There is a new FTA in town! Following up on the Nanosat Premium which came out a few months ago and was a success the company released a brand new receiver.

This new edition to the family has a built in ethernet adapter and is designed not only to pick up true FTA signals but also share media on your home network. You can also download movies from the Nanosat website, which is a welcome edition.

If you are more into audio then video you can pick up a ton of internet radio stations to get your groove on.

FTA Receivers are really maturing over the course of the last year with the ability to phase out dongles and instead go with ethernet adapters built right inside the unit. It is also very solid to take advantage of your internet connection and utilize your receiver to not only tap into your home network but also take advantage of the internet to pick up new content.

Nanosat  Nano Lite Main Features:

Homestream MPEG. Play movies from your PC on your Receiver via your Network

Internet Movie. Download Movies from Nanosat website

Internet Radio. Listen to online radio stations on your Nano Premium

WIFI READY. Nano Lite can go wireless with optional wireless WiFi Bridge adapter

2x USB ports for MP3,JPEG viewer and PVR functions

Built in LAN Internet Port

High Quality Universal Remote

Easy to use GUI / OSD

Specs

Jean-François Mezei, a Montreal-based computer consultant, filed a petition to the Governor in Council late Wednesday, asking the government to overrule an October decision by Canada’s telecommunications regulator.

That ruling gave Bell approval to implement usage-based billing on its wholesale customers, mostly smaller internet service providers that rent portions of Bell’s network to re-sell to customers through their own retail internet packages.

‘Without choice, there is no competition, and incumbents can then raise prices and lower service limits knowing customer have nowhere to go.’— Jean-François Mezei

Mezei’s petition argues that the decision impedes the ability of internet service providers to provide different choices of service for their customers.

“Without choice, there is no competition, and incumbents can then raise prices and lower service limits knowing customer have nowhere to go,” the petition said.
Bell and other major internet providers, including cable giant Rogers Communications Inc., say usage-based billing is needed to deal with booming online traffic and increased network congestion as people do more online — including downloading music and watching movies and television programs.

Mezei said Thursday in an interview that the CRTC decision will “hurt a lot of people” in the near future by limiting their ability to use the internet without paying large “overage” fees.
Audio

CBC’s Spark spoke to Markus Giesler, associate professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, about usage-based billing. You can hear more on the issue on this week’s episode on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 1:05 p.m. on CBC Radio One.

For example, in Ontario, Rogers charges customers of its $59.99 a month Hi-Speed Extreme plan who go over their 80 GB a month limit $1.50 per GB for a maximum of $50. Smaller ISPs have told customers that the CRTC decision forces them to start charging similar fees starting Feb. 1.

“Eighty per cent of people have not yet tasted what could be done on the internet, like watching TV shows,” Mezei said. “Once this becomes more popular, then those limits will really prevent people from doing stuff.”
Small business negatively affected

In the case of Mezei’s own business, Vaxination Informatique, the decision negatively affects his “ability to choose an ISP that can provide it with the services it requires and which differ from those offered by incumbent carriers,” the petition said.

On Wednesday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told investors he was \On Wednesday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told investors he was “definitely worried” about the “significant negative for Netflix” posed by bandwidth caps set by Canadian internet service providers. (Netflix)Mezei told CBC News he buys internet service from a small independent internet service provider in Montreal that rents network service from Bell. The CRTC decision means he must abide Bell’s rules, which ban him from running business servers from home, he added.

Mezei’s petition also argued that the CRTC has no jurisdiction to regulate retail internet services as it has effectively done.

Wednesday was the last day to appeal the CRTC decision to the Governor in Council, and Mezei is now waiting to hear whether his petition has been accepted. If it is, the document will be published in the Canada Gazette, there will be a 30-day comment period, and then Mezei must receive a response from the government by Oct. 28 — one year from the date of the CRTC ruling.

He said it is rare for a private citizen like himself to file such a petition, but he believes it’s an important issue.
Netflix worried

The CRTC decision has been widely protested and criticized by consumer groups, the NDP and smaller internet service providers.

It has also raised concerns from companies such as Netflix, which recently started providing a service in Canada that lets customers stream high-definition movies and television episodes to their TVs through the internet using devices like the Sony Playstation 3.

On Wednesday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told investors he was “definitely worried” about the “significant negative for Netflix” posed by bandwidth caps set by Canadian internet service providers. He also said in a letter to investors that the $1 charged for each gigabyte above bandwidth caps by some internet service providers is “grossly overpriced.”

A day earlier, the CRTC announced that wholesale internet providers, such as Bell, will have to offer its wholesale customers a 15 per cent discount on usage-based fees compared to what they charge their retail internet customers.

The group OpenMedia.ca, which had gathered more than 40,000 names on a petition to stop usage-based billing from being imposed on small, independent ISPs, said that decision failed to safeguard consumer choice.

With files from The Canadian Press

There is a new FTA Receiver coming out soon from Conaxsat the new CNX Nano Premium STB Receiver! One of the nice things about this new offering is the inclusion of a built in ethernet port and the ability to listen to Internet Radio!

Here are some of the new features;

•Homestream MPEG. Play movies from your PC on your Receiver via your Network
•Internet Movie. Download Movies from CNX Nano Premium website
•Internet Radio. Listen to online radio stations on your CNX Nano Premium
•WIFI READY. CNX Nano Premium can go wireless with optional WIFI adapter
•2x USB ports for MP3,JPEG viewer and PVR functions
•Built in LAN Internet Port
•High Quality Universal Remote
•Easy to use GUI / OSD

Features

• Home streaming
• Live IP Movie/Radio
• 2 x USB 2.0 Hosts (Access to HDD, USB memory, Others etc)
• Wi-Fi Ready (Optional)
• Universal Remote
• Built-In Ethernet Port
• MP3 File Play by USB 2.0
• PVR Ready via USB
• Recorded file play on PC
• Reservation Recoding by EPG function
• MPEG-II Digital & Fully DVB Compliant.
• C/KU band control for each antenna
• LNB Tone Switch 22KHz mode on/off’
• Multi-LNB controlled by DiSeqC =>DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and USALS
• Total 8,000 Channels Programmable
• Blind Scan
• Picture In Graphic (PIG)
• Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for On Screen Channel Information
• Multi-language supported for Menu and OSD
• Zoom Function by 2x…4x
• Parental Lock
• Closed Caption Support
• CVBS Video & Audio Output via RCA
• Component YUV Output via RCA
• 7-Segment(4-digit) Type of Front Panel Display
• Upgrade Software & Update Channel Database through USB 2.0 Port

There is many new features available on the Nano Premium including free movies over the internet, free radio over the internet as well as all of the usual free satellite TV channels

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According to Asia Pacific pay-TV industry research carried out by Casbaa, pay-TV services now connect with almost 363 million homes in Asia, surpassing the US where pay-TV reaches 121 million.

Pay-TV penetration varies dramatically across the region. South Korea with 99 per cent has the highest penetration while Indonesia with penetration of three per cent of TV homes has the lowest.

Growth in the pay-TV industry is primarily driven by India (75 per cent penetration of all TV homes) and China (48 per cent) but Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam are contributing significantly to this growth.

Nevertheless, in terms of revenues earned, pay-TV in Asia continues to lag behind North America and Western Europe in both penetration and revenues. According to data firm SNL Kagan, in North America pay-TV reaches 87.7 per cent of households and generated $102.50 billion in revenues in 2010, while Western Europe enjoys penetration of 61.9 per cent and revenues of $41.04 billion.

In 2010 pay-TV in Asia will generate a little over $30 billion from its 50 per cent penetration rate.

Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies says, “Asia now leads the world in multichannel TV connections, with growth only expected to accelerate. With more than 50 per cent penetration across the region and the lion’s share of the high net worth audience, subscription TV is more attractive than ever to subscribers, advertisers and investors”.

According to an annual piracy survey by Casbaa and Standard Chartered Bank, over $2 billion will have been lost to piracy this year. Casbaa noted that this loss, while high, does not include revenues lost to internet piracy.

Revenues lost through piracy damage not just pay-TV operators, but also regional governments. Research undertaken by PwC reveals that at least $262 million is lost annually from government coffers. This includes lost corporate profits tax in 2010 of $195 million and VAT/GST of $67 million.

According to Casbaa, governments worst hit by piracy include Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines, which in 2010 will have lost $87 million, $63 million, and $38 million respectively.

Despite these hurdles, the increasing digitisation of pay-TV in Asia combined with the ongoing commitment from governments, regulators, operators and content providers to eradicate piracy, continues to have a positive impact across the region as the industry continues on its upward course.

“Technology works. In Hong Kong we have seen a dramatic fall in revenue leakage to $1.09 million in the past year. In India, while some regulatory weaknesses leave a huge hole in the industry revenue flow, the government is benefiting from a new will to collect entertainment and business taxes on more than 25 million digital pay-TV subscriptions. Improving digital roll-outs in the Philippines are helping our industry “hold the line” in terms of revenue losses to individuals stealing from the pay-TV operators. An increasing recognition that intellectual property rights enforcement can benefit the entire value chain is gradually taking hold in markets where domestic content has been damaged by theft. The next big challenge for pay-TV operators and providers of all kinds will be to monetize “the massive on-line opportunity,” said Davies.

Space Systems/Loral reports that a communications satellite that it designed and built for Intelsat arrived safely at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where it is scheduled to launch in November aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.

“Intelsat 17 was delivered to launch base nearly two months ahead of the contract delivery date,” said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral.

“We always strive to help customers achieve their business objectives and in this case, an early launch date was highly desirable. This is the 45th satellite that we have delivered to Intelsat and our long-term, collaborative relationship helps both our companies maximize efficiencies and ensure the highest quality.”

Intelsat 17 will be positioned at 66E, effectively next to Intelsat’s successful Asian video distribution neighborhood located at 68.5E, on the Intelsat 10 satellite, which has been serving customers since 2001.

Intelsat 17′s C- and Ku-band capacity, and multi-continental coverage, will offer programmers distribution in a region that extends across Asia and into Europe and Africa.

It will replace Intelsat 702, which was also built by Space Systems/Loral and was launched in June 1994.

XStreamHD has teamed with Nationwide Market Group to enable Nationwide dealers to market and install XStreamHD in homes across the country. XStreamHD streams “pre-fetched” HD entertainment directly to the home via satellite and currently has a deal with Lionsgate for content. Nationwide Market Group bills itself as the nation’s largest buying and marketing organization with approximately 8k storefronts. Soft sales of the service should start at the end of this month. — A new iPad app from Disney and Nielsen seeks to link the device to the TV making ABC’s new series “My Generation” a two-screen/multitasking/social media experience. The My Generation Sync iPad App is already available in the app store; the series premiers next week.

Gov’t & Reg: The American Television Alliance is in DC to tell lawmakers that broadcasters’ demands for ever higher fees could put independent networks at risk as MVPDs seek ways to economize. The broadcasters have an unfair advantage thanks to carriage mandates, they say. — Play it again, Sam … the Coalition for Competition in Media wants Congress to hold one more hearing on the Comcast/NBC-U deal. Filings since the last hearing have added “new dimensions to the discussion,” says the group which includes Bloomberg, the Media Access Project, the National Organization for Women and the Writers Guild of America.

Over There: The BBC-led hybrid TV venture Project Canvas will go forward as “YouView.” The “buy once” subscription-free service plans to launch in the first half of 2011 with catch-up TV, on-demand services and internet content. — Austria will get a new DTH platform on Oct. 14 as M7 Group SA begins offering a 14 channel service for €9.90 ($12.95)/month or €7.90 ($10.34)/year with a a 12-month contract. The group plans to add HD next year.

Advertising: National ad markets are holding strong despite continuing economic woes, notes Macquarie Securities’ Andrew Kim. “The strength in national TV ads continues to meet or exceed our expectations,” he notes. The trend, he adds, keeps News Corp, Time Warner, CBS and Disney in place as key “Outperform” selections.

Want to watch satellite TV? May need planning permission in historic Avenues (UK)

RESIDENTS with newly installed satellite dishes in one area of Hull, UK, face having to apply for planning permission to keep them up.

The move in the Avenues area of the city has been agreed by councillors after a campaign by the Avenues And Pearson Park Residents’ Association.

Association members claimed the historic Conservation Area was being ruined by an increasing number of dishes being installed on the front of houses without planning consent.

Now, members of Hull City Council’s planning committee have decided to write to residents with recently installed dishes informing them they need to apply for official permission to keep them in place.

Each application is expected to cost a householder about £150.

Committee chairman Craig Woolmer said the council was trying to strike a balance between helping residents and fulfilling its own statutory obligations to ensure planning policies in Conservation Areas were followed. He said: “Enforcement is this case will be a last resort.

“We want to work with the residents, advise them what needs to be done and help them with the planning process.”

Councillor Woolmer said ignorance of the fact that the Avenues was a Conservation Area would be no excuse.

He said: “It has been a Conservation Area longer than I have been alive.

“We are not looking to be heavy-handed on this, but no one can really say they didn’t know it was Conservation Area when they moved in.”

The new policy is expected to apply to all satellite dishes installed in the area over the past four years.

It will also apply to new dishes being put up in future.

The committee heard that not all householders would be required to apply for retrospective planning permission.

Instead, each case will be judged on its merits with the option of moving a dish to another part of the building being explored with each resident involved.

Some dishes could also be allowed to stay where they are depending on their location.

Association member Bob Sandham, who carried out his own survey of satellite dishes in the area, said he was pleased with the decision.

He said: “I estimate there are about 90 houses affected by this.

“Although we as an association have been lobbying for this, it’s actually something the council is required to do in Conservation Areas.

“We have actually been asking them to do this since 2002.”

Residents in the Avenues and Pearson Park Conservation Area will initially have three months to respond to the council over the requirement to
apply for planning permission once they are contacted by the council.

Councillors have also agreed to review the progress of the initiative after three months.

The policy will not apply to other conservation areas in the city.

The new platform will initially offer 14 channels from Sony, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL and MTV, but at least four additional channels are expected before year’s end. Subscription will cost €9.90 monthly, or €7.90 when viewers sign a 12-month contract. The new platform will be available on the Astra position at 19.2 degrees East. The plan is to also launch a dedicated HD bouquet during 2011.

Austriasat’s complete line-up will consist of AXN, Animax, kabelone classics, Sat.1 Comedy, RTL Living, MTV Music, MTV Rocks, MTV Dance, MTV Hits, VH-1, KidsCo, Hustler TV, Marcel Dorcel TV and Alpenglühen (“so sexy ist die Heimat”). People with the Austriasat smart card will automatically have access to the Austrian free-to-view bouquet of ORF, ORF2, ATV, Puls TV and Austria 9 TV.

During 2011, Austriasat will launch an HD bouquet. “We want to be the largest HDTV provider by the middle of next year,” said Olaf Castritius, MD, M7, in a statement. “HDTV should be available to our customers ‘cheap and easy’, according to the price and sales philosophy of our company.” The platform’s goal is to reach 100,000 subscribers by December, 2013.

The M7 Group is active with DTH platforms in The Netherlands (CanalDigitaal Satelliet), Belgium (TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat) and Luxemborug (TéléSat). ORS already operates the satellite services for ORF and is responsible for the smart card handling of their smart cards.

Galaxy 15 ‘Zombiesat’ Still Alive after expected off date
Spaceflight Now – September 15, 2010
Intelsat says its out-of-control Galaxy 15 communications satellite did not power down as expected in late August and will continue threatening interference with broadcasting signals from other spacecraft for the foreseeable future.

Galaxy 15 has not responded to commands from the ground since April, but the craft continues blaring powerful communications signals as it drifts through geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

There is no threat of the satellite colliding with another craft.

Engineers at Intelsat and Orbital Sciences Corp., the builder of Galaxy 15, expected the errant satellite’s reaction wheels to become saturated with momentum by late August or early September.

The reaction wheels control the satellite’s orientation in space, and engineers expected Galaxy 15 would lose its lock on the sun and drain its batteries when the reaction wheels failed.

But Intelsat officials say the “off-point” did not occur, and now Galaxy 15 is in an eclipse season where the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the solar panels for a few minutes each day.

Intelsat does not expect Galaxy 15 to turn itself off during the eclipse season, based on how momentum builds up on the satellite, according to Dianne VanBeber, the company’s vice president of investor relations and communications.

Galaxy 15 will exit the annual fall eclipse season in early October.

“The flight engineers are back at the drawing boards to determine another estimate for the off-point,” VanBeber told Spaceflight Now in an email.

Galaxy 15 is moving east along the equator at less than two-tenths of a degree of longitude per day.

Because it continues to be powered, Galaxy 15 will fly near another communications satellite while uncontrollably transmitting powerful C-band signals.

The encounter due for Sept. 21 is with Mexico’s Satmex 5 satellite positioned at 116.8 degrees west longitude.

Intelsat has managed six flybys of other C-band satellites since they lost control of Galaxy 15, including four of the company’s own broadcasting satellites positioned over North America.

Galaxy 15 has also sailed past AMC 11, an SES World Skies high-definition television broadcasting satellite providing core programming to millions of viewers in North America.

The craft flew by the Canadian Anik F3 communications satellite operated by Telesat on Sept. 9.

If Galaxy 15 is still turned on, it will approach the Satmex 6 and Anik F2 C-band satellites of Mexico and Canada by mid-October. Galaxy 15 does not affect strictly Ku-band communications platforms.

“The fact that you haven’t heard about channels lost or interference is the proof that we have been able to avoid issues operationally,” said Nick Mitsis, an Intelsat spokesperson. “I don’t want to underplay that.”

Intelsat has worked closely with other satellite operators to avoid interference that could lead to cable or satellite television interruptions across the United States, Canada and Latin America.

“We have a team of engineers that have become experts at turning traffic and implementing a number of other in-flight tricks to avoid interference,” Mitsis said.

According to Mitsis, predicting the off-point of Galaxy 15 is an inexact science because engineers are not receiving data from the spacecraft.

Officials believe the anomaly in April may have been caused by a solar flare that zapped the satellite’s electronics.

When Galaxy 15 does power itself down, officials say there is a small chance they could reboot the satellite and recover its functionality.

There are many FTA Receivers out there, that used to be solid, such as the Pansat 9200 but times have changed. Here is our GoodFTA list of the top 5 HD FTA Receivers.

HD Receivers

1 – i-Link 9500 HD! Currently the King of HD FTA Receivers, i-link has quietly built up a tremendous loyal following in the free to air world. I-Link first cut its teeth with their 210/220 series of Receivers and things caught on like wild fire from there! They soon released their follow up 9000 and 9000 Plus and then six months ago their 9500 HD model. Currently it is our top pick of the best you can get. It has a IKS adapter built in. This model will cost around $400.00

2 – Sonicview 8000 HD! The king of last generation of FTA Receivers maintains the number two Position! It is reliable and has a great EPG! If you have the v2 version of this receiver with a built in fan, you are in for good times. You need to purchase an IKS adapter for optimal use, such as the iHub, or NewLink. You can normally buy this receiver bundled with an 8PSK and iHub/Newlink for around $450.00

SD

1 – i-Link 9000 Plus

With a built in ethernet adapter and great hardware this is currently the best standard definition satellite receiver you can get. Its priced around $220.00 and has a great EPG. The unit itself is sleek and black and fits well with any home entertainment center. Its service for any FTA channels are reliable and little to no freezing. The IKS adapter with this one, is built right in! No dongles needed.

2 – Limesat Ultra PVR

Although Limesat is the new kid on the block, their receivers are getting peoples attention. With the ability to get the most channels in FTA, this is a great bet. It also has a built in ethernet device, so you do not need a dongle for it. Its EPG is very solid, with the ability to have genres. SO if you want to browse all the news channels, or sports you can do so with ease. This unit has a built in IKS Dongle, so you do not need to purchase one. The unit will set you back on average of $250.00

3 – CNX Nano 2

Conaxsat has been around the block or two! They first came onto the scene about 2 years ago, with their CNX Mini, it came in white, and had some of the greatest picture quality in all of FTA. It released the follow up Duo and Trio a few months later. The Duo was a standard PVR and the Trio had the ability to play DIVX files, so you could watch movies via your USB drive from their unit. When CNX decided with go with the network and IKS route they released the CNX Nano and 5 months later the CNX Nano 2. The Nano 2 is the most refined CNX product ever. It functions has a PVR and has the best picture quality in FTA for standard definition receivers. It also has a built in IKS Dongle, so you do not need to buy anything extra. The Price is around $200.00.