costing €47.41. The “Meo Fibra 100 Megas” offers 100 Mbps Internet, unlimited telephone calls and 100 linear channels for EUR 61.66 per month.
UNITED KINGDOM
VODAFONE PORTUGAL LAUNCHES IPTV SERVICE
Sky News is to become the first UK news channel to launch in high definition, with a dedicated HD channel rolling out in the first quarter of 2010, following an upgrade to studios and production facilities. Sky News HD will be simulcast alongside Sky News’s existing standard definition channel.
SKY NEWS TO LAUNCH HD VERSION
Vodafone Portugal has launched a new IPTV service, Vodafone Casa TV, for its existing DSL customer base. To entice subscribers to sign up for its IPTV service, Vodafone Portugal will offer Casa TV for free to current broadband customers until the end of 2009. New customers will be able to purchase a triple play bundle with 24 Mbps Internet service for USD 28.11 beginning in September, a rate that will rise to USD 56.37 permonth at the end of the year.
UK media regulator Ofcom has awarded terrestrial channel Five the final vacant HD slot on the Freeview platform, which it will fill with a HD simulcast of its main channel from 2010. Five anticipates sharing the slot, using it in peaktime while another broadcaster uses it during the day.
SCANDINAVIA
IP VISION OFFERS BBC IPLAYER
TELIASONERA PASSES 532.000 IPTV SUBSCRIBERS
TeliaSonera reached 532.000 IPTV subscribers at the end of the second quarter of this year. The company added 23.000 IPTV subscribers across all markets in the three months to June 2009, of which 17.000 were in Sweden. TeliaSonera now has 350.000 IPTV subscribers in Sweden, 5.000 in Norway, 3.000 in Denmark, 86.000 in Lithuania and 88.000 in Estonia. Revenues from IPTV services tripled in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period of last year.
VIASAT ENDS SECOND QUARTER WITH 112.000 IPTV SUBSCRIBERS
Viasat Broadcasting ended the second quarter with 112.000 IPTV subscribers, breaking the 100.000 subscriber mark for the first time and more than doubling the 51.000 IPTV subscribers it had in 2008.
FIVE AWARDED FINAL FREEVIEW SLOT
IP Vision has become the first company to offer the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service via IPTV, using its Fetch TV SmartBoxes. Users are able to watch BBC iPlayer catch-up content directly on their televisions as well as selected video from Channel 4, Sky Sports News, Discovery Channel and CNN. The device can be connected to any UK broadband service allowing the user to access more than 1,500 hours of VoD content direct to their TV screen.
BSKYB TO LAUNCH 3D TV IN 2010
BSkyB has announced it will launch the UK’s first 3D channel next year, offering a broad selection of the best available 3D programming, which is expected to include movies, entertainment and sport. The service will be broadcast across Sky’s existing HD infrastructure and be available via the current generation of Sky+HD set-top boxes. To watch 3D, customers will also require a new ‘3D Ready’ TV, which are expected to be on sale in the UK next year.
BT SIGNS IPTV DEALS WITH ESPN, SONY
BT Vision has signed a deal with Disney-owned ESPN to carry the new U.K. ESPN channel offering live Premier League football. BTVision, which has about 500.000 IPTV customers, said its users would be able to access ESPN for free if they were in the top three subscription tiers and would retail at US$ 25 per month for other customers. BT has also entered a deal which will see it airing on demand Sony Pictures, which includes the offerings of many major Hollywood studios including Warner Bros, Disney, Fox, and NBC Universal.
NORTH AMERICA CANADA TELESAT CANADA SELL LEASEHOLD TO APT SATELLITE
Telesat Canada has sold its leasehold interests in a satellite to APT Satellite of Hong Kong for US$ 69 million. APT has been operating Telstar 10, also known as Apstar 2. The agreement to transfer Telstar 10, originally announced in May, was made for several reasons, Telesat said, including a “complex regulatory environment” and the fact that the satellite is scheduled for replacment. Telesat Canada, which lost $822 million in 2008, will use the proceeds to either repay debt or replace satellites.
UNITED STATES VERIZON IN HD DISPUTE WITH CABLEVISION
Verizon Communications said in a complaint that the Federal Communications Commission should compel Cablevision Systems Corp. and its Madison Square Garden network to provide it with high-definition sports programming. In the complaint, filed with the FCC, Verizon said Cablevision “continually
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