Friday, 9th May 2008

SPORT SHORTS

* Japan has today been announced as the host of rugby union’s IRB Junior World Championship in 2009. The award is a boost for the country as it seeks the ultimate prize of the senior Rugby World Cup. Japan lost out to New Zealand in the bidding to host the 2011 World Cup. The junior world championship will involve 16 national teams made up of the leading players aged under 20 and takes place next June. Nobby Mashimo, the chairman of the Japan Rugby Football Union, said: ‘This is an extremely exciting development for the game in Japan and also Asia. The Japan Rugby Football Union is confident that we will be able to deliver a very successful tournament that will foster the growth of rugby within the Asian rugby community. This year’s IRB Junior World Championship will be held in Wales from June 6 to 22. Sportcal.com, 8th May 2008

* ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) has inked a deal with Imagine OmniMedia, the producer of The Contender Asia, to jointly develop, produce and broadcast Sport*Star Football, a global reality football entertainment series, in Asia. The series will be a global hunt for the next football superstar. Under the terms of the agreement, Imagine OmniMedia will produce the upcoming original series, while ESPN STAR Sports will provide creative input, as well as market and broadcast the series across its entire footprint in Asia. In addition, ESS intends to use its lineup of talent and array of original programming to build recognition for the show. World Screen, Indiantelevision.com, 8th May 2008

* Mobile network operator, Vodafone Essar, has agreed a five-year sponsorship deal with the Indian Premier League to become the IPL’s Official Telecom Partner and Official Ground Sponsor until 2013. Under the deal, which is estimated to be worth around $25 million, Vodafone customers will be able to order tickets for IPL matches on the company’s Vodafone live service and participate in the ‘Predict the Man of the Match’ contest. The inaugural season of the IPL began on April 18. The final match will take place on the 1 June 2008. Sportbusiness.com, 8th May 2008

* Telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) on Thursday said from next month onwards it would launch mobile TV for which it is carrying out field trials now. The company today launched Express alert, a value-added service for its Dolphin and Trump mobile subscribers. Subscribing to Express alert would give MTNL customers, updates on astrology, cricket scores, news and stock. Going ahead, MTNL would launch one value-added service every month. Telecom operators are seeing a fall in their revenues because the tariff is coming down. So, they are launching value-added services that are popular among subscribers. For the value-added services, telecom operators have tied up with a technology partner and both decide to share the revenues. The lion's share of the revenue goes to the operator. The Hindu Business Line, 8th May 2008

* Tata Sky, the joint venture between the Tata group and StarTV, has crossed the two million connections mark figure. The pay-TV provider has added this mark in 20 months, and the company is now planning to launch its high-end personal video recorder (PVR) later this year. Tata Sky provider offers interactive services which include education, cooking, quizzing, sports, 24x7 darshan of leading temples of the country. At present, nearly 500 schools across India are using Tata Sky's educational services as a teaching aid within the classroom. Market leader Dish TV, recently crossed the 3 million DTH connections mark taking the total DTH susbcriber base in the country to over 5 million, about 7% of the total cable homes in the country. Televisionpoint.com, Indiantelevision.com, 7th May 2008

* CNN Mobile has won a Webby People's Voice Award for Best Mobile News Site of 2008, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences said. The academy presents the Webby Awards, a international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video and mobile sites. For the 12th Annual Webby Awards, the academy received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide. Winners will be honored at a Star -studded gala in New York City on June 10. While academy members select the winners of the Webby Awards, the Webby People's Voice Awards are determined by the online community itself. Televisionpoint.com, 8th May 2008

* UTStarcom, a IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services company, has been awarded a contract by United Telecoms to deliver Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), bandwidth on demand and Voice over IP (VoIP) services in Goa. Upon completion, the Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON)/fiber technology network will be the first specifically designed to deliver e-Governance and triple play solutions in India. The deployment of the Goa Broadband Network is an expansion of UTStarcom's recently deployed fiber network with United Telecoms and demonstrates UTStarcom's continued success in delivering broadband solutions, a core business focus area for the company. The Goa Broadband Network marks the first time UTStarcom's Rolling Stream IPTV, GEPON and mSwitch solutions will be integrated into a single customer network for the delivery of end-to-end, triple play services. Televisionpoint.com, Indiantelevision.com, 8th May 2008

* Intelsat and Panasonic Avionics have announced an agreement that will result in the next generation of in-flight passenger broadband access. Panasonic, known for delivering in-flight technology, is introducing an advanced satellite transmission platform that will allow airline passengers the ability to access Internet-based information and entertainment. Panasonic eXConnect, provides passengers with two-way broadband Internet connectivity, providing a wide range of applications useful to passengers and crew such as VPN, live television, shopping, streaming media, telemedicine, operational applications and personal devices integrated to the airline’s in-flight entertainment systems. With data rates comparable to ground public Wi-Fi hotspots, eXConnect offers airlines the opportunity to differentiate their in-flight product with valuable service to their passengers. Indiantelevision.com, 8th May 2008

* The IMS Research study ‘IPTV: A Global Market Analysis - 2008 Edition’ forecasts that, on a worldwide basis, shipments of IP set-top boxes will grow at a CAGR of 37.1% through the end of 2012. These shipments will represent revenues of $3 billion. IP + Digital Terrestrial hybrid STBs are expected to comprise 30% of shipments in 2012 with HD DVR boxes nearing 35%. HD IP set-top box shipments are forecast to grow as uptake of HD IPTV services in the US, Korea, Japan, and Western Europe begins to accelerate in the near to intermediate term. DVR functionality is already gaining traction, especially in the areas previously mentioned, with DVR-enabled boxes expected to grow to nearly ten million units at the end of the forecast. In addition to HD and DVR functionality, hybrid boxes are to be installed in the majority of households receiving a TV service via IP from an operator." ATV, Rapid TV News, 9th May 2008

* Germany’s nationwide mobile television service will not be ready in time for soccer’s 2008 European Championships next month. DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) coverage in Germany was due to be launched for Euro 2008, which runs from June 7 to 29 but, after incurring delays, will only be made available in ‘soft launch’ format next month. Henrik Rinnert, the managing director of MFD, the mobile television provider, said: ‘It will be a soft launch. The timescale for a big commercial launch is just too tight.’ He added that a reduced programming service in selected cities was more likely than a full launch at this stage. MFD and fellow mobile television provider Neva Media won the nationwide mobile TV licence in Germany and formed the Mobile 3.0 consortium. Sportcal.com, 8th May 2008