Telecommunications

Broadband is now no longer simply a technological upgrade from dial-up, but a conduit for a host of communication and entertainment services – the so-called triple-play of voice, video and Internet. It therefore requires more sophisticated and targeted marketing.

Background: The nations 1,600 television stations are converting from traditional analog technology to a digital television format. Digital television (DTV) is a new, more efficient technology for transmitting and receiving broadcast television signals. But DTV signals are not compatible with today’s analog TV sets in most American homes. Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the amount of spectrum given to television station owners was doubled. The policy rationale for this was to enable the stations to transition US consumers to digital TV without interruption of analog broadcasts.

On February 17, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format. Here’s what these requirements will mean for you and your television viewing.

Latino Móvil, a provider of news information, sports, and entertainment directly from Latin American countries to U.S. cell phone users via short message service (SMS) technology, launched its services nationwide January 23, 2008 under the slogan “Your country, your news. Directly to your cell phone.”

Bowing with “Novela,” a hilarious and edgy sitcom about life behind the scenes at a fly-by-night Spanish-language telenovela, www.generation-n.com is described by founder Bill Teck as a “Boutique Broadband Network,” that will deliver content for users seeking video populated by bilingual, bi-cultural Latinos.

Within the next three years, more than 16 million US TV households may be using their broadband service more than they use their TV sets today, reports In-Stat. This is one of the key findings of an In-Stat survey of US consumers about TV viewing, media, and online habits, the high-tech market research firm says. Respondents had a broadband connection, a TV set, and were 18 years of age or older.

In a just-released study, SNL Kagan estimates that 84% of the U.S. population, including consumer, business and double users, will have mobile phones by the end of 2007, with this percentage surging past 100% by 2013.

After another quarter of impressive subscriber growth, mobile video is rapidly becoming a significant new media distribution platform. According to Telephia, mobile video revenues in the U.S. totaled $146 million in Q1 2007, growing 198 percent year-over-year. There were 8.4 million mobile video subscribers last quarter with penetration doubling to nearly four percent since Q1 2006.

47% of adults have high-speed internet connections at home as of early March 2007, up five percentage points from a year earlier.

Over 43 million Hispanics lived in the United States in 2004 according to the U.S. Hispanic Synovate Report. The Hispanics in the U.S. are the second largest Hispanic Market, following only Mexico, and continue growing at outstanding speed, with a prediction by the U.S. Census Bureau of 29% growth in the following 8 years. This market also enjoys one of the highest disposable incomes amongst minorities. According to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, the purchasing power of U.S. Hispanics will reach $863 billion in 2007.