Digital industry calls for clarity

The digital industry has called for greater clarity, content and consultation from the UK government ahead of Britain's migration to digital broadcasting, states New Media Age.

It follows the unveiling of an interim report by Lord Stephen Carter, minister for communications, technology and broadcasting, which laid out a 22-point action plan for the UK's digital future. This included a range of proposals regarding greater legislation to force ISPs to counter piracy, stronger investment in digital content and upgrades to services and infrastructure.

Despite widespread support for the principles and vision underpinning Carter's interim report, digital industry experts expressed disappointment at the unclear proposals and lack of strong reform. A number stated the report didn't go far enough.

Frontier Silicon is to develop a new digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio chip as part of a $10 million (R101 million) investment plan, says Electronics Weekly.

The semiconductor chip developer says it is encouraged by the government's plans for extending the UK's digital broadcast and communications infrastructure by 2012. In particular, the chip, which will be designed to cut cost and power consumption by up to 50%, will be targeted at the introduction of digital radio in cars.

"The cost structure and performance of the new DAB chip will assist the government's aim to achieve the necessary criteria for a digital migration of radio by 2015," says Frontier Silicon CEO Anthony Sethill.

New subscribers to the Alice IPTV service in France are to receive an upgraded version of the Alicebox receiver and modem, reports Broadband TV News.

The new owner of the service, Iliad, has modelled the receiver on its own Freebox, as the leading French IPTV network looks to standardise its inventory. It has already worked to standardise the separate programming offers subsequent to the Alice acquisition last August.

The Modem Alicebox features three internal antennas that comply with the 802.11n WiFi protocol. A dedicated Ethernet port connects to the TV decoder. Four additional Ethernet ports are capable of running at speeds of up to 100Mbps and four times faster than the version it replaces.