No World Cup matches for Thai C-band satellite receivers
People using large satellite dishes to watch TV will not be able to watch the Netherlands-US or Argentina-Australia matches this evening because all signals have been blocked as of Friday.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) told the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) on Saturday that Thailand would encrypt all 2022 FIFA World Cup broadcasts.
The commission made the announcement after SAT blocked broadcasts via C-band satellite TV networks in response to warnings from FIFA. The world football governing body had insisted that all broadcast signals be encrypted as they were being stolen by neighbouring countries.
Trairat Viriyasirikul, NBTC’s acting secretary-general, said on Friday that providers of satellite TV receivers (set-top boxes), digital television multiplexes (DTT MUX) service providers and TV channels have been issued a guideline for encrypting the signal to prevent it from being stolen.
According to the guidelines, set-top boxes will be encrypted with “conditional access”, while KU-band satellite television networks will be locked with an “alternated key encryption”.
DTT MUX service providers are also required to put the signal under conditional access.
However, people using big C-Band satellite dishes will not be able to watch any games as the receiver cannot encrypt the signal.
The NBTC has told all operators to put all controls in place until the end of the competition to tackle the piracy problem.
It has also advised those with C-band satellite receivers to use an antenna or encrypted receivers to watch the matches.
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