NEOTION, Broadpeak and Eutelsat to show OTT over satellite at CSTB

NEOTION, Broadpeak and Eutelsat provide satellite OTT delivery solution for smartphones, tablets and 4K screens

AUBAGNE — NEOTION, a French high-tech company providing innovative solutions for the international digital TV market, today announced that it has teamed up with Broadpeak and Eutelsat to provide a global solution to enable Free-To-Air or Secured OTT Services for Smartphones, Tablets and 4K screens. With the combination of NEOTION’s DVBeacon platform, Broadpeak’s nanoCDN system and Eutelsat’s SmartLNB, Satellite and Direct-To-Home operators can now deliver live OTT TV channels and interactive services to millions of subscriber devices over the satellite, which can be made available everywhere at a cost-effective price. The joint solution will be presented for the first time live at the forthcoming CSTB 2015 exhibition, in Moscow at the Eutelsat booth 2-201.

Considering the rise of mobile and tablet video consumption, it is key to enhance the attraction of Pay-TV via Satellite for existing and new subscribers by enabling multiscreen and OTT services independent from any IP infrastructure.

The costs of a traditional unicast-based CDN (Content Delivery Network) increase with the audience while satellite operational costs remain flat, meaning that the global solution, including the DVBeacon OTT Gateway, becomes cost-effective above a few hundred thousands viewers/subscribers.

SmartLNB and IP multicast solutions over Satellite allow for a delivery of OTT Services with a broadcast service quality to all subscribers independently from the broadband infrastructure available. The return channel provided by the Smart LNB allows to deliver the DRM right clearance, exchange of encryption keys when no Internet is available.
Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming and end-to-end DRM enable to address any mobile screen individually, thus solving QoS issues on WLAN, decoding performance and security on devices.

The Russian market is one of the most dynamic markets and one where Satellite and Satellite platform operators will have to propose innovative solutions, especially considering the coming of the analog switch off and evolution of UltraHD and multiscreen offers. It is therefore a pleasure for NEOTION to demonstrate this global solution at CSTB in Moscow to take part of the Russian Satellite market evolution.

Globally, this complete ecosystem can benefit and feed the needs of all Satellite operators.

“The combination of Broadpeak’s nanoCDN application with NEOTION’s DVBeacon gateway and Eutelsat’ SmartLNB is groundbreaking because it significantly extends the reach of broadcasters inside the connected home,” said Jacques Le Mancq, CEO at Broadpeak. “By leveraging multicast technology, broadcasters can affordably deliver live TV channels to any screen, enabling them to meet the increasing consumer demand for a full adaptive, multiscreen television experience.”

“We believe that the DVBeacon, which is based on our latest chipset technology, complemented with Eutelsat’s Smart LNB and Broadpeak’s nanoCDN application will allow NEOTION to enable DTH operators to provide full and competitive OTT Services in addition to their current broadcast Pay-TV offer and next UHD content offering”, said Christophe Genevois, Neotion’s CTO. “Moreover, NEOTION is pleased to work with partners such as Broadpeak, for their very innovative and competitive system, and Eutelsat for their continued drive and capacity to innovate and generate new attractive solutions to enhance the operator ecosystem and content delivery to Satellite viewers”.

Please feel free to visit EUTELSAT at CSTB, Hall 2 booth #201, for a demonstration or to contact us. Please feel free to visit NEOTION at CSTB, Hall 4 booth #593 to see our demonstrations.

Major change considered for NTV-Plus

Russia’s longest-established DTH platform NTV-Plus could be split into a number of smaller companies.

According to Vedomosti, its owner Gazprom Media, together with consultants, have been working on developing a model for NTV-Plus and concluded that it could be separated into three businesses.

These would be operational, namely providing access to pay channels; the production and distribution of sports content; and the production and distribution of (other) content.

Although such a move would not solve NTV-Plus’ problems, the new units could provide more growth opportunities.

NTV-Plus was launched in 1996 and was initially positioned as a high-end service.

In the last few years, it has attempted to become more accessible to viewers.

It ended 2014 with 850,000 subscribers, only a fraction claimed by the market leader Tricolor TV and still a long way behind Orion Express.

beIN SPORTS selects Cisco Videoscape TV

Cisco Videoscape Enables Premium Programming Services for beIN SPORTS in Over 20 Countries

• BeIN SPORTS Video Platform Is Available Across the MENA Region

SAN JOSE, CA — Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced that global sports pay-TV provider, beIN SPORTS, has selected the Cisco Videoscape TV services delivery platform to deliver advanced sports video experiences across 20+ countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Cisco provides software & hardware solutions, along with prime system integration services to beIN SPORTS to help support millions of new subscriptions across MENA.

beIN SPORTS, launched in January 2014, is the leader in premium and exclusive sports content across a vast region spanning North Africa, Middle East. It is jointly owned and operated by Qatari Sports Investments.

• The platform uses Cisco’s VideoGuard conditional access system (CAS), Cisco MediaHighway middleware, Cisco digital video recorder (DVR) and user interface (UI) technologies to give users an exceptional experience when watching beIN SPORTS content.
• beIN SPORTS offer a variety of high definition set-top boxes from multiple manufacturers, all enabled by Cisco software and security solutions, ranging from a low-end zapper to a mid-range DVR, and a high-end media gateway enabled by Cisco middleware with a common, advanced user interface.

Yousef Mohammed Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO beIN SPORTS: “Consumer appetite for new video experiences and a connected lifestyle is developing so rapidly in the MENA region. It is opportune that we have teamed with Cisco to help us remain competitive by delivering new and exciting services faster than ever before. With premium content security top of our agenda, Cisco Videoscape can provide an open, flexible and fully secure platform that will reduce barriers to innovation and time to market. The first boxes launched in March, 2014 and we will continue to roll out many more high-end boxes throughout this next year.”

Yves Padrines, Vice President, Cable Media & Video, Cisco, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia: “Security and protecting valuable premium sports programming is of vital importance to beIN SPORTS. Utilizing the Cisco Videoscape platform allow beIN SPORTS to provide a secure and flexible foundation for launching more personalized, synchronized, and social video experiences that their subscribers in the MENA region want and expect.”

Major change considered for NTV-Plus

Russia’s longest-established DTH platform NTV-Plus could be split into a number of smaller companies.

According to Vedomosti, its owner Gazprom Media, together with consultants, have been working on developing a model for NTV-Plus and concluded that it could be separated into three businesses.

These would be operational, namely providing access to pay channels; the production and distribution of sports content; and the production and distribution of (other) content.

Although such a move would not solve NTV-Plus’ problems, the new units could provide more growth opportunities.

NTV-Plus was launched in 1996 and was initially positioned as a high-end service.

In the last few years, it has attempted to become more accessible to viewers.

It ended 2014 with 850,000 subscribers, only a fraction claimed by the market leader Tricolor TV and still a long way behind Orion Express.

Huawei, Global Union introduce OTT TV service

Huawei Technologies and Global Union Network Technology, a subsidiary of China International Broadcasting Network (CIBN), have planned to launch an over-the-top television service.

The companies will leverage the Chinese OTT market with the help of Huawei’s technical expertise in telecom, content resources from Youku Tudou and CIBN’s integrated broadcast and control platform.

CIBN has also formed a TV entertainment alliance with Youku Tudou, Unity Software and others to develop OTT STB-based gaming business and open up the overseas OTT market.

Besides this deal, Huawei has won bids to provide OTT platform solutions and OTT terminals for telecom operators in about ten provinces including Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan and Jiangxi.

Xiaomi launches Mi Box mini streaming STB

Xiaomi Technology has launched Mi Box mini streaming set-top-box in China. The STB is priced at CNY199 (USD32).

Android KitKat operating system has powered the STB. It is built on ARM Cortex-A7 quad-core 1.3GHz processor with Mali-450 graphics chipset from Mediatek.

It supports H.265 video up to 1080p with DTS 2.0, Dolby Digital Plus audio, dual band 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It connects to the TV via an HDMI cable.

Vietnam and Japan plan workshop on smart TV

HANOI — Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications and Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications hosted a Vietnam-Japan policy dialogue on information and communications technology (ICT) in Hanoi on January 16, 2015. The meeting focused on the introduction of digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Vietnam, including next generation technologies such as smart TV and 4K/8K Ultra HD.

The two sides have agreed to organise a workshop on smart TV to be held in VietNam in March.

Vietnam has a national plan to convert its terrestrial television to digital by 2020, with the first 5 cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Da Nang and Can Tho to be converted by December 31, 2015. Since April 1, 2014, all TV products made in Vietnam, or imported into Vietnam, have had to be DVB-T2 compliant.

There are around 22 million television households in Vietnam with 2.6 million cable TV subscribers, 3.3 million satellite TV subscribers, 12.5 million with analogue terrestrial TV, and 3.5 million with older DVB-T digital terrestrial technology.

Montenegro's TV subscribers down 1,242 in 4Q 2014

(Danas je Agencija za elektronske medije objavila Izvještaj o stanju tržišta usluga distribucije radio i televizijskih programa do krajnjih korisnika na kraju četvrtog kvartala 2014. godine)

Tuesday, January 20th, 2015 

PODGORICA — The Agency for Electronic Media (Agencije za elektronske medije) in Montenegro has released subscriber figures for the ten operators (four cable, two IPTV, and one each of MMDS, DTH, DVB-T2 and mobile TV) authorised to distribute radio and TV programmes to end users in the country.

As at December 31, 2014, the number of connections for the distribution of radio and TV programmes over the different Cable/MMDS/DTH/IPTV/mobile platforms was 154,393, down 1,242 or 0.8% since end-September 2014, and up 5,692 year-on-year (3.8%). The total represents 79.26% (76.34% at end-2013) of households, the remainder being covered by analogue terrestrial TV.

IPTV retained the leading position with 41.63% of the digital television market (slightly up from 41.00% at the end of Q3 2014). It was followed by DTH distribution at 33.27% percent (31.96% at end-Q1 2013) and MMDS and Cable with 12.97% (12.73%) and 11.80% (13.18%) respectively. The market share of the mobile operator was 0.33% (1.12%).

Operator TV connections

                                            2013                                2014
              ----------------------------------  ----------------------------------
                 Mar.     Jun.     Sep.     Dec.     Mar.     Jun.     Sep.     Dec.
              -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Total         138,420  144,950  146,433  148,701  149,618  153,601  155,635  154,393
Q-o-Q Change    4,589    6,530    1,483    2,268      917    3,983    2,034   -1,242
  %              3.4%     4.7%     1.0%     1.5%     0.6%     2.7%     1.3%    -0.8%

Colombia's pay TV subscriber base passes the 8 million mark

BUENOS AIRES — According to the latest Market Estimates report from BB BUSINESS BUREAU, the pay TV market in Colombia is continuing to grow though at a slower rate than one year ago.

The country ended 2014 with 8.08 million pay TV subscribers, up 4.3% versus the end of 2013. This figure is much greater than the official figure of 5.1 million subscribers reported by Colombia’s Autoridad Nacional de Television (ANTV). The BB BUSINESS BUREAU number is boosted by the inclusion of estimates for piracy and industry under-reporting. According to the analysts, these two factors add respectively 15% and 11% to the total for Colombia.

Overall, satellite TV is available in 1.7 million homes, representing 21% of the pay TV market, and 40% or 3.2 million subscribers have some type of digital service.

Amagi raises USD15mn fund from Azim Premji, Mayfield

Amagi Media Labs has raised over USD15 million funding in series C round from Premji Invest and its existing investor, Mayfield Fund. The company will utilise the investment to strengthen its business in India and globally.

The company has planned to use the fund for expanding its geo-targeting network including addition of new channels to its bouquet in India. Globally, the fund will be utilised to set up local offices in UK, Singapore and US to expand its growing client base for its broadcast technology platform.

“At this stage in our development, it is critical that we get the right investors on board whose vision matches ours and in this respect we are extremely pleased to have Premji Invest associate with us. This investment also reconfirms Mayfield Fund’s continuing confidence in our execution and growth. With over 300 per cent growth in revenues from last year, we have become the de facto choice for brands in their pursuit for effective advertising,” said Baskar Subramanian, Co-Founder of Amagi Media Labs.

Alma TV faces fine for abusing dominant position

Kazakhstan pay-TV operator, Alma TV, has been penalised KZT129.3 million and faces the charges of misusing its dominant position. Alma TV has reportedly offered varying tariff for its same services in different regions, said a media report.

Alma TV loses over 10% of the income from its services. It will also have KZT84 million in income from services confiscated, added the report.

Zhomart Yertayev, a Kazakh businessman and consultant of Bank RBK Directors Board, announced his plans to purchase over 50% stake in Alma TV on 20 November, 2014.

Goldman Sachs picks 4.8% stake in Hathway

Goldman Sachs has acquired 4.8% stake in Indian multi-system operator, Hathway Cable & Datacom, with an investment of INR5.26 billion (USD85.36 million). The firm has purchased over 8,093,268 shares at INR65 each on the National Stock Exchange.

The other investors namely P6 Asia/Providence Equity Partners, Reliance Capital and CLSA Global hold over 10.85%, 5.23% and 4.02% stake respectively in Hathway.

Hathway recently announced it is seeking shareholder’s approval for increasing its total foreign investment to 74% from the current level of 49% – subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India.

Ukraine completes DTT decryption

The Ukrainian DTT operator Zeonbud has now decoded its entire offer of 32 channels.

This was a requirement placed on it last year by the regulator (National Council) and viewers are able to watch 32 channels without having to pay a fee.

In a statement, the regulator says that besides offering a real opportunity to view the channels, the move will lead to more competition.

Zeonbud was accused of dragging its feet in complying with the regulator’s ruling.

This was initially made in July 2014, with the operator being given a month to decode all 32 channels.

After warnings, it carried out the procedure in stages.

Raduga TV in liquidation

The Russian DTH platform Raduga TV is now in the process of being liquidated.

According toComnews, the board members of its operating company DalGeoKom agreed the process and there is no specific time for it to end.

Raduga TV, which was 50%-owned by Modern Times Group (MTG), was prior to its closure the fourth largest DTH platform in Russia.

It ceased operations in December last year.

Ukrainian sheds pay-TV subs

The pay-TV market in Ukraine lost at least 200,000-250,000 subscribers last year, according to Gyorgy Zsembery, the CEO of Volia, the country’s leading cable operator.

Speaking to Expert & Consulting and quoted by ProIT, he added that this had been due to events in Crimea and the east of the country.

In Zsembery’s view, players who do not develop new technologies or have opportunities to introduce new services will find it difficult to make a profit as they will have nothing to compensate for the loss of their businesses in Crimea and the Donbass.

Speaking specifically about Volia’s plans for this year, Zsembery said that its main focus would be on interactive TV and increasing the speed and reliability of its internet offer.

MTS grows pay-TV base

Russia’s MTS both gained pay-TV subscribers and reduced churn in 2014.

Quoting a report by TMT Consulting, Vedomosti reports that the former figure increased by 4% during the year to 2.7 million.

However, it does not provide a figure for churn, which the company’s president promised to end in its fixed network in 2014.

MTS stopped providing its pay-TV figures in Q1 2014 and the increase in last year’s is believed to be down to a change in the method of accounting.

The company launched a DTH service towards the end of 2014 and this is expected to increase its pay-TV subscriber total in the future.

Satellite dominates Sub-Saharan Africa pay TV revenues

Sub-Saharan Africa pay TV revenues to rocket to $6.2 billion

Pay TV revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa will reach $6.22 billion in 2020, up from $3.54 billion in 2014 and $1.92 billion in 2010, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. Excluding South Africa, pay TV revenues will climb from $0.83 billion in 2010 to $1.73 billion in 2014 and onto $4.12 billion in 2020.

Source: Digital TV Research

The fourth edition of the Digital TV Sub-Saharan Africa report forecasts that South Africa and Nigeria will contribute more than half of the region’s pay TV revenues by 2020 for the 34 countries covered. Second-placed Nigeria will more than double its revenues from $449 million in 2014 to $1,148 million in 2020.

Satellite TV accounted for 92% of the 2014 pay TV revenues, although pay DTT will make inroads (contributing $802 million in 2020 – quadruple the 2014 total). Competition and take-up of the cheaper DTT packages will force ARPU down in most countries.
Of the 12.92 million pay TV subscribers at end-2014, 9.65 million were pay satellite TV and 2.81 million pay DTT. The pay total will more than double to 27.95 million by 2020, with satellite TV contributing 16.21 million and pay DTT another 9.44 million.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “Three companies [Multichoice (DStv and GOtv), Canal Plus and StarTimes] accounted for more than 90% of pay TV subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa by end-2014. However, we have outlined plans for at least 30 major platform launches in 2015 throughout this report – at least twice as many as in 2014.”

He continued: “Kenya has shown – and will continue to show – considerable digital TV growth, but it may be showing signs of overheating. Kenya now boasts two pay DTT platforms, a cable network and four satellite TV operators – too many for a country with only 2.87 million TV households?”

Amagi deploys Cloudport playout for Magic of Cinema

Amagi Media Labs, cloud-based broadcast infrastructure provider, has won a deal from Magic of Cinema (MOC), a free-to-air movie channel, to deploy Cloudport Edge Playout servers across 17 digital cable platforms.

The technology enables MOC to launch its channel at a fraction of traditional satellite/fiber infrastructure costs. The entire playout is managed at Amagi’s Data Operations Centre in Bengaluru.

“We evaluated several platforms and finally chose Amagi for its technology superiority and an attractive PaaS business model. It allowed us to avoid high capital expenditure and upfront investment without compromising on the broadcast quality. As our viewership expanded over time, Amagi helped us scale our business giving us the required flexibility and reliability. Amagi has been a true partner in our growth” said Sricharan Iyengar, CEO of MOC.

MOC has a wide array of over 1,500 Hindi cinemas. It is available on leading digital cable platforms including Hathway, Den, Siticable, UCN and Incable.

Belarus provides DTT update

Belarus is on track to complete its transition to digital broadcasting by May 15 this year. At the same time, its commercial DVB-T2 service is growing in popularity.

In a press conference held on Tuesday, January 13 and attended by representatives of several government ministries and Vadim Vladimorovich Shaybakov, the deputy DG of the incumbent telco Beltelecom, it was revealed that as of January 1 DVB-T coverage already amounted to 98.1% of the country.

However, it was also said that Belarus was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a commercial DVB-T2 service.

Operated by Beltelecom, it was launched in October 2013 and as of the beginning of this year reached over 40% of the country.

Twenty-five digital transmitters were installed in 2013 and their number increased to 95 in 2014.

Over 70 more will be installed this year.

The service, which employs the brand name Zala, offers a basic package of 26 channels, 18 of which are commercial, along with a number of packages.

In total, viewers are offered 44 channels, with the number set to increase in the future.

Zala had more than 46,000 subscribers as of the beginning of January and its reach is expected to increase to 80-90% of the country by the end of this year.

DigiTAG: UHDTV by 2023

A report prepared for DigiTAG has said UHDTV of up to 8K could be in place on Europe’s DTT platforms by 2023.

The report Roadmap for the Evolution of DTT, co-authored by DigiTAG and Analysys Mason, has been designed as a roadmap for the future development of DTT technologies in the main European markets.

Based on the technology profiles and on the country typologies the report predicts that consumer demand will see a transition to new standards taking between three and 12 years. Early adopter markets are likely to take between three and six years to move from present transmission capabilities through to a combination of DVB-T2, MPEG4/HEVC, SDTV/HDTV/UHDTV (4k).

A third profile, taking in HDTV/UHDTV (4k/8k) is expected to occur between 2023 and 2030.

It says the DTT platform is currently jeopardised by the scarcity of radio spectrum, and the plans for the reallocation of the 700MHz band, which will cut available capacity by an average 30%.

Russian channels escape ad ban

More channels than previously have escaped the advertising ban on cable and satellite-delivered services that came into effect in Russia at the beginning of this year.

AKTR and top.rbc report that this is thanks to Roskomnadzor issuing 40 licences at the end of 2014 to services operated by the First Channel, RTR and Gazprom-Media.

Several channels were already exempt to the amendments to the law On Advertising.

They included all 10 carried on the first DTT multiplex, as defined by presidential decree, along with cable and satellite services that also use limited frequencies for DTT distribution.

However, their number has now been significantly increased. Some sources say that the ban is now being viewed as a mistake and could in due course be lifted.

Tata Sky launches 4k STBs

India’s DTH operator Tata Sky has announced the launch of India’s first UltraHD/4K set-top box.

Customer orders for the 4K STBs are open and they are available at Rs 6,400 (EUR87) for new customers and Rs 5,900 for existing subscribers.

Tata Sky 4K is a new generation set-top box with the capability of delivering ultra high-definition picture quality and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound. 4K at 8.3 Megapixels (3840×2160) has approximately four times the pixels as that of 2K (1920×1080) the current HD standard, thus provides greater clarity and more vivid colours on screen for viewers.

The launch of the Tata Sky 4K set-top box in the market has been timed just before the cricket matches. The launch plans were unveiled in July last year when Tata Sky showcased the first ever live FIFA World Cup Quarter final match in 4K.

Chile adds 22,000 pay TV subscribers in 3Q 2014

Chile’s Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel) has releases pay TV statistics to the end of September 2014. From the end of September 2013, satellite subscribers increased from 1,220,367 to 1,416,966 (up 16.1%) whereas wired (cable TV and IPTV) subscribers grew from 1,269,541 to 1,353,349 (up 6.6%), giving a total for the country of 2.77 million, up 11.3% year-on-year.

Pay TV subscribers:

                               Sep-13     Dec-13     Mar-14     Jun-14     Sep-14     Year-on-Year
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------------
Operator                
 VTR Telefónica S.A.          978,713    984,643    993,934  1,002,984  1,004,074   25,361    2.6%
 Telefónica Multimedia        473,693    496,349    519,479    551,741    572,356   98,663   20.8%
 Claro Comunicaciones S.A.    452,681    456,003    465,460    479,659    470,534   17,853    3.9%
 DIRECTV Chile Ltda.          362,994    380,453    403,960    447,272    449,367   86,373   23.8%
 Entelphone                    54,869     66,232     70,570     80,582     81,195   26,326   48.0%
 Telefónica del Sur            64,980     67,904     71,400     75,411     80,044   15,064   23.2%
 PACIFICO CABLE S.A.           69,659     71,824     74,167     77,039     77,642    7,983   11.5%
 GTD IMAGEN S.A.               19,591     20,583     21,495     22,850     23,454    3,863   19.7%
 Cable Central                  8,978      8,122      7,785      7,528      7,172   -1,806  -20.1%
 TU VES S.A.                    3,750      3,507      3,210      3,392      4,477      727   19.4%
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  ------
Connection type                
 Wired (IPTV/Cable)         1,269,541  1,285,639  1,303,822  1,344,790  1,353,349   83,808    6.6%
 Satellite                  1,220,367  1,269,981  1,327,638  1,403,668  1,416,966  196,599   16.1%
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  ------
Total                       2,489,908  2,555,620  2,631,460  2,748,458  2,770,315  280,407   11.3%
 Quarterly increase           111,164     65,712     75,840    116,998     21,857

Samsung offers Go by OSN on smart TVs in Middle East

Korean television manufacturer, Samsung Electronics, has added a video-on-demand service, Go by OSN, to its smart television line-up in Middle East. Samsung smart TV viewers can also access the service on four other smart devices.

“We are delighted that our customers have access to ‘Go by OSN.’ Entertaining content is just as important as sleek design or intuitive features. ‘Go by OSN’ is a convenient and enjoyable way for users to watch high quality programming whenever and wherever they want,” said Vinod Nair, General Manager of TV Business at Samsung Gulf Electronics.

Telefónica dominates pay TV growth in Spain

Spain’s Markets and Competition Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia – CNMC) has published telecommunications and audiovisual statistics for the country for the third quarter of 2014.

In the quarter, total pay TV subscribers rose by 400,000 to reach 4.71 million, driven almost entirely by growth in IPTV subscribers. Year-on-year, the market grew by 969,000 subscribers, with Telefónica accounting for more than 100% of the total, adding 992,000 over the preceding 12 months.

Pay TV subscribers by technology:

               III/2013    IV/2013     I/2014    II/2014   III/2014  Δ Q-o-Q  Δ Y-o-Y  Δ Y-o-Y
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
Satellite     1,633,527  1,620,632  1,631,607  1,597,311  1,580,313  -16,998  -53,214    -3.3%
Cable         1,176,382  1,142,015  1,128,605  1,141,636  1,131,062  -10,574  -45,320    -3.9%
IPTV            673,482    817,154    947,748  1,296,592  1,665,765  369,173  992,283   147.3%
DTT             234,795    237,178    232,084    247,153    237,900   -9,253    3,105     1.3%
Others           21,952     28,399     29,779     26,664     94,532   67,868   72,580   330.6%
Mobile TV       119,501    117,957    118,474     49,028     48,465     -563  -71,036   -59.4%
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
TOTAL         3,740,138  3,845,378  3,969,823  4,309,356  4,709,572  400,216  969,434    25.9%

Pay TV subscribers by provider:

               III/2013    IV/2013     I/2014    II/2014   III/2014  Δ Q-o-Q  Δ Y-o-Y  Δ Y-o-Y
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
DTS (Canal+)  1,655,479  1,649,031  1,661,386  1,623,975  1,674,845   50,870   19,366     1.2%
Ono             807,429    789,895    781,850    777,667    775,144   -2,523  -32,285    -4.0%
Telefónica      611,251    741,126    861,252  1,205,797  1,576,779  370,982  965,528   158.0%
GolTV           234,795    237,178    232,084    247,153    237,900   -9,253    3,105     1.3%
TeleCable       128,175    125,953    127,424    128,109    128,910      801      735     0.6%
Euskaltel       118,718    106,768    102,154    120,970    113,222   -7,748   -5,496    -4.6%
R               101,240     98,009     95,483     93,086     91,944   -1,142   -9,296    -9.2%
Orange           62,231     76,028     86,496     90,795     88,986   -1,809   26,755    43.0%
Others           20,820     21,390     21,694     21,804     21,842       38    1,022     4.9%
              ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------  -------
Total         3,740,138  3,845,378  3,969,823  4,309,356  4,709,572  400,216  969,434    25.9%

TrueVisions integrates HD STB chipsets from MStar

Truevisions has entered into an agreement with MStar Semiconductor to integrate MStar’s MPEG-4 HD set-top-box chipset solution for high definition zappers.

The chipsets offers high-definition STB applications and support advanced security mechanism by conditional access while maintaining effective overall system cost.

“We are pleased to select MStar NDS advanced security solution. With MStar STB solution, our subscribers will experience high-efficient HD program broadcasting service in the region. We are committed to delivering a world class STB viewing experience with consolidated STB platform,” said Vichai Sernvongsat, CTO of TrueVisions.

Huawei, China Telecom Sichuan unveil 4K ultra-HD iTV service

Huawei Technologies and China Telecom Sichuan have jointly launched a 4K ultra-HD iTV network service and 4K ultra-HD intelligent smart set-top-box in China.

Huawei and China Telecom Sichuan had entered into partnership three years before to develop IP video services. The companies adopted H.265 video coding standard to ensure better user experience and deployed leading technologies to optimise the code stream, coding quality, delay and algorithm complexity.

China Telecom Sichuan has deployed an engineer-to-engineer network quality detection system to support visualized management of video services to ensure the experience of 4K signals and enhance user experience.