Philips single-chip LCD TV solution for entry level product range
February 20, 2006 - Royal Philips Electronics today announced that LG Electronics integrated Philips single-chip solution TDA15500 with it’s TV505 reference design in the entire portfolio of mainstream LCD TV chassis. Using the reference design in multiple products results in lower production costs, allowing LG Electronics to offer LCD television sets for the mass market at a competitive price without compromising picture quality. The TDA15500 is the first single system chip solution that provides LCD TV manufacturers with features such as video decoding, PC input, picture improvement, de-interlacing and scaling and a microcontroller with teletext.

Industria announces March launch for radical new Zignal IPTV offering
February 20, 2006 - London's Olympia exhibition centre will provide the setting in March for the first public appearance of a radical departure in IPTV middleware, with the launch at this year's IPTV World Forum of a new service delivery platform from Zignal, a leading provider of IPTV software solutions and devices.
Unique in concept, revolutionary in design, Zignal brings together a wealth of features never before offered by a single IPTV solution. The product of two years' intensive research and development, the system delivers a spectacular range of revenue-generating IPTV services accessible from a variety of standards-compliant digital media receivers (DMRs), such as set-top boxes, remote controls and smart mobile phones.
Services include digital TV, video-on-demand (VoD), personal video recording (PVR), digital radio and on-line gaming. All are accessed through a readily customisable user interface, the design of which is based on extensive usability and behavioural studies and is significantly faster than industry-accepted standards. Zignal operates using a super-fast browser from Norwegian-based Opera Software.

New ARC™ Video Subsystem Delivers Complete Solution for Portable Multimedia Devices
February 20, 2006 - ARC International, the world leader in configurable CPU/DSP cores and application subsystems, announced today the general availability of the next in its family of multimedia subsystems for embedded system-on-chip (SoC) design. ARC™ Video is a complete pre-verified solution that incorporates H.264, VC-1, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 decoders and industry standard imaging codecs. It is highly efficient for low power applications, and processes any of these decoders at less than 44mW1 for D1 resolutions. Early adopter customers already have licensed the ARC Video Subsystem and are designing it into a range of devices targeting multimedia intensive, portable applications.
The ARC Video Subsystem complements the ARC Sound Subsystem, which was introduced one year ago and has been licensed by a wide range of companies throughout the semiconductor industry. ARC International’s Media Subsystem roadmap will enable SoC designers to include audio-, imaging- and video-intensive capabilities in their chips. It will offer configurable solutions for video encoding, high definition video decode and advanced audio. Each ARC Media Subsystem is a complete product and includes a configurable ARC core, SIMD accelerator, DMA engine, fully integrated hardware, software and development tools. All will operate with any ARC or non-ARC host processor.

SES Delivers Growth, Creating Shareholder Value; Consolidated Financial Results for the Year to 31 December 2005
February 20, 2006 - Video remains the primary engine of growth in our business, fed by the organic growth of digital television, with added momentum from the continued development and penetration of High Definition TV programming. In terrestrial distribution, IP-encapsulated television programming (IPTV) is also growing and developing its customer reach in a number of markets, opening another opportunity for satellite distribution to the edge of telecom networks.
In Europe, DTH television maintained its organic growth path, with SES ASTRA transmitting 1,064 television channels to its footprint. The first HDTV contracts were signed, notably with BSkyB, ProSiebenSat.1, Premiere, and the BBC heralding the start of a broad introduction of HD programming via satellite into the European markets. Central & Eastern Europe also demonstrated increased demand with contracts signed with UPC, TVP (Poland), and DCS (Romania). A total of 34 additional transponders were contracted in the EMEA segment during the year serving all major markets.
A new initiative, IP-PRIME, was launched, providing a full service platform for delivery of IP-encapsulated programming. It is developed for rural telecoms services in particular, where the competition to deliver “triple play” bundled services is developing. The first customer for the service was NRTC (National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative), and early in 2006 Bell South commenced trials of IP-PRIME on its network.

Operator Tata Sky Chooses Thomson Set-Top Boxes for New Digital TV Service
February 19, 2006 - Thomson and Tata Sky, a joint venture between the TATA Group and STAR, announces an agreement for the delivery of digital set-top boxes to support the launch of Tata Sky’s new Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television service, T-Sky, across India mid 2006. Under the agreement, Thomson, world leader in set-top technology, will become Tata Sky’s preferred set-top box (STB) technology partner, reinforcing Thomson’s Two-Year Plan commitment to broaden its client base globally.
Tata Sky is currently investing in building a high quality digital TV infrastructure which will provide a superior television viewing experience to Indian households. The service will enhance the choice for viewers looking for the best of pay television services in the country. Tata Sky aims to become India's largest digital television platform, offering consumers a wide array of programming choices with interactive features and superior picture and sound quality.
To support Thomson’s first entry into the Indian DTH Satellite TV market, Thomson will manufacture and provide countrywide after-sales service and support network for Tata Sky customers. In addition to meeting India’s BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) specifications, the set-top box will have a feature-rich design that will enable Tata Sky to deliver multiple programming, pricing packages and interactive services to its customers.
The digital technology service of Tata Sky will eliminate many recurring problems that consumers face while watching television today. The DTH satellite signal will be uninterrupted by power cuts and cable cutting, thus eliminating instances of service downtime. Also, Tata Sky service will have fixed channel positions and pre-tuned audio levels, which will improve the visual and audio quality of broadcast.