10 January 2005
SES ASTRA and Vodatel d.o.o., a company based in Zagreb, Croatia, have entered into an agreement for satellite Internet services via ASTRA 23.5° East and new interactive entertainment services for Croatian households under the brand name eTV.
eTV provides a variety of multimedia services comprising Video On-Demand with a choice of one hundred movies every month. Users will also have access to more than 100 international and local TV channels. The services are available via the eTV Media Center box connected to a TV set and a satellite dish pointed at ASTRA 23.5° East.
In addition, Vodatel will introduce the Sat ADSL service for the Croatian residential market offering broadband access via satellite to the Internet with speeds of up to 1,024 Kbps.
Mr. Sebastian Popovic, chairman of Vodatel, said: “Our eTV media center box enables interactive home entertainment with very attractive services such as Video-On Demand, TV & Radio, music Jukebox, email and many others. Thanks to our agreement with the leading satellite operator in Europe, SES ASTRA, we are able to provide reliable and high-quality broadband and multimedia services to the residential market in Croatia.”
Commenting on the agreement, Philippe Glaesener, VP and General Manager Sales Broadband and IP of SES ASTRA, stated: “We are pleased that through this agreement with Vodatel, Croatian households can now enjoy new broadband and interactive multimedia services via the ASTRA Satellite System. This agreement further underlines SES ASTRA’s commitment to the region.”
10 January 2005
From 6 January the Arabic programmes of DW-RADIO can be heard on FM in Lebanon. The 60 minute programmes which are broadcast late in the evening can be received in most parts of the country via 11 transmitters in Beirut and other cities. DW director-general Erik Bettermann says that by broadcasting on FM the programmes will reach younger listeners, and he sees the new development as an important contribution to dialogue with the Islamic world.
Germanys international broadcaster signed an agreement with the Voice of Lebanon (VDL) in the autumn of 2004 which made the FM broadcasts possible. The broadcasts reach into neighbouring Syria and its capital Damascus.
DW-RADIOs Arabic Service produces 3 ½ hours of programming daily, broadcast via short wave, in part via medium wave, and via satellite (Nilesat 101). Every day at 19.00 hours UTC, viewers in over 20 countries from Morocco to Saudi-Arabia can also tune into a three hour long Arabic-language TV programme of DW-TV.
6 January 2005
The new owner of Intelsat has named David McGlade, the head of Mmo2’s British business, as its new chief executive. McGlade will move to Intelsat after the completion of its acquisition by Zeus Holdings. Zeus is expected to complete the deal early in 2005 and McGlade will join in March, replacing Conny Kullman, who will become chairman.
McGlade joined Mmo2, formerly BT Cellnet, four years ago after working in his native America for Sprint, Cable AdNet and TCI Telephoney Services.
On 22 December 2004, Intelsat announced that it had received the necessary regulatory approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to proceed with the proposed purchase of Intelsat, Ltd. by Zeus Holdings Ltd.
Shareholder approval of the proposed acquisition was received earlier in 2004.
6 January 2005
The International News Safety Institute has sent 50 basic first aid kits to Indonesian journalists as part of the tidal wave aid effort. The kits, which include bandages, dressings, face masks, surgical gloves and resuscitation devices, were sent by courier to Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and should arrive by the weekend.
More than 130 journalists and other news media workers have been reported missing, believed dead, in Indonesia following the earthquake and tidal waves that devastated large parts of Asia.
The first aid kits were taken from INSI’s stocks intended for journalists working in hostile environments. “It’s a small gesture in the enormity of the disaster but we had to do whatever we could to help our colleagues and friends,” said INSI Director Rodney Pinder. “We will be taking more supplies when we open INSI’s Asia office in Indonesia in a couple of weeks’ time.” Eddy Suprapto, president of the AJI, is a member of INSI’s Advisory Board.
Financial assistance for the AJI can be sent to:
Account Number : 446-1479
Beneficiary Name : ALLIANCE OF
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS
Name of Bank : BNI Senayan Branch
SWIFT Code : BNINIDJA
Address of Bank : Jl. Gatot Subroto Kav. 55 – Central Jakarta 10210
Other assistance can be sent to:
Secretariat of AJI Indonesia
Jl. Danau Poso Blok D1 No. 29 Bendungan Hilir Jakarta Indonesia 10210
Phone: +62-21-5790-0489, Fax. +62-21-573-4581
6 January 2005
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) says it is time for the Hong Kong government to address the issue of criminalisation of the domestic use of unauthorized pay-TV decoders in the HKSAR. The Association, which represents all of Hong Kongs pay-TV operators as well as the regional pay-TV channels, notes that recent reports of the cracking of the encryption codes of Hong Kong pay-TV operator i-Cable only highlight the need for a multi-faceted approach to pay-TV signal theft, including technical solutions, legal remedies and public education.
We recognise that there will always be battles to stay ahead of the technology curve. The pay-TV industry regularly adopts new technical solutions to piracy as a matter of practice, said Marcel Fenez, Chairman of CASBAA. Investment in the latest encryption technology is just a part of the cost of doing business. However, the pay-TV industry and the community at large also need the support of regulators and enforcement agencies if the media industry is to continue to thrive in Hong Kong. Technical solutions cannot stand alone, said Mr Fenez.
Criminal sanctions for domestic pay-TV signal theft are in place in many jurisdictions, including Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the United States. CASBAA believes that clearly identifying end-user piracy as a criminal offence will significantly reduce demand for unauthorised pay-TV distribution within Hong Kong, thus making the development and sales of illegal decoders a less attractive proposition for those involved in criminal activities. Its time for Hong Kong to face up to this issue, said Mr Fenez. Unless it does so, our industry and the HKSARs reputation as a respected regional media hub will suffer further damage.
CASBAA also believes the Hong Kong government needs to eliminate any gray areas with regards to pay-TV piracy that do not draw a clear distinction between what is the legally permitted distribution of pay-TV services and what is not. Another outstanding issue of significant concern in Hong Kong is the continued distribution of unauthorised pay-TV signals in public venues such as clubs and pubs.
Pay-TV signal theft in Hong Kong cost an estimated HK$195 million last year. There is also a cost to the government in uncollected license fees and taxes.
22 December 2004
Broadcasters from across Pakistan participated in a Voice of America/Radio Aap ki Dunyaa (VOA) workshop that highlighted the role of the free press and featured a discussion with Sharmeen Obaid, a journalist who has reported religious fundamentalism in the country.
“The interaction between the group, the press conference and the discussions were among the best I’ve seen,” said Owais Aslam Ali, secretary-general of the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), which helped VOA organize the event. PPF is an independent media research, documentation and training center that promotes press freedom.
Arnold Zeitlin, a former Associated Press bureau chief in Pakistan, worked with VOA staff to conduct the sessions which included training in fair and balanced reporting, how to conduct an interview, use of research and the Internet and the role of the free press. The sessions were held Dec. 15-18, 2004.
Obaid, a native Pakistani who was educated in the United States, held a question-and-answer session with journalists on her new documentary, Reinventing the Taliban, which is about the rise of religious fundamentalism in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province.
Workshop participants also attended a press conference by Senator Raza Rabbani, deputy secretary general of the opposition Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians. Rabbani gave a detailed briefing on his party’s position on current issues, including Pakistan’s role as a frontline state in the war on terror.
Javed Jabbar, a former minister of information and broadcasting in Pakistan, was the speaker at the concluding session. He called for creating community-based radio stations across the country.
Last year, VOA launched a new Urdu-language service, Radio Aap ki Dunyaa, which transmits 12 hours a day of news and information to millions of Pakistanis and other Urdu speakers. The station is distributed on medium-wave at 972 kHz. It is also broadcast three hours a day on shortwave.
