Well, Madame won out after all. Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj‘s single point agenda of imposing set top boxes and conditional access on the Indian cable TV industry was approved by the lower house of Parliament after a long debate.

The Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2002 was passed after a vote from members. Swaraj had to answer a lot of queries from members, especially in relation to costs, subscription fees, government control, the communications convergence bill, DD etc.

The Bill however went through and its enactment means that cable TV operators, television broadcasters and consumers will have to gear up for a new era of addressable pay TV television.

Thai communication major Shin Satellite and Bagan Cybertech IDC &Teleport, Myanmar have signed a service and procurement contract for purchasing a complete iPSTAR system package, including an iPSTAR gateway and 5,000 terminals.
Bagan is planning to deploy and implement iPSTAR ground system with Thaicom for the provision of rural telephony services throughout Myanmar by the fourth quarter of 2002.

Under the contact, Shin Satellite and Bagan will jointly set up the iPSTAR gateway which is expected to come on line by the Q4 2002; Bagan will be responsible for its operation and maintenance. The first 200 of 5,000 iPSTAR user terminals will be adopted for rural telephony services using the current gateway at the Thaicom Teleport and DTH Center, Lad Lum Kaew, Pathumthani. Regardless of the terrain, the deployment of iPSTAR will allow Bagan to provide services via satellite covering the whole of the telecommunication infrastructure in Myanmar, according to an official release.

The iPSTAR system which uses the most advanced technology available, would provide extremely advanced satellite technology with internet protocol-based applications that will serve the urgent national needs for basic telephony services in rural areas in Myanmar.

BroadcastAsia2002, the broadcasting and multimedia technologies event will be held from 18 to 21 June 2002 in Singapore this year.
The forum will have a wide range of specially-crafted events including, a 12,800 square meter exhibition, cutting-edge conferences and workshops and an incisive CEO Roundtable discussion. It is expected to provide an avenue for broadcasting professionals to showcase their capabilities, ideas and products, and ultimately provide effective solutions to the industry?s needs.

Comprising three sub-shows - Professional Audio Technology, ComGraphics&Animation and CableSat, BroadcastAsia2002 will feature end-to-end solutions for broadcasters such as digital technology, streaming media, animation and computer graphics software, interactive television and satellite technology, among others.

The highlights of the forum are a five day international conference, beginning 17 June, which will engage prominent industry professionals in a wide spectrum of topics that the industry faces today; and ComGraphics&Animation2002 Workshops which will have demos of 3-D application tools and game console development, while serving as a creative laboratory for participants to explore the technical and artistic challenges of creating digital art and animation.

The CEO Roundtable will bring the top executives of the Asia Pacific broadcasting trade together for exchanging views on the industry. The topic for this year?s discussion is Digital Survival for Broadcasters. An audio technology seminar, organized by the Audio Engineering Society, Singapore, will discuss the future trends in digital audio. Topics included are upcoming digital formats, cutting edge audio technlologies, new audio standards and the latest networking techniques for digital audio.

ComGraph2002, the third Asia Pacific Digital Art and Computer Animation Competition at the forum, will bring under one roof the region?s most talented computer animators in a battle of creativity.