Latest articles by Philip Hunter
Show to spotlight impending wave of smart TV apps
An app revolution riding on smart TVs will be a major talking point at this year’s IPTV World Forum in London, March 22-24.
Fiber to the home not necessary for future multiple HD services
Bell Laboratories and others are proving that although fiber needs to be pushed deeper, new technologies will deliver multichannel HD IPTV services over copper for the last few hundred meters.
Asian DVB-T2 trial features MHEG multimedia standard
The Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group standard spearheaded by UK groups continues to gain ground in Asia.
Satellite operators target emerging markets to make up for lost revenue
Satellite operators will exploit their blanket coverage to make up for lost revenue to IPTV and fiber networks in densely populated areas of North America, the Far East and Western Europe.
HomeGrid Forum comes closer to universal domestic connectivity
The HomeGrid Forum claims to have made a breakthrough in data and video transmission.
Cable Congress highlights importance of IP migration strategy for MSOs
European cable will stay in rude health, providing it takes the right IP medicine, according to the Cable Congress consensus.
UK regulator spells out rules for product placement
UK communications regulator Ofcom will enforce EU guidelines for UK product placement starting March 1.
European IPTV operators rush for fiber to compete with cable in bandwidth wars
The success of cable operators to boost peak bandwidth per user to 100Mb/s and greater has stimulated fiber investment by telcos in some European countries.
European Broadcast Union sets standard for broadcast intercom
The EBU has built on its audio-over-IP standard to define interoperability requirements for intercom over IP.
UK considers license fee for connected TV
The UK government is considering closing a loophole that lets people evade the licence fee by watching only in catch-up mode.
European public service broadcasters tap social media to bring news to younger audiences
The European Broadcast Union (EBU) has just published a study highlighting growing use of social media by public service broadcasters (PSBs) to halt a decline in news viewing by people under 45.
EBU airs its views to EU
The European Broadcast Union (EBU) recently aired its views on network neutrality, copyright, and other issues with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso.
Call for EU to make virgin spectrum available for mobile backhaul
Microwave technology vendor Bluwan is lobbying European regulators and operators to look at virgin 40 GHz spectrum to meet exploding demand for mobile backhaul fuelled by video.
Virgin Media to distribute Sky movies
The UK’s leading pay TV operator BSkyB has been forced by regulatory pressure to let arch rival Virgin Media distribute its movie catalogue.
European public broadcasters take to HbbTV
European standards for connected TV are still fragmented, but outside the UK at least public broadcasters are rallying around HbbTV for hybrid services.
DVB-T2 advances in Europe despite French setback
The French government has postponed plans to adopt the second generation DVB-T2 digital terrestrial technology until at least 2015 but other European countries are moving ahead now.
French regulator outlines rules for connected TV
The French regulator CSA has put forward four key proposals for connected TV.
Virgin Media looks to femtocells to boost WiFi
UK cable operator Virgin Media plans to bid for spectrum in 2012, so that it can set up femtocells for in-home distribution.
Ultraviolet launches in UK, but still has work to do in Europe
The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem’s Ultraviolet digital locker is being launched in the UK this month but is meeting resistance from European pay TV operators.
UK regulator calls for single frequency DTT across Europe
Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards argues that there should be a radical single frequency network re-plan of Digital Terrestrial Television across Europe.
