Middle-East and North Africa Digital TV News

Arab Media Corporation to pioneer new service with ANT
Jul 21, 2009 – ANT (London: ANTP) is working with Arab Media Corporation, the Arab Satellite TV operator and owner of Arab Radio and Television (ART), to develop hybrid next generation TV services and applications which are expected to launch in 2010.
News categories: ANT plc, Digital TV, DVR, Middle-East, Middleware, Satellite, Set Top Box

du TV+ to launch in UAE with Microsoft Mediaroom
Jul 15, 2009 – du plans to launch high-definition IP television services in the UAE next month. The new 'du TV+' service is powered by Microsoft Mediaroom, and features digital recording and VoD, as well as HDTV.
News categories: Microsoft, 'du', Content Distribution, Content Protection, Digital TV, IPTV, Middleware, Set Top Box, Subscribers, UAE

Orbit Group And Showtime Arabia Merge Pay-TV Operations
Jul 12, 2009 – Showtime Arabia and the Orbit Group of Companies have announced the merger of their pay-TV operations to form a new company and create the leading pay-TV platform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
News categories: Orbit Group, Showtime Arabia, Bahrain, Digital TV, MandA, Middle-East, Satellite, UAE

Arabsat and Sudanese Radio & TV to operate DTH platform from Khartoum
Jul 7, 2009 – The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) and the Sudanese Radio & TV corporation have signed an agreement to launch and operate a DTH platform in Khartoum. The platform is to be ready for operation by the end of this year.
News categories: Arabsat, Sudanese Radio & TV Corp, Content Distribution, Satellite, Sudan

E-Vision brings High Definition and PVR services to the UAE
Jul 7, 2009 – E-Vision has announced the commercial launch of High Definition (HD) programming for UAE viewers. With this, E-Vision has become the first Pay TV provider in the Middle East to launch a commercial HD service.
News categories: E-Vision, Cable TV, Digital TV, DVR, UAE

SingTel to launch ST-3/ABS-2 satellite in 2011
Jun 17, 2009 – SingTel (Singapore: SGX; Australia: ASX) has announced an agreement with Asia Broadcast Satellite to build and launch the ST-3/ABS-2 satellite to provide fixed and mobile services including broadcast and Direct-to-Home (DTH) offerings.
News categories: SingTel, Asia Broadcast Satellite, Africa, Asia, Content Distribution, Middle-East, Satellite

Global IPTV market up to nearly 24 million
Jun 16, 2009 – The Broadband Forum has announced the latest broadband and IPTV statistics. Its report shows that broadband grew by 16.6 million lines globally in the last quarter alone, while IPTV continues to expand strongly.
News categories: Broadband Forum, Point Topic, Brazil, Broadband, Canada, China, Digital TV, DOCSIS, Egypt, Fibre, France, Germany, IPTV, Italy, Japan, Korea, Market Research, Mexico, UK, Ukraine, USA

IPTV remains in a nascent state in the Arab World
Jun 8, 2009 – According to the Arab Advisors Group, seven service providers in six countries in the Arab World were offering commercial IPTV services as of May 2009. FTA channels and piracy remain the main obstacles facing IPTV uptake in the region.
News categories: Arab Advisors, Algeria, Bahrain, Digital TV, Egypt, Fibre, IPTV, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Market Research, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen

Mobision launches DVB-H in Iraq
Jun 1, 2009 – Mobision has started its commercial DVB-H-based mobile TV service in Iraq, following an extended period of testing.
News categories: Mobision, E2M, Digital TV, Iraq, Mobile