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  • Avaya designs the largest voice, data network for Fifa WC

    Avaya designs the largest voice, data network for Fifa WC

    MUMBAI: When the ball is kicked tonight at the opening match of the 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany, the largest voice and data network ever — designed and managed by Avaya goes into full operation.

    Over the next 31 days, 15 trillion bytes of information, equal to more than 100 million books will travel through the communications network built by Avaya, a global provider of communications networks and services for businesses.

    The converged network, which combines voice and data on the same infrastructure, will be used by teams, referees and journalists, plus Fifa and Organizing Committee officials for a myriad of tasks, including accreditation, reporting results, logistics and transportation.

    New technologies will change the way fans, journalists, volunteers, and athletes enjoy and interact with the games and one another, and 12 stadiums, 12 cities, 64 matches, hotels, airports, train stations, and more will be completely connected.

    Avaya chairman and CEO Don Peterson says, “Goal lines in sports and bottom lines in business are the same — it’s all about having a winning team. At the Fifa World Cup 2006, Avaya is the team that pulls together every player, match and a huge number of other activities with a world class communications network. Providing highly reliable and secure
    communications solutions is what we do for our customers around the world every day. Our team offers skills and powers as strong as Fifa World Cup players, so we can deliver a perfect communications ‘match’ to any customer here at the games.”

    With the Avaya network in place:

    * Real-time scores will allow fans and the media globally to instantly know who scored a goal and which team won a match. The World Cup has an accumulated audience of 30 billion fans worldwide, but only 3.1 million will be able to watch the games live.

    * Photojournalists can transmit digital photos wirelessly, instead of using film and dark rooms, on which journalists had to rely at the Fifa World Cup 2002.

    * In the past, an average of two to three phone numbers, including an office and mobile phone number, were listed for each person working during the World Cup and the directory needed to be updated and printed twice daily. Now a new web-based directory can update contact lists instantly.

    * Reliability is ensured, with 99.99 per cent availability. Avaya conducted more than 400 tests at its Fifa World Cup lab in Frankfurt. The tests, validated by Netconsult, included exhaustive testing of failover scenarios, backup power, firmware and software compatibility, and the resiliency of many IP applications to ensure the network won’t go down or slow down.

    * Sophisticated security is in place to prevent viruses and hackers, with software that enables Avaya technical experts to locate the source of the virus or intrusion.

  • TV18’s creative arm ‘The Cell’ bags gold at Promax Asia PSA

    TV18’s creative arm ‘The Cell’ bags gold at Promax Asia PSA

    MUMBAI: TV18’s creative team, The Cell has pocketed the Promax Asia PSA challenge gold award.

    The objective was to create a hard-hitting film that would build awareness around the issue of child labour for the NGO Milk. The film was conceived and executed by the TV18 team has used ‘reversing time’ as a creative device, informs an official release.

    TV18 Group Network creative director Zubin Driver believes, “We are very excited about this award, and thrilled because it has been conceived by one of the youngest teams in The Cell. Our creative output has only been getting better and better and we are a serious international quality phenomena now.”

    The Cell is the in – house creative arm of the TV18 Group started in 2002. It has grown to be a strategic creative support for all the TV18 network clients and has broadened its scope to include film production for clients that advertise on the channel. It also conceptualizes and executes communication packages for clients that invest in the channel properties. The Cell designs the communications strategy, to fit seamlessly with the marketing strategy.

  • Fifa’s online site to offer WC coverage in nine languages

    Fifa’s online site to offer WC coverage in nine languages

    MUMBAI: With the football World Cup kicking off tonight in Germany, football’s govening body Fifa has announced that its site FIFAworldcup.com is available in nine languages

    All 32 teams and 736 players in football’s showpiece event are highlighted in depth with the very latest news and profiles. The site is also offering an unprecedented experience with many new and interactive features.

    Free video highlights: Two minutes of the finest action from each of the 64 matches will be available within minutes after the final whistle. No registration or payment is required, simply click, watch and enjoy!

    The Emirates Matchcast includes play-by-play commentaries, the official Fifa Data Feed, users Fanchat, photographs of the action published in real time, trivia, polls and much more.

    There will be editorial coverage in nine languages. 50 journalists from 20 countries will be reporting around the clock. There will be previews and reports for each game as well as technical analysis, exclusive interviews, features and stats.

    VIPs Love Football: This is a new section where pop stars, actors, politicians and sporting greats reveal their passion for the game exclusively on FIFAworldcup.com. Amongst those included are Mikhail Gorbachev, Joss Stone, Placido Domingo, Ilie Nastase, Ato Boldon, Alpha Blondy and Mark Webber.

    Official Fantasy Football: Here visitors can choose a squad of 23 players before 9 June and compete against football fans around the globe. More than 250,000 visitors to the site have already registered their team in the hope of being crowned the world’s greatest virtual manager. 

    Multi-player Trivia: Know your Fifa World Cup history? Try to answer the 2,000 questions which FIFAworldcup.com has compiled. See how you fare against fellow fans from across the globe!

    Destination Germany: Here one can learn about the 12 host cities and organise their stay in Germany thanks to the entertaining and informative interactive content. It includes city guides, practical tips and a crash course in German to make one’s stay more enjoyable.

    Make your voice heard: This is an interactive section. The site gives users the opportunity to express themselves by voting for the Gillette Best Young Player, commenting on the matches in the Emirates MatchCast, uploading their own pictures and blogging in the 12th Man section.

    Predictor: Everyone has an opinion on who will lift the trophy on 9 July. Will Brazil successfully defend their title? Will England end a 40 year long drought? Will Germany triumph at home? Visitors can guess the scores and share your results with friends on FIFAworldcup.com’s Predictor.

    Mobile: Thanks to the mobile site, you can take FIFAworldcup.com with you wherever you go. In addition to news, player profiles, statistics and downloads, you can also get free SMS alerts to help you follow your favourite team. Better still, the Fifa MatchCast application allows fans to receive all match information live and direct from the stadiums.

  • Liliane Landor is BBC World Service news, current affairs editor

    Liliane Landor is BBC World Service news, current affairs editor

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has appointed Liliane Landor as its new editor for news and current affairs. She is responsible for all the BBC World Service News and Current Affairs programmes in English.

    BBC Radio News Stephen Mitchell says, “Liliane has a great track record in World Service as well as the vision and experience to build on the success already achieved during Mary Hockaday’s tenure.”

    Landor joined the BBC in 1990 – working for the BBC French Service after experience as an interpreter in Paris and as a print journalist. She had been Head of BBC World Service News and Current Affairs Programmes since 2002, and in 2004 spent six months as Head of the BBC Arabic Service.

    More recently, she has played a key role in leading flagship news and current affairs programmes across BBC World Service – while also being part of the Creative Future for journalism team led by the BBC’s Deputy Director-General, Mark Byford.

    Landor says, “I am delighted to have been offered the job and I’m very excited at the prospect of leading such an impressive department. It has a deep understanding of our huge and diverse audiences and has always delivered strong and creative journalism. The World Service is a special place to be and we’ll focus our energies on delivering value and quality to our audiences.”

  • Scott Grogin is Fox senior VP, communications

    Scott Grogin is Fox senior VP, communications

    MUMBAI: Veteran Fox spokesperson Scott Grogin has been promoted to senior VP, corporate communications.

    Grogin will continue to be responsible for developing and executing business and tactical communications strategies on behalf of the network as well as serving as primary liaison to the daily trade, financial and business media.

    In addition, he will work closely with Fox Networks Group President and CEO Tony Vinciquerra and Fox Network President Ed Wilson on inter-divisional and affiliate relations initiatives, as well as serving as communications liaison between the broadcast network and various Fox Entertainment divisions, including Fox Networks Group, Fox Mobile Entertainment and Fox Interactive Marketing.

  • O2 strengthens management team in Asia with key appointments

    O2 strengthens management team in Asia with key appointments

    BANGALORE: O2 today strengthens its Asia Pacific management team with the appointment of Guillaume Debrosse as COO and Sean Wilkins as CFO. 

    Both appointments underscore O2’s commitment to delivering excellent customer service and operational efficiency as it expands into new markets, including some Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the Middle East, according to an official communication.

    O2 Asia Pacific is a member of the O2 group, a leading provider of mobile communications services in Europe with more than 35 million active mobile customers.

    Guillaume Debrosse is responsible for O2 Asia Pacific’s entire regional operations, from project management, delivery and testing to supply chain management and after-sales support services. Debrosse’s key focus is to ensure prompt time-to-market for O2’s converged mobile devices and excellent service experience for O2’s customers.

    Prior to this role, Debrosse was the CFO at O2 Asia Pacific, a role he assumed since the de-merger from BT plc. He was instrumental in successfully turning O2 Asia Pacific into a profitable and cash flow positive business with a six-time revenue increase and an EBITDA multiplied by 15 over the last 3 years.

    Sean Wilkins succeeds Debrosse as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for O2 Asia Pacific. In his capacity as CFO, Wilkins oversees all O2’s financial and legal operations in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.

    Sean Wilkins joins O2 Asia Pacific from O2 UK where he was head of finance and business development for wholesale. Wilkins has made significant contribution to O2’s partnership with Tesco Mobile and successfully developed a completely new and vital business sector and helped achieve the million-customers mark within a span of two years.

    Both Debrosse and Wilkins are based in Singapore and report directly to Mark Billington, CEO, O2 Asia Pacific, the release adds.

  • Major UK broadcasters team up for DTT high definition trial

    Major UK broadcasters team up for DTT high definition trial

    MUMBAI: BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have joined forces to launch the UK’s first high definition (HD) trial broadcasts to terrestrial aerials. 

    A specially selected 450-strong audience sample collect their trial HD set top boxes this week for the closed technical digital terrestrial television (DTT) technical trial which is due to last six months.

    In an joint official statement issued, high definition is a step change in television technology which provides far clearer and more detailed pictures than normal standard definition TV. Each picture contains up to five times as much digital information as an ordinary TV picture. 

    The trial will offer participating broadcasters and their technical partners valuable lessons about delivering HD broadcasts on a digital terrestrial network and also research how the audience enjoys this new format.

    It will help to discover whether there could be HD broadcasts on Freeview in future. The trial is being conducted under an Ofcom licence which strictly limits the number of receivers and forbids reception of the trial stream by general members of the public.

    Humax and ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast) have supplied the HD set top boxes for the trial. The DTT HD trial consists of low power transmissions from Crystal Palace in London on frequencies that are not suitable for high power broadcasting.

    National Grid Wireless (NGW) is transmitting the BBC’s HD stream, which went on air last month, and Red Bee Media provides play-out services.

    Arqiva is transmitting the multiplex shared by ITV, Channel 4 and Five, with Grass Valley, a business within Thomson, providing broadcast playout and video encoding equipment, states the official statement.

    Siemens Business Services is providing technical support for the BBC’s HD trial. The test broadcasts will use MPEG4 video coding, 8K carriers and 64QAM modulation at launch – different parameters may be tested during the trial period.

    The BBC’s trial DTT HD stream will offer identical programming to its HD trial broadcasts on satellite and cable over the trial period. That includes the BBC’s World Cup coverage, major Wimbledon matches and programming highlights such as Planet Earth and Bleak House.

  • Verizon ties up with DirecTV to create a triple play for wholesale customers

    Verizon ties up with DirecTV to create a triple play for wholesale customers

    MUMBAI: Verizon and DirecTV has entered an agreement that will enable Verizon wholesale customers to sell a package of voice, DSL and DirecTV services that is designed to offer a superior and more value-oriented alternative to cable “triple play” offers.

    Under the agreement, telecom service providers that utilize Verizon’s popular wholesale advantage voice service and selected high-speed data services can also receive DirecTV service and sell all three services to consumers at a competitive price. The companies expect the package to become available in July. 

    Terms of the agreement between Verizon and DirecTV were not disclosed.

    “The agreement demonstrates wholesale telephony’s progress as an industry since the Federal Communications Commission allowed providers to enter into commercial agreements for many wholesale services last year,” said Verizon Partner Solutions David Small. “Verizon is dedicated to helping our wholesale customers compete with the cable industry’s triple play. By joining with DirecTV, the market-leader in digital satellite TV services, we add a strong video brand to our voice and DSL services for wholesalers, creating a powerful combination and an attractive triple play at a discount.”

    DirecTV sales and service president John Suranyi said, “The triple-play offer for wholesalers enables DirecTV to reach a new segment of customers with an attractive array of services that will more effectively compete with the local cable provider. Consumers have been responding favourably to the superior choice, value and quality offered by the Verizon/DirecTV service bundle, and we believe Verizon wholesalers will find they now have an offer that will invigorate their market.”

    Verizon expects to make the bundle available to wholesale customers in July. Wholesalers must buy Verizon’s wholesale advantage voice services to qualify for the package discount

  • Initiative Worldwide to track global TV viewing patterns for Fifa World Cup

    Initiative Worldwide to track global TV viewing patterns for Fifa World Cup

    MUMBAI: As the world starts watching the Fifa World Cup from tomorrow, Initiative will launch its latest ViewerTrack operation for the same with the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on 9 June.

    With the spread of Initiative agencies in more than 50 markets across the network, Initiative Futures, it’s global media research arm, will track global TV viewing figures, match-by-match and country-by-country.

    Over the course of the tournament, Initiative will collect comprehensive overnight audience data for every match. The data will cover viewing trends for all major demographic groups, split by age, gender and social class. These will inform which matches are most valuable to advertisers and sponsors.

    Taking advantage of its experience in tracking the world’s major sporting events, such as the Fifa World Cup, European Championships, and the Formula 1 World Championships, Initiative will make comparisons between sports.

    Initiative will publish weekly and daily insightful reports on audience levels and trends, and their implications for advertisers and sponsors. The reports will be published on the following dates:

    Initiative’s daily and weekly reports will complement each other to provide full and comprehensive television viewing analysis throughout the tournament. With overnight data from across the network, the daily reports will provide timely information on recent games.

    The weekly reports will then give the agency an opportunity to reflect on data for a number of matches in a broader context.

    These daily and weekly reports will cover key issues such as:

    -Viewing match of the week – Which match enjoyed the highest average live global audience?
    -Viewing country of the week – In which markets were average live audiences highest?
    -2006 vs. 2002 comparison – Which markets saw the greatest change in live audiences compared with World Cup 2002?
    -Mover of the week – Which markets saw the greatest change in live audiences throughout the 2006 tournament?

  • China Mobile, News Corp & Star in partnership to explore wireless space

    China Mobile, News Corp & Star in partnership to explore wireless space

    MUMBAI: China Mobile Limited, News Corporation and Star Group Limited have announced a broad strategic partnership to explore wireless media business opportunities.

    By leveraging the content assets and interactive services of News Corporation and Star, the partners will combine their strengths to develop wireless media services based on China Mobile’s mobile platform, through which China Mobile serves over 260 million subscribers. The cooperation will explore wireless media business opportunities on a global basis, states an official release.

    Key areas of the cooperation will include development, production, aggregation and distribution of a wide array of wireless services ranging from music, broadband interactivity, and social networking to multimedia value-added products, informs an official release.

    China Mobile chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou said, “The partnership with News Corporation and Star will lay a solid foundation for providing wireless multimedia services. This is a very important step for us in view of the global convergence of telecommunication, media and Internet. With News Corporation and Star’s popular and quality media content assets, we will be able to offer more exciting services to our customers.”

    News Corporation chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch says, “Partnering with China Mobile gives us immediate access to a vast consumer base throughout China. News Corp. has been a world leader in wireless content while our services such as MySpace dominate the online social networking craze. It is my hope that this partnership will unleash the creative and technical abilities of the talented employees of News Corp. and China Mobile to bring new offerings to consumers across mainland China and Hong Kong.”

    Star Group CEO Michelle Guthrie adds,” Today’s partnership represents an important new media growth opportunity for Star. China Mobile’s world-leading expertise, customer base and exciting growth initiatives will allow us to expand the Star brands and services in the largest wireless market in the world. We look forward to working closely with them to bring a new level of wireless entertainment to the consumer.”