BBC applauds ITU decision to track sources of satellite interference

Leading international broadcasters and broadcasting unions are welcoming new steps taken by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to address harmful interference with satellite transmissions, including cases of deliberate interference.

 

At its recently concluded Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, Korea, member states agreed to support ITU efforts to track reported cases of interference with satellite broadcasts.

 

Broadcasters have complained that interference has cut them off from audiences in numerous countries and regions over the past several years.

 

The new action to address the problem was approved on 7 November 2014 by the Plenipotentiary Conference, attended by representatives of 171 countries.

 

Director of the BBC World Service Group, Peter Horrocks, says: "This is a welcome step forward. The BBC believes strongly in the free flow of news and information around the world. We must all work together as international broadcasters to put an end to jamming."

 

Entitled "Strengthening the role of ITU with regard to transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities", the agency noted that countries are increasingly relying on space-based communications for a wide variety of services, including remote sensing, communications, and weather forecasting, as well as for bridging the digital divide.

 

Interference, the ITU assembly noted, makes the delivery of satellite services less reliable, and therefore complicates efforts to bridge the digital divide - efforts which bring enhanced telecommunication services to the developing world.

 

The Resolution invites the ITU to enter into agreements with satellite monitoring facilities in order to detect the sources of interference, a process known as 'geo-location' and it calls upon the ITU to create a database on interference.

 

The effort to counteract satellite jamming brings together a coalition of broadcasters from a number of countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The EBU and the Arab States Broadcasting Union have also taken a leading role. In addition, satellite operators who have been impacted by the practice - in particular, France's Eutelsat and Saudi Arabia based Arabsat - have worked with the broadcasters.

 

The successful effort to obtain ITU action on the proposal was also a multi-national effort, introduced by a representative of France's Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) and steered through debate by an official of the United Kingdom's regulatory authority, OFCOM.

 

More information on the ITU resolution is available here

 

(BBC Press Release)

International broadcasters protest against intentional jamming from Ethiopia

International broadcasters protest against intentional jamming from Ethiopia Due to intentional jamming from Ethiopia the reception of TV programs by Deutsche Welle and numerous other international broadcasters is currently severely impacted in large parts of the Arab world.

BBC, France 24 and Voice of America are also among the broadcasters affected by the jamming.

The satellite provider Arabsat has identified Ethiopia as the source of the strong jamming signals on all its three satellites. Ethiopian authorities have not responded to the incident yet.

Peter Limbourg, director general of Deutsche Welle: "This is a gross violation of the internationally recognized right of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Deutsche Welle, BBC, France 24 and Voice of America strongly condemn this action against the free flow of impartial information. We urge the Ethiopian authorities to immediately cease the jamming."

While Deutsche Welle's short wave programs have been repeatedly target of jamming from Ethiopia, the current incident appears not to be aimed at specific broadcasters or programs. The jamming of satellite programs constitutes a violation of international agreements, but the practice is nevertheless on the rise. The most recent incidents occurred in 2011 and 2012 via Iran.

In the Arab world Deutsche Welle is available through its TV channel "DW Arabia." Selected radio programs in Arabic are available via partner stations throughout the region.

(Press Release)

Satellite world explores action on ‘jamming’

A meeting at the headquarters of Eutelsat in Paris last Friday brought together industry protagonists who have already been or fear they will be affected by jamming, to discuss countermeasures to the problem. One option suggested is to enable satellite operators to share data about when and where malicious disruptions happen. The data would be stored in a common space for reference and used in discussions with international regulatory bodies. A start was made on creating such a database at the Paris meeting.

More info at : http://tinyurl.com/bxfqssv

Joint statement by seven international broadcasters

The following joint statement has been issued by seven international broadcasters, including the BBC.

We, the representatives of Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) [Australia], British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) [United Kingdom], Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) [US], Deutsche Welle (DW) [Germany], Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) [Japan] and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW), have met in Berlin to discuss common concerns.

We find international journalism is facing unprecedented challenges from countries that seek to deny their own citizens access to information from outside their borders in violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

We call upon the world's nations to strengthen their commitment to Article 19 and to support expanded opportunities to share information across borders through digital and mobile technologies.

Yet we note with dismay that certain governments continue to control the flow of information. For example, China routinely blocks the Web and social media sites of our broadcasters and jams our shortwave signals, or Iran and Syria interfere with the satellite signals that carry our programs. Governments in Eurasia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America also seek to control what their own citizens can see, hear and read.

Many of these actions, including intentional jamming of satellites, violate international regulations. We condemn them without reservation.

We also call attention to troubling new challenges to free expression. Some governments are seeking to enact far-reaching telecommunications regulations to stymie free speech.

At the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WICT) in Dubai, representatives of the world's nations have considered telecommunications rules that might explicitly apply to the Internet for the first time.

We cast a wary eye on such efforts to control the Internet, and we denounce efforts to identify and track Internet users in order to stifle free expression, inquiry and political activity.

We have agreed to increase, whenever possible, our support for efforts to circumvent Web censorship through the use of new and innovative hardware and software tools. We also agreed to increase our advocacy for Internet freedom.

(BBC Media Release)

Jamming TV satellite broadcasts: Who is doing it, and how?

There has been an increase in the number of complaints about the jamming of satellite TV signals around the world. Broadcasters such as the BBC, Voice of America, France 24, Deutsche Welle and Al-Jazeera have all seen transmissions of their international programmes jammed recently.

 

Have a look at at his video produced by BBC Monitoring ...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20344823

Related :

Satellite and internet jamming rises as broadcast industry seek to uphold UN Article 19

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/201112wsjammingconference.html

Eritrea: Judicial Enquiry Launched in Paris Over Jamming of Eritrean Radio Station

Reporters Without Borders filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in Paris on 6 November 2012 accusing persons unknown of acts of piracy against Radio Erena, an Eritrean exile radio station based in Paris which broadcasts by satellite to the Horn of Africa and which is backed by Reporters Without Borders.

More at :

http://allafrica.com/stories/201211140319.html

VOA Director Condemns Iranian Satellite Jamming

Washington, D.C., January 25, 2012 -VOA Director David Ensor has condemned Iranian satellite jamming in a new blog posted on the Voice of America Public Relations webpage, www.insidevoa.com

From the VOA Director:
Satellites are extraordinary devices, hovering quietly above the earth, beaming everyone's favorite TV shows into living rooms around the world.
Satellites are one of the things I think about when I hear the term "global village." It's technology that makes it possible to instantly share information and ideas.
We've come to depend on satellites to experience the great events of our time. Whether it's the opening ceremony of the international Olympic Games or live video of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan last year, satellites bring us together.
Unfortunately, some governments have decided they want to try to block this flow of information.
Since September, the Iranian government has radically increased its deliberate interference with satellites, a practice we all know as jamming. It works like this. Iran sends a bogus signal to a satellite, which overwhelms the legitimate signal and renders it useless to TV and radio audiences on the ground.
VOA's Persian broadcasts have been a particular target. In fact, the satirical VOA Persian program, Parazit, is a play on words that makes fun of this practice. Parazit, which means static in Persian, is what many Iranians sometimes see when they try to watch this popular program.
Other international broadcasters including BBC and BBC Persian TV, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Radio Farda, Radio France International, Germany's Deutsche Welle and Radio Netherlands Worldwide have all suffered from radio, TV or web interference by Iran.
This week in Geneva, delegates to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) begin a series of meetings that only come along once every four years. Satellite jamming is likely to be on the agenda at this important session in one form or another. For VOA and other international broadcasters, it can't come a moment too soon. Satellites form the critical backbone of our ability to reach our audience.
It is however, much more than a broadcast industry issue. It goes to the very heart of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
That language couldn't be clearer, and it is part and parcel of everything we do at the Voice of America. By jamming satellites, Iran is limiting a fundamental human right of its own citizens.
Unfortunately, jamming by Iran has increased. Worse, the practice seems to be spreading, with new reports of jamming by Syria, one of Iran's few allies, and a regime increasingly at war with its own people.
VOA and other international broadcasters and organizations have been drawing attention to this issue at every opportunity. The WRC is one forum where governments, regulatory authorities and broadcasters from across the world can become more aware of this insidious problem, and act against it.
On January 24th, five of the world's largest international broadcasting organizations, including the Voice of America's parent organization, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, called on delegates meeting in Geneva to address the problem of Iranian uplink jamming.
The statement, issued by the Directors General of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France, Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, appeals to member states to "work to end this increasingly prevalent practice." Other organizations, including the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, have urged delegates meeting in Geneva to act urgently.
Censorship and satellite jamming violate the fundamental right of access to the free flow of information enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and countries around the world should join together to end this practice.

David Ensor

(BBG Press Release)

Ethiopia accused of jamming Eritrea's broadcast signals

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
January 13, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) - Ethiopia is blocking satellite transmissions from Eritrea, the government in Asmara accuses its larger neighbor, this week. The Eritrean Ministry of information in a statement Thursday warned to take legal action. It further said Addis Ababa has been warned by the Arab Satellite Communications Organization over the illegal acts.

More at :
http://www.sudantribune.com/Ethiopia-accused-of-jamming,41286

BBG Condemns Signal Interference as Rights Threat

Washington, D.C., January 13, 2012 – The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) condemned the purposeful interference with broadcast transmissions to Iran as a threat to human rights and cited new evidence that jamming signals are now emanating from Syria. "Recent interference with the Eutelsat satellite originates from near Damascus, Syria," said André Mendes, Director of Technology, Services and Innovation of the International Broadcasting Bureau – the engineering arm of the BBG. "The Persian broadcasts of the Voice of America are impacted as well as the BBC."
"The notion that the locus of some jamming of our broadcasts into Iran is from Syria is something that people should know," observed BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. In addition, interference with the Arabsat satellite has affected Alhurra TV, Radio Sawa, RFE/RL's Radio Farda and several VOA services according to Mendes.In a resolution passed at its January 13 meeting in Washington, the BBG called on delegates to the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva and the satellite industry to "repudiate this illegal behavior."
"The BBG strongly supports the United States Government's position that interference with free media and the free flow of information and ideas constitutes a threat to human rights and freedom and to the principles stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," the resolution said. Last month, international broadcasters - VOA, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deutsche Welle (DW), Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF) and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) – also spoke out against the practice of signal interference. The meeting, which began at 2:00 p.m., was webcasted live. On Demand Links will be available soon.

(BBG Press Release)

Eutelsat statement on deliberate jamming of satellite signal

Paris, 17 November 2011
Eutelsat categorically refutes recent reports that claim it is generating interference to its own satellites in order to prevent reception in Iran of international Farsi satellite channels. These allegations are in total contradiction with reality. They are also totally inconsistent with the statement issued in September by the BBC which associates Eutelsat with their renewed appeal for action by regulatory authorities to combat this violation of international rights.

Over more than two years Eutelsat has publicly condemned intentional jamming of its satellites by third parties, organised to prevent reception of international Farsi channels including BBC Persian, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. We have identified the location of the jamming from within Iran, and since May 2009, have filed multiple complaints with the relevant French and international regulatory authorities to denounce hostile jamming operations and to prompt the International Telecommunication Union (a United Nations Agency) to address this illegal practice as a priority issue.

Eutelsat maintains a constant dialogue with international Farsi channels and service providers affected by deliberate jamming. The company has repeatedly organised transmissions of these channels through other satellites in its fleet in order to provide the continuity of service that we constantly endeavour to deliver. These efforts are recognised by the BBC, including in their statement of September 7.

Deliberate jamming prevents satellite reception, creates collateral damage for other broadcasters and is contrary to international conventions for the use of satellites. Efforts to combat it are a priority issue for Eutelsat. Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, says: “In our capacity as a satellite operator we remain committed to defeating this abuse. We call on those of influence to do all they can to impress upon Iran the illegal nature of intentional jamming and the need to cease this activity immediately."

(Eutelsat Press Release)

ESAT accuses China of complicity in jamming signals

The Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), which resumed transmissions to Ethiopia last week after nearly two months of interruption, has urged the government of the People's Republic of China to desist from providing technology, training and technical assistance to the regime in Ethiopia to enable it to jam shortwave radio and satellite transmissions to Ethiopia.

More at : http://www.abugidainfo.com/?p=18210

Alhurra Broadcasts Jammed on Popular Satellite

Alhurra Television's broadcasts of the historic events in Libya have been jammed on the Nilesat satellite system since Feb. 23. The Nilesat system, one of the most popular satellite systems in the region, also carries Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
The radio signals on Nilesat of Radio Sawa (in Arabic), Radio Farda (in Persian), Radio Free Iraq (in Arabic) and Voice of America (in Kurdish) have also faced intermittent interference in Nilesat.

"The right to freedom of information is universal and essential amidst the tumultuous events in the region," said Walter Isaacson, chair of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting including Alhurra TV, VOA and RFE. "Efforts, including satellite jamming, to prevent people in the Middle East and North Africa from getting much-needed accurate news and information are abhorrent."

Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle have reported similar, deliberate and harmful interferences with satellite transmissions.

The jamming of the satellite system comes at the height of U.S. international broadcasting's extensive coverage of the uprising and violence in Libya. Alhurra has provided live, continuous coverage since protests began Feb. 16. Surge broadcasting has included first person accounts from Tripoli, Benghazi, Tubruk and Misratah. Alhurra is also soliciting feedback from viewers in Libya and asking them to call in and report what they are witnessing, as well as sending video and still images through Facebook and YouTube. Alhurra's correspondents in Benghazi are interviewing protesters who say they are demonstrating because they want Libya to be a free country and their children to live in a democracy. Alhurra is also providing viewers with the American perspective through talk shows and analysis from American experts on Libya and the Middle East.

The coverage of Libya follows Alhurra's in-depth reporting from Egypt, where surveys showed that 25 percent of Egyptian adults were tuning into Alhurra for the latest news on the demonstrations in Tahrir Square and across Egypt.

Intermittent but sustained interference to Alhurra Television meant viewers first lost images and then their screens went black between Feb. 23 and 27.
Radio channels continued to be jammed on Nilesat as of Feb. 28. Jamming this month has also affected TV and radio broadcasts to Iran for VOA's Persian News Network and Radio Farda.

(BBG Press Release)

EU Confronts Iran on Satellite Jamming

VOA News 19 March 2010

European Union nations are calling for Iran to stop jamming international satellite broadcasts and censoring the Internet. A preliminary version of a statement that will go before EU foreign ministers next week demands that Iran cease its electronic interference immediately. If not, the European allies say they they are prepared to take action against Iran's jamming.

Read the full story here :

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/EU-Confronts-Iran-on-Satellite-Jamming-88689367.html

International broadcasters condemn Iran over 'jamming'

International broadcasters condemn Iran over 'jamming' Three major international broadcasters have strongly condemned Iran for its "deliberate electronic interference" in their broadcasts. The BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America said the jamming began on Thursday as Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Read the full story here :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8511921.stm

Deutsche Welle: Satellite Broadcasts Blocked Once Again

As of Wednesday, February 10, 2010, the broadcast of Deutsche Welle’s television program has been jammed once again. According to the information received by Germany’s international broadcaster, the satellite interference – like that in December 2009 – is most likely coming from Iran. In a letter to the Iranian Embassy in Germany, Director General Erik Bettermann insistently objected to the “direct interference of the reception of international information offerings”. He went on to say that the repeated limitation of freedom of opinion and freedom of speech by the Iranian administration is “no longer acceptable”. The Director General pointed out that not only has the television broadcast been jammed, but that Deutsche Welle radio and especially Internet content has been censored by Iran.

Since Wednesday afternoon, DW-TV’s satellite broadcast has been selectively jammed. The signal, which is broadcast using Hotbird 8, a satellite that provides programming for Europe and bordering regions – including Iran – was available for a few hours overnight, but was once again jammed on the morning of Thursday, February 11. Hotbird 8 is also used as relay point for the Nilesat satellite and the provider of Deutsche Welle’s live stream service – both of which were also affected due to the interference.

In this respect, there have been problems in receiving DW-TV programming for Europe (English and German) and for the Arab world (Arabic and English) as well as the Farsi radio service. The DW-TV ARABIA broadcast has in the meantime been re-established using a Hotbird transponder. Deutsche Welle had already experienced interference on December 7-8, 2009 on its Hotbird transponder. According to the information provided by Eutelsat, the source of the interference could be clearly localized and identified: the jamming signal came from Iran. Bettermann pointed out the Deutsche Welle’s Farsi service via shortwave in and around Teheran has been a problem for quite some time. However, radio programming was still available on the website www.dw-world.de/persian and although this was regularly blocked, users in Iran knew of technological ways to access it.

(Press Release)