Broadcast engineers feel slighted by FCC; LUS Fiber announces upgrade

> The FCC apparently is making friends and influencing people wherever it turns. The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) is seething after it was not invited to participate in the agency's Broadcast Engineering Forum set for June 25. "The broadcast owners are being represented on this panel, but not broadcast engineers," groused Vinnie Lopez, SBE president in a letter to FCC Chair Julius Genachowski. Story.

> LUS Fiber, most recently noted for its battle with Cox Communications and the NCTC, used a press conference to announce an upgrade to its Lafayette, La. FTTH system that includes Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV platform. Story.

> Sezmi is expanding its "Sezmi Select" hybrid broadcast-Internet service in 10 cities but without any cable channels in the lineup. For $4.99 consumers will have access to free over-the-air broadcast channels. Later this year, the company said, it will introduce Sezmi Select Plus with cable programming. Story.

> Where's the cable? Africa is planning to light up the dark continent with broadband, including a cumulative investment in ADSL and wireless broadband that tops $1.1 billion--excluding the ever-important customer equipment costs. Story.

> Digital cable is king in Holland (the Netherlands?) where research by Telecompaper reveals that 61.3 percent of homes are now digital and that Dutch cable operators have a 54.4 percent share of the digital TV market. Story.

And finally... They may have forgotten the kitchen sink; otherwise a digital TV demodulator introduced by Silicon Labs contains everything else: satellite, cable and digital video broadcast (DVB). News release.