Europe

Tiscali UK Ramps Up IPTV, Securing Sky, Disney and Universal Content

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:01:29 +0000

U.K. IPTV operator Tiscali has secured distribution rights to the full suite of Sky basic channels. The deal marks a key step in the ISP�s plan to invigorate IPTV adoption in a market dominated by cable, satellite and DTT.

Telef�nica and Sogecable Strike Triple-play Alliance

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 22:00:18 +0000

Spanish firms Telef�nica and Sogecable June 27 announced an agreement to collaborate on a triple-play offering, branded Trio+, based on Telef�nica voice and data services and Sogecable�s Digital+ DTH platform.

TV Vlaanderen Launches 16 New Channels

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:09:36 +0000

Belgian DTH start-up TV Vlaanderen has added a premium-tier package with 16 new channels available for �13.90.

Unity Media to Live Up to its Name

Tue, 22 May 2007 21:53:14 +0000

Unity Media announced May 21 it will merge operations for its three largest cable assets, iesy, ish and TeleColumbus West, creating a network that will reach over five mil. households. The regions reached by the service will cover the states of Hesse and Nordrhie Westfalia�Frankfurt and Dortmund are their largest metro areas, respectively. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in Germany.

France�s Free IPTV switched to MPEG-4

Mon, 21 May 2007 20:06:02 +0000

France-based Iliad Telecom has announced it will now use MPEG-4 to encode channels for its IPTV service, Free. The upgrade will allow Free to further compress video to allow delivery of Iliad�s full channel suite to all broadband subscribers on its network where previously it required speeds of at least 3.5MB/s. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in France.

Belgacom Hits 150K IPTV Subs at Q1 07

Sun, 20 May 2007 22:02:43 +0000

Belgian telco and IPTV operator Belgacom May 16 announced its Belgacom TV subscriber base was just a few households shy of the 150K mark. It added 9.8K net additions during the quarter, in line with the 9.6K added in Q1 2006.

Austrian Digital Cable Gets a Boost

Sat, 12 May 2007 00:32:13 +0000

Austrian cable operators Kabelsignal (Niederősterreich) and Liwest (Operősterreich) have ordered a combined 30K digital STBs with plans to deploy HD in the near term. The MSOs are two of 25 smaller companies that ordered the STBs via a special digitization program which offers a �40 ($54) subsidy to subscribers. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in Austria.

Switzerland To Launch Broadcast HD Channel

Thu, 10 May 2007 00:45:14 +0000

Public broadcaster SRG CSSR announced this [??] month it will launch an FTA HD channel by the end of 2007 dubbed HD Suisse. Channel content will include high- definition programs from four Swiss broadcasters�SF, TSI, TSR and TvR�and will be broadcast in French, German, Italian and English. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in Switzerland.

NTV Launches HDTV In Russia

Tue, 01 May 2007 20:33:10 +0000

Russian DTH provider NTV Plus launched its HDTV service April 27, offering its 550K subscribers three high-def channels. HD Kino, HD Sport and HD Life will be offered on its premium platform, requiring an HD STB upgrade for reception. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel markets in Russia.

BBC Trust Greenlights Freesat U.K.

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:02:21 +0000

The BBC Trust issued its formal approval for the launch of a free-to-air (FTA) satellite service that will broadcast FTA Freeview channels to U.K. households. The approval officially urged BBC management to launch the service as quickly as possible. The service will be a valuable alternative to homes outside the Freeview broadcast reach, currently at about 75% of the country, leaving a quarter of HHs without FTA DTV services. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in the U.K.

UPC Czech to Launch Digital Cable Service

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:29:47 +0000

According to Broadband TV News, UPC Czech Republic is slated to launch a digital cable service as early as May. The development follows Liberty Global�s acquisition of the controlling share of number-two cable MSO Karneval, which already operates a digital cable service. Click here for compete coverage of the multichannel market in the Czech Republic.

Freeview Takes DTV Title from BSkyB

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:41:13 +0000

Freeview announced April 18 that it now serves as the primary screen for 8.2 mil. HHs in the U.K. with sales of 1.7 mil. FTA set-top boxes through Q1 �07. With that figure, Freeview passed BSkyB as the most-watched DTV platform in the U.K. However, BSkyB is pushing back with an impending near-term launch of a subscription DTT service that will pull key Sky channels Sky News and Sky Three off the FTA platform and onto its four-channel pay DTT service. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in the U.K.

Sogecable Improves Performance

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:02:33 +0000

Spain�s dominant pay TV provider Sogecable increased its net profit to �1.2 mil. ($1.6 mil.) in Q1 �07 compared to �20.1 mil. in losses in Q1 �06. Improved performance has bolstered quarterly reach and revenues as well by attracted 21K net subs for the period, raising video ARPU to �40. From Q1 �06 to Q1 �07, Sogecable grew by 80K subscribers to 2.06 mil. digital satellite HHs. The growth was due in part to a consistent reduction in churn, which dropped from 12% to 10.9% during the period. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in Spain.

Telef�nica O2 Czech Republic Reports 16K IPTV Subs

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 21:40:21 +0000

Telef�nica O2 Czech Republic reported in April its system has bolstered its IPTV subscriber base to 15.6K households through December 2006. The system launched in September 2006 and will use Telef�nica�s tried-and-tested Imagenio IPTV technology which has already been successfully deployed in Spain. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in the Czech Republic.

Fastweb Approves Swisscom Buyout

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:48:12 +0000

Italian ISP and IPTV operator Fastweb agreed March 26 to the E3.7 bil. acquisition offer extended by Swisscom earlier this month. Via the deal Swisscom gains one of the world's most seasoned IP-Video operations teams in addition to a significant conduit for free cash flow growth. Click here for complete coverage of multichannel TV in Italy. Click here for complete coverage of the multichannel market in Italy.