For one week only CeBIT Australia 2007 is offering 2 delegates for the price of one to any of our conferences. Register 1 delegate and the second delegate registers for free. Choose from any of the following: CeBIT Connect Keynote Series, VoIP & IP Comms Conference, e-Government Forum, SEO & e-Marketing Conference, Open CeBIT Conference, e-Commerce Conference. Valid until Thursday 5th April 2007 inclusive.

Call +61 2 9280 3400. For more information about these conferences and forums, including programs visit www.cebit.com.au.

The Business Day recently reported on the deregulation of the telecommunications market in South Africa. Stakeholders within the market, especially value-added network service providers and smaller mobile operators, are frustrated because of the slow pace at which deregulation is taking place.

Tony van Marken, executive chairman for the DataPro Group, has commented that the deregulation authorities have had the opportunity to learn from other countries that have undergone deregulation by studying their successes and failures. This however is not evident when one looks at the lack of progress and the implementation of the Electronic Communications Act.

SeaChange’s groundbreaking TV Platform was named Best IPTV Innovation at the Convergence World Awards ceremony during the IEC C5 World Forum in Milan this week. In presenting the award, judges recognized SeaChange as “an innovative company,” and noted several customer testimonials that demonstrate the Company’s high level of market acceptance.

The SeaChange TV Platform was developed to get broadband operators into the IPTV business fast. It is a complete IPTV system that enables operators like Corvette Telecom to easily launch and expand a wealth of subscriber services such as on-demand movies, electronic program guides and convergence services. It is the industry’s first service delivery platform, based upon a modular solution born from SeaChange’s extensive experience in middleware and on-demand solutions.

IPTV and AT&T U-verse watcher, Alan Weinkrantz, will be broadcasting a series of interviews from last week's VON Spring 2007 (Voice on the Net and Video on the Net) conference in San Jose.

What you will see this week on this blog are interviews with some very amazing, very talented, very creative, and very purposeful artists / businesspeople who are creating their own channels on the Web with on-going, serialized content.

The final polish has gone on to fmx/07 – the 12th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content and can now be viewed at www.fmx.de! The primary European meeting of the digital community takes place at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart from May 01 to 04, 2007. Nearly 300 presentations, panels, workshops and speakers reveal the state of the digital image – the creation, production and myriad forms of distribution in television and cinema as well as games and mobile entertainment.

As the next wave of Web wonders breaks on the beach, a stellar line-up of the movers and shakers in the burgeoning Web 2.0 and digital media world will be convening at Earl’s Court in London from May 1-3, 2007.

Playing host to over 250 exhibitors and thousands of key decision-makers, Internet World 2007 is set to be the UK's biggest showcase event of the year for business professionals responsible for growing their organisations' online businesses.

CeBIT's Special promotional code for TVover.net readers offers FREE entry to the CeBIT Australia exhibition when a quick online survey is completed. Your exclusive code is k7jf93eb9. Register NOW! Offer ends April 24, 2007.

Don't forget about our specialist Conferences and Forums in e-Marketing & SEO, e-Commerce & e-Finance, VoIP & IP Comms, Open Source, e-Government as well as our CeBIT Connect Keynote Series. Tickets selling fast, book now at www.cebit.com.au or call +61 2 9280 3400!

China’s fixed line operators are looking to triple play/IPTV to drive revenue and subscriber growth. In a positive step to support multi-play service offerings, the Ministry of Information announced yesterday that it intends to study and resolve the bottlenecks telecom operators now face in launching IPTV, VOD, and other advanced IP services nationwide. This latest development comes as encouraging news to China Telecom and China Netcom executives as they prepare to meet at the 4th annual China Broadband Triple Play/IPTV Conference and China DSL Conference in Beijing.

Asia's leading digital multimedia and entertainment technology event, BroadcastAsia, will return to Singapore Expo from 19-22 June to showcase the latest digital technology, professional equipment and services.

Over 800 exhibiting companies including Harris, Sennheiser, Miranda, Vizrt, Magna, Innoxius, Conax and Qualcomm will demonstrate a full spectrum of products and applications from media content creation to delivery including new technologies birthed as a result of digital convergence.

4th & 5th July 2007
Hungary, Budapest The successful and profitable delivery of Triple Play and Broadband services is fast becoming essential for survival in Europe’s saturated markets.

With competition for customer acquisition and retention becoming ever more apparent, it is critical that broadband operators and service providers are able to support, deliver and integrate rapidly evolving products and services for the ever-demanding end user.

5th & 6th June 2007
Grimaldi Forum, Monte Carlo

Take part in the industry’s leading and most prestigious event, ‘MeM’. Taking place on the 5th & 6th June, MeM (the official annual event of MEF) will cater to all your needs. The event has been thoroughly researched with the industry to develop a six track conference agenda addressing the hottest topics, and it will bring high level speakers from the most sought-after organisations to you, not to mention an extensive exhibition showcasing the movers and shakers of mobile entertainment.

5th – 9th March 2007
Crowne Plaza, Vienna

There is less than a month to go before IIR’s Maximising ARPU 2007 conference – please visit the website to find out about the latest speaker additions and for details of how to book onto the event http://www.iir-events.com/IIR-Conf/page.aspx?id=5502.

ARPU is a key performance indicator for telecoms operators and a critical measurement for investors and analysts. By coming to this event you will learn how to increase your ARPU from new services, exciting new content and the best pricing models. You will also hear how to develop effective marketing and CRM strategies to maximise revenues from your customer base.

Pulvermedia's 11th annual Spring VON Conference & Expo will take place on March 19-22, at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. This year, Pulvermedia's flagship event will feature a record number of attendees, exhibitors, and speakers, while also playing host to the Video on the Net event -- which runs parallel to VON, in the adjacent Marriott Hotel at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

Prominent themes for this year's VON event include: Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC); IMS; IPTV; Wi-Fi & WiMAX; and rich media for mobile environments.

Will IPTV become a household name? How can service providers make it attractive for consumers and realize returns on investment? Jayesh Easwaramony, principal consultant at global growth consulting company, Frost & Sullivan, tells us all at an analyst briefing on the Asia Pacific IPTV industry to be held on Thursday, February 8, 2007, 11:00am (GMT +08:00).

Those interested in participating in the web/tele-conference should send an email to Letticia Leopold at letticia.leopold@frost.com with the following information: title of analyst briefing, your full name, media/company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address and country. Upon receipt of the above information, the registration, weblink, dial-in number and pass code details for the live briefing will be emailed to you.

Pre-registered attendees already top 1,000 for the IPTV World Forum in London

The rapid emergence of IPTV as a genuine revenue-generating new application for network operators in Europe and beyond, is helping to fuel record levels of interest and attendance in this year's IPTV World Forum.