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Week ending March 22, 2008

ITU - Remembering Sir Arthur C. Clarke - Visionary of global satellite communications - March 20, 2008

Science fiction writer and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke died on 19 March 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. He was born on 16 December 1917 in Minehead, Somerset in the United Kingdom and moved to Sri Lanka; then called Ceylon, in 1956.

The international telecommunication community will remember Sir Arthur for making popular the concept of using the geostationary orbit for communications. In October 1945, Clarke published in the British magazine Wireless World a technical paper entitled "Extra-terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?" The paper established the feasibility of artificial satellites as relay stations for Earth-based communications. Clarke predicted that one day communications around the world would be possible via a network of three geostationary satellites spaced at equal intervals around the Earth's equator.

Nearly two decades later, in 1964, Syncom 3 became the first geostationary satellite to finally fulfil Clarke’s prediction. Later that year, Syncom 3 was used to relay television coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo to the United States — the first television transmission over the Pacific Ocean. Now, there are hundreds of satellites in orbit and providing communications to millions of people around the globe. In 1954, Clarke had also proposed using satellites in meteorology. Today, we cannot imagine predicting the weather without using dedicated meteorological satellites.

Looking back on these developments, in his book How the World Was One — Beyond the Global Village, published in 1992, Clarke wrote: "Sometimes I’m afraid that you people down on Earth take the space stations for granted, forgetting the skill and science and courage that went to make them. How, often do you stop to think that all your long-distance phone calls, and most of your TV programmes are routed through one or the other of the satellites? And how often do you give any credit to the meteorologists for the fact that weather forecasts are no longer the joke they were to our grandfathers, but are dead accurate ninety-nine percent of the time?"

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he was "deeply saddened" by Clarke’s death. He added that "Sir Arthur made important intellectual, cultural and scientific contributions to Sri Lankan development, while engaged in his scientific research and creative writing that earned him well-deserved praise the world over." Mr Rajapaksa mentioned how, "always ahead of his time," Clarke had focused international attention on the need for a tsunami warning system, after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. The people of Sri Lanka were touched by "the courage with which he acted for the protection of nature and the environment, long before climate change assumed the importance it has today." .

"We owe Sir Arthur our gratitude for helping to usher in the space age and, in particular, the use of geostationary satellites for worldwide radio coverage," said Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General. "Satellite communication systems have a huge potential to offer, promising high-capacity transmission capabilities over wide areas. They have an important role to play in bridging the digital divide."

Valery Timofeev, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, who met Clarke in 1979 at an INTELSAT Exhibition, organized during a World Administrative Radio Conference remembers him "as an extraordinary man of great warmth and scientific vision, who devoted all his writings and predictions to the positive development of humankind".

Clarke wrote more than 80 books involving science, and science fiction. His short story "The Sentinel" served as the basis for Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey". His other famous works include The Exploration of Space, The Promise of Space, The Fountains of Paradise, his semi-autobiographical novel Glide Path, and Childhood's End. Before his death, Clarke had just reviewed the manuscript of his latest novel, The Last Theorem.

A Book of Condolence for Sir Arthur C. Clarke will be open for signature at the ITU headquarters (Tower building) from 26 March to 4 April 2008.

ABI Research - As the Mix Diversifies, Carriers Losing Control Over Mobile Content - March 20, 2008

A recent consumer survey conducted by ABI Research shows that today’s mobile phone owners use a mix of mobile content obtained from the Web, from their personal collections, and from their wireless carriers. As an example, today’s mobile consumer is more likely to watch a video from YouTube on his or her phone than a video from the carrier’s own service, but is more than twice as likely to get ringtones from the carrier than from any other source.

“Perhaps more with the mobile phone than any other consumer electronics device, content is obtained from a variety of sources,” says research director Michael Wolf. “This shows that despite the strong control most carriers retain over the network, their control over the mobile content ecosystem remains limited. The consumer will see more and more options for obtaining rich media in the future.”

The 14% of respondents who said they use their phone to watch video was split nearly evenly between those who watch video from websites such as YouTube (35%), from their own carrier’s video offering (31%), and from video they sideload onto their mobile devices (28%). Music was also mixed: the leading source of music files on a mobile phone was ripped CDs and sideloading onto the phone (48% of mobile-music listening respondents), while over one third of music-listening respondents (35%) purchased music through their carriers. Lastly, pre-loaded content such as games were some of the most popular forms, as six in ten mobile gamers said they only play the games that came with the phone.

“As the mobile phone grows from being a voice-centric device to a multidimensional communication and entertainment device, content channels will continue to multiply,” adds Wolf. “We expect to see increased content acquisition directly to the phone from the Web. And despite a loosening of control over content delivery to consumers, we believe the carriers will ultimately benefit as they open up their networks and handset platforms and look into taking advantage of increased advertising-supported content delivery.”

Eurovision Song Contest draw - March 17, 2008

from Katie de Nöel/EBU

Today, the draw to determine the running order of the countries represented in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) took place at Belgrade’s Sava Centre.

The draw determined the running order of the two Semi-Finals, and the Final. The outcome is as follows:

The first Semi-Final slots:

1. Montenegro

2. Israel

3. Estonia

4. Moldova

5. San Marino

6. Belgium

7. Azerbaijan

8. Slovenia

9. Norway

10. Poland

11. Ireland

12. Andorra

13. Bosnia & Herzegovina

14. Armenia

15. The Netherlands

16. Finland

17. Romania

18. Russia

19. Greece

The second Semi-Final slots:

1. Iceland

2. Sweden

3. Turkey

4. Ukraine

5. Lithuania

6. Albania

7. Switzerland

8. Czech Republic

9. Belarus

10. Latvia

11. Croatia

12. Bulgaria

13. Denmark

14. Georgia

15. Hungary

16. Malta

17. Cyprus

18. F.Y.R. Macedonia

19. Portugal

The Final slots:

1. Semi-Final qualifier

2. United Kingdom

3. Semi-Final qualifier

4. Germany

5. Semi-Final qualifier

6. Semi-Final qualifier

7. Semi-Final qualifier

8. Semi-Final qualifier

9. Semi-Final qualifier

10. Semi-Final qualifier

11. Semi-Final qualifier

12. Semi-Final qualifier

13. Semi-Final qualifier

14. Semi-Final qualifier

15. Semi-Final qualifier

16. Semi-Final qualifier

17. Semi-Final qualifier

18. Semi-Final qualifier

19. France

20. Semi-Final qualifier

21. Semi-Final qualifier

22. Spain

23. Serbia

24. Semi-Final qualifier

25. Semi-Final qualifier

The voting order:

UK, FYR Macedonia, Ukraine, Germany, Estonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Belgium, San Marino, Latvia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Israel, Cyprus, Moldova, Iceland, France, Romania, Portugal, Norway, Hungary, Andorra, Poland, Slovenia, Armenia, Czech Republic, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Malta, Ireland, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Greece, Finland, Croatia, Sweden, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Montenegro, Georgia and Denmark.

In addition, all 43 participating songs of the 2008 ESC were submitted to the EBU at the Heads of Delegations meeting in Belgrade.

All songs will be reviewed by the Reference Group to ensure that they comply with the rules for the Eurovision Song Contest. The Reference Group is a committee of experts established by the EBU TV Committee to represent all the members of the European Broadcasting Union in the Eurovision Song Contest.

“The submissions are creative and entertaining and will contribute to another exciting ESC show”, said Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest.

MABB - Entscheidung des Medienrates im Vergabeverfahren über die Berliner UKW Frequenz 90,7 MHz - March 17, 2008

Der Medienrat hat in seiner Sitzung am 14. März 2008 über die Sendeerlaubnis für die Frequenz 90,7 MHz entschieden. Sie geht an RADIOROPA Berlin, für einen Informationskanal mit aktueller Berichterstattung und einer deutlichen Ausrichtung auf nationale und internationale Themen.

Die UKW-Hörfunkfrequenz 90,7 MHz war ursprünglich National Public Radio zur Versorgung des süd-westlichen Raumes von Berlin zugewiesen. Der Sender ist noch nicht aufgebaut. NPR hat auf die Frequenz verzichtet. Der Sender kann mit 100 Watt betrieben werden.

EuroParl - New European Prize for Journalism - March 17, 2008

from Andreas Kleiner/EuroParl

The first European Parliament Prize for Journalism will be awarded in 2008. It will be given to journalists who have dealt with major issues at a European level or have promoted a better understanding of the EU institutions and/or EU policies.

There will be four different categories for the prize: written press, radio, TV and internet. The winner in each section will receive €5 000.

Individuals or teams up to 5 people are eligible to contribute with articles or reports, whether one-off or part of a series. The contributions must be published or broadcast between 1 May 2007 and 30 April 2008 in one of the official languages of the European Union. All entrants must be nationals or residents of an EU Member State and registered journalists.

Entries will be accepted from 15 March 2008 until 15 May 2008 inclusive. The prize will be awarded in October 2008.

A jury will be set up to select winners in each category within the 27 Member States, with an overall jury, led by a European Parliament Vice-President, selecting the four winners EU-wide.

Application forms and the full rules of the Prize are available on the website of the Prize www.eppj.eu, on the European Parliament's website as well as on the websites of the European Parliament Information Offices in the Member States. The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2008.