Philip Hunter

Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable operator, is accusing incumbent Telco Deutsche Telekom of charging too much for its ducts.

French media conglomerate Vivendi SA has chosen Germany to launch its first Netflix-like subscription video-on-demand service as part of a strategy to become a European wide OTT player.

Italy has abandoned its beauty contest plan to give DTT channels away for free.

NDS, the Israeli content security company being acquired by Cisco for $5 billion, has retaliated against smart card hacking claims in a BBC program while facing similar allegations in Australia.

Eutelsat’s KabelKiosk platform, which serves cable operators in Germany and neighboring countries, is adding an HbbTV-based interactive portal.

European commercial broadcasters spent €15.1 billion on content in 2010, the last year of measurement on program spending.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has condemned a call by the President of Republika Srpska for the national public broadcasting service of Bosnia-Herzegovina, BHRT, to be closed down.

Cryptography Research and Invia SAS of France will collaborate over measures to combat Differential Power Analysis

Netflix has been hoping its European entry will make up for its loss of 800,000 US customers, but is meeting resistance from entrenched broadcasters.

Growth in use of Apps both on smart TVs and other devices in Europe has exceeded expectations during 2011.

Relevant bodies such as EBU, ITU, and SMPTE are edging towards standards for 3-D and UIltra HD ahead of key meetings in the spring of 2012.

The BBC has paved the way for its content to be available on demand via third party platforms as well as its own iPlayer by relaxing syndication rules.

Pay TV operators in Europe and elsewhere are looking to expand beyond digital entertainment to home automation and energy management for new sources of revenue.

The DVB anticipates DVB-T2-Lite filling in holes in terrestrial coverage in Europe, but doubts remain after flop of earlier DVB-H standard for mobile.

The Broadcasters' Audience Research Board has completed field tests of online audience measurement using metering software from Kantar Media.

With Netflix, the U.S. made the early running on OTT, but Europeans are faster to embrace smart TVs.

The number of digital TV connections in the Netherlands grew by 4.2 percent during the third quarter of 2011, according to Telecompaper's quarterly Dutch Television Subscribers report.

The European Union is expected to sign an agreement with the European Broadcast Union (EBU) to back media independence across the Balkan region.

Just ahead of Netflix’ UK launch, Amazon’s LoveFilm subsidiary has opened up a long middle window for Warner Bros films after satellite broadcaster Sky but before general Free To Air availability.

This UK’s IP&TV World Forum that took place last week highlighted the mixed global fortunes of IPTV as it disappears into the cloud.

The BBC has unveiled a paid for download service, enabling viewers to purchase programmes for permanent use after broadcast.

Europe has been hit by a wave of OTT-related deployments and announcements as Siemens of Germany declares that IPTV is history.

Cisco’s $5 billion takeover of UK-based set top box software and content security vendor NDS gives it new customers and opportunities across Europe and Asia.