May 26 2012 – WiMAX, wireless connection provider for internet and Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB) have engaged in a blame game over a new problem in which television images are blurred in certain region across the country.
Meanwhile, a couple of international satellite communications industry have come and liaised with COAB in accusing WiMAX for the problem in which viewers of satellite television channels often cannot see proper images on the screen of their sets, officials at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said.
The cable operators and their supporters have claimed a recent field-study revealed that sharing of the same bandwidth of wireless frequency-range by the satellite television channels and the internet service providers is the main cause of disruption to the dissatisfaction of TV viewers across the country.
The same bandwidth is used for transmitting satellite television signals to the cable operators and the WiMAX for providing internet service to users, causing interference in operations of each others.
Meanwhile, WiMAX operators said for the interference of satellite television service providers, their clients often miss internet connections.
As the disruption has become acute, local cable operators and a couple of international satellite communications industry have jointly called upon the relevant authorities to place internet providers to another less crowded frequency-range or the bandwidth.
The disruption in viewing satellite television is being caused by the technical interference of the wireless broadband operators using newly introduced “WiMAX” technology, said a cable operator.
The Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB), the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and the World Broadcasting Unions – International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG), have jointly urged the relevant authorities in Bangladesh to solve the problem being faced by millions of viewers across the country.
The call was made unanimously by the stakeholders at a meeting in Dhaka last waeek, hosted by APT Satellite, a Hong Kong-based satellite operator.
APT Satellite has recently conducted extensive field tests to confirm that the source of the interference is from WiMAX operators, said a COAB leader.
APT now provides satellite capacity to most of the television channels in Bangladesh.
The resolutions of the meeting were endorsed by CASBAA and the GVF who exchanged views and information with Bangladeshi industry and relevant government officials, officials at the BTRC said.
Experts of the ATP said the trouble started soon after the relevant authorities had allowed WiMAX to use the 3.5 GHz range, that earlier used to distribute satellite television services across the country and the rest of the region.
If the problem continues, millions of viewers will be deprived of services from cable operators of the satellite television channels, the operators said.
“For instance, the largely unanticipated implications of the introduction of WiMAX services at 3.5 GHz is causing widespread transmission failures throughout the country and can be especially serious for news broadcasters which use the lower end of the Standard C-band spectrum” Gregg Daffner, Chairman of CASBAA’s Wireless Action Group said in a statement on Thursday.
However, the cable operators and the satellite television channel industry leaders think that the relevant authorities could easily solve this serious problem by migrating wireless operators to different bandwidth.
“However, there is a solution to this very serious problem,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF. “The interfering WiMAX services can use other, less crowded frequencies.”
In other markets, WiMAX operators have successfully migrated from the 3.5GHz band, “so we know we can resolve the crisis in Bangladesh,” said Hartshorn.
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