Canada - HDTV Networks seeks 'all-HD' broadcast licence
December 15, 2006 (CBC) - HDTV Networks Inc. has applied to the country's broadcast regulator to launch a free, over-the-air, high-definition television service.

UK - Trial of BBC Archive set to begin early next year
December 15, 2006 - A limited consumer trial of the BBC Archive is set to begin early next year, and is expected to last up to six months, it was announced yesterday by Ashley Highfield, the BBC's Director of Future Media & Technology, at the Broadcast IPTV Explained conference.
The BBC Archive is the BBC's proposed service that would make parts of its rich repository of previously broadcast TV and radio content – an estimated one million hours of TV and radio programmes - available, on a public service basis, to licence fee payers on-demand via bbc.co.uk.

France - 2007-2008: Early stage deployment of Orange very high speed broadband
December 15, 2006 - France Telecom is delighted to announce today the second phase of its Fiber To The Home (FTTH) plan, with the early stage deployment of very high speed broadband in France.
The range of services available from 2007 onwards will include internet access with symmetrical speeds of up to 100 Mbps, several high-definition TV and PC channels, and unlimited calls. They will be launched in March 2007 in Paris and several neighboring regions, before being rolled out from June 2007 to a dozen large and medium-sized cities, with the first to include Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Poitiers and Toulouse. This phase will enable Orange to further improve its customer experience outside of the Paris region.

Denmark - DVB-SSU channel available (Full details)
December 15, 2006 (DigiTAG) - Digi TV has opened up a channel on its DTT system to allow manufactures to run over-the-air software updates. The system uses the ETSI Specification for DVB-SSU.

DVB-S2 Intellectual Property Rights Holders Announce Favorable Licensing Terms Under Joint Licensing Program
December 15, 2006 - The DIRECTV Group (NYSE:DTV), RAI and ESA, the holders of key DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting)-S2 intellectual property rights, announced today the fundamental terms of a comprehensive licensing offering under their combined patent rights for DVB-S2 standardized technology.

Estonia - Official launch of DTT services
December 15, 2006 (DigiTAG) - DTT services have been officially launched in Estonia on 15 December. Viewers can access pay-DTT service, ZUUMtv, operated by Estonian Digital Television.

Denmark - Super TV for 70 pct. of the country
December 14, 2006 - TDC initiates its most ambitious commitment to television via broadband to date. More than 1.8 million households will get access to a new generation of TDC TV which then becomes the largest cable-based television network in the country.

Spain - Movistar mobile TV trial in Alcázar de San Juan [Sp]
December 14, 2006 - In the first trial of its kind, Movistar, Telecom Castilla-La Mancha and the Regional Government are testing DVB-H mobile TV services in Alcázar de San Juan. Some thirty subscribers are able to receive the interactive TV on Motorola mobile phones.

Spain - Two million DTT receivers sold
December 14, 2006 (DigiTAG) - Latest data shows that DTT penetration is growing in Spain. Already, 2 million DTT set-top boxes and 500,000 iDTVs have been sold in 2006.

NXP, 1&1 and TeleGent to enable mass adoption of IPTV in Germany
December 14, 2006 - NXP Semiconductors today announced that 1&1 Internet AG has selected TeleGent’s Internet Protocol (IP) set-top box (STB) solution based on NXP’s Nexperia™ STB810 platform to drive widespread adoption of TV content distributed over internet protocol in Germany. In line with 1&1’s vision to bundle innovative products at competitive prices, NXP’s IP-STB solution offers the advantage of an interactive, personalized TV experience, allowing consumers to play back thousands of unique and on-demand videos.

Hawaiian Telcom selects Alcatel-Lucent for IP network transformation
December 14, 2006 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that Hawaiian Telcom, the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) in Hawaii, has selected Alcatel-Lucent’s Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture as the blueprint for network transformation that will enable the delivery of new and innovative consumer and enterprise service offerings.
Hawaiian Telcom will deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s access and IP routing solutions to replace the existing high-speed Internet infrastructure, and to provide the scalability, reliability and speeds necessary to deliver compelling new service offerings such as IPTV, advanced and interactive Internet and premium Ethernet and IP VPN services.

Falcon Broadband Secures IP Network with Verimatrix
December 14, 2006 - Verimatrix, setting the standard in content security technologies that enhance the value of pay-TV networks, today announced that Falcon Broadband has selected the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS™) to provide digital video content security over the carrier’s IP network. Falcon plans on launching the new IPTV service in Q2 2007 when it has completed its dedicated fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) IP network in the Colorado marketplace.

Thomson Reaches Milestones of Three Million Cable Set-Top Boxes and Ten Million Cable Modems Sold Worldwide
December 14, 2006 - Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE:TMS) has delivered today its three-millionth digital cable TV set-top box and ten-millionth cable modem. These milestones strengthen Thomson’s position as one of the leading providers of digital cable set-top boxes and modems on a worldwide basis. With these products operators can offer consumers the real triple play experience including interactive services such as video on demand, high-speed Internet access, voice over IP and more.

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound for T-Com IPTV Solution
December 14, 2006 - Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) today announced that T-Home, the new IPTV service from Deutsche Telekom's T-Com division, will be broadcast in Dolby® Digital 5.1 surround sound. The set-top box for the service, the Media Receiver X 300T, is also compatible with Dolby Digital Plus.

Hong Kong - Digital TV rollout on track for next year
December 13, 2006 (AsiaMedia) - Hong Kong was on track to implement digital terrestrial television next year, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Joseph Wong Wing-ping said on Wednesday.

Taiwan - Cable TV operators lack network to provide value-added digital TV services
December 13, 2006 (DigiTimes) - Although 83.6% of households in Taiwan subscribe to cable TV, MSO (multi-system operators of cable TV) in Taiwan are expected to have difficulties in promoting value-added services through digital cable TV because they lack the technology and infrastructure, according to industry sources.

Chinese PMP Market Becomes Established in 2006
December 13, 2006 - New entrants, declining prices, and improvements in product features are making Portable Media Player (PMP) shipments gain traction in 2006 in China, reports In-Stat. Early adopters will remain the primary market for PMPs in China in 2007, the high-tech market research firm says. PMP shipments in China will reach 1.43 million in 2010, In-Stat projects.

Ambarella Launches Industry’s First HD H.264 System-on-Chip for Hybrid Digital Cameras
December 12, 2006 - Ambarella Inc., an emerging leader in semiconductors for consumer digital media devices, today announced the first commercial low power HD H.264/AVC system-on-chip (SoC) that enables the development of true hybrid cameras with HD video and high-resolution still pictures at the highest image quality. Ambarella’s breakthrough A1 digital camera platform combines an HD H.264/AVC codec, video processor, still image processor, audio compression and all other critical system functions on one chip.

Italy - Vodafone and SKY to launch mobile DVB-H TV
December 12, 2006 - Vodafone Italia and SKY announce the launch of Vodafone SKY TV, the new mobile digital television (DVB-H, Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld) created to offer the best SKY programmes on Vodafone handsets.

Orange trials TV broadcasting through its Wi-Fi hotspots in France [Fr]
December 12, 2006 - Orange has launched a broadband TV trial for Wi-Fi-enabled computers using its 30,000 hotspots in France. The service is the first of its kind in Europe.

China mobile TV spec similar to Europe's DVB-SH
December 12, 2006 (EETimes) - China's new broadcast mobile TV spec bears a striking resemblance to a European satellite spec called DVB-SH. That may help chip and infrastructure providers leverage their R&D investments, but it could also raise some sticky IP issues.

China - CCTV launches mobile phone TV service
December 12, 2006 (CCTV) - China Central Television launched its mobile TV service on Monday. From now on, users can receive their favorite TV programs, anywhere in China, through their mobile phones.

FastTV and Teracom create TV history with an IPTV agreement for almost one million households
December 11, 2006 - Swedish TV history will be written today. FastTV has signed an IPTV (also known as broadband TV) operator’s agreement with Teracom, which for the first time ever will be opening up its broadband network to digital TV. Almost one million households will be given the chance to choose IPTV from FastTV in 2007 in what is a major breakthrough for the Swedish TV distribution market.

Fujitsu to Introduce New H.264 Format Video-Processing IC for Next-Generation DVD HD Recording and Playback
December 11, 2006 - Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) today announced the industry's first large-scale IC capable of real-time compression and decompression of high-definition TV-level video in H.264 format.

BBC trials "Push-VoD" technology
December 11, 2006 - The BBC has started a small closed technical trial to test some of the technologies around "Push-VoD" to digital video recorders. Working in partnership with Cabot Communications Ltd, the BBC has developed an advanced interactive application that allows viewers to catch up from 50 hours of automatically-recorded content each week.
The trial will comprise 300 participants from in and around the London area and run for approximately three months.

Taiwan to digitize terrestial TV ahead of schedule by end of 2008
December 11, 2006 (DigiTimes) - Taiwan's Executive Yuan (the Cabinet) plans to push forward the completion of digitizing terrestial (over-the-air) TV broadcasts from the originally scheduled 2010 to the end of 2008.

WiQuest Transforms Wireless Video with New WQST100/101 Chipset & Breakthrough WiDV™ Technology
December 11, 2006 - WiQuest Communications, Inc., the leading fabless semiconductor company developing complete ultrawideband (UWB) solutions, today introduced its new WQST100/101 chipset incorporating WiDV™ (Wireless Digital Video), the company’s innovative new technology that is the first to deliver wireless transmission of high quality digital video for PC and HDTV applications. WiQuest’s WiDV Technology is available now and the WQST100/101 chipset is currently shipping to customers.

Broadcom Delivers the Industry's First Single-Chip, 65 Nanometer High Definition 1080p Digital TV Solution
December 11, 2006 - Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced the industry's first high definition (HD) digital TV silicon solution that supports full 1080p display resolution.