Analog TV shut-offs tend to be complicated and bumpy affairs under the best of circumstances. The transition in Mexico, however, has seen more than its fair share of turbulence and false-starts. The original analog shut-off (ASO) was slated for 2021, but the previous president, Philippe Calderon decided to dramatically accelerate the change, bringing the ASO […]
Archive | Latin America
Colombia: There is No Risk in Staying
While watching the History Channel mini-series, “The Men Who Built America,” I am reminded of how much willpower is exerted to create something out of nothing, or to transform something that doesn’t work into something that does to transform society. One of my tech compatriots with ties to the digital TV business, whom I amazingly […]
Digital TV: No Two Places Are Alike
I recently participated in a Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) meeting on spectrum management focused on the digital TV switchover. Listening to regional broadcasters, regulatory officials, and engineers discuss the challenges of planning a digital TV ecosystem only reinforced the axiom that every place has its own DNA. Not to get all “snow flakey” but no two places […]
Latin America’s Rising TV Tide
While the U.S. economy teeters nervously between a full-throated recovery and recessionary backsliding, Latin America has been enjoying more temperate economic climes and the region’s pay TV providers are basking in the sun. Satellite TV firm DirecTV’s Latin American division had a blockbuster second quarter, adding roughly 590,000 subscribers, bringing its total subscriber count into the […]
Digital Set-Top Box: The Foreseeable Growth in Emerging Markets
Monday June 13, 2011 – Jing Sui Even though consumer retrenchment and overall market maturity in North America and Western Europe led to lower than expected growth in digital STB unit shipment volumes, the demand for digital STBs is boosting up silently in the other parts of the world – in emerging markets like Asia, […]
EchoStar Turns to Latin America for New Growth
Monday December 8, 2008 – Antonette Goroch EchoStar’s recent announcement that it is forming a joint venture with MVS Comunicaciones, one of the largest media/telecom companies in Mexico, reflects both a maturing of the U.S. market for digital TV and the prospect of renewed growth in the Latin America market. The move, which involves the […]