Mediacast 2005 is hosting a free three-day conference in London in connection with the annual trade exhibition. The event will cover many aspects of digital television, including interactive and high-definition services, the telco video, voice and data triple play, and mobile video.

The organisers have been keen to expand the range of the free conference sessions, and with a top line-up of speakers, this three-day programme promises to be a key opportunity to network and learn about the latest developments in video delivery.

The first day of the conference deals with the themes of content everywhere, interactive entertainment, and telco video. This will include a session led by informitv with representatives from Microsoft TV, Alcatel, Nortel, Lucent, Tandberg and NDS.

There will also be special seminar sessions for new entrants wanting to start in broadcasting. It seems that it has never been easier to become a broadcaster, but the number of failures remains high.

The Digital Television Group is hosting sessions on emerging technologies, including HDTV and IPTV, and there will be live demonstrations of low bandwidth high-definition downloads and high-definition internet protocol delivery.

Day two looks at the role of high-definition television in Europe, and interactive, on-demand, and personal video recorder technologies.

The third day considers the next steps for digital satellite, cable and terrestrial television, home networks, and mobile video services.

Finally there will be an all-day session on the video ecosystem, organised by the MPEG industry forum which will look at the latest advanced video compression schemes, the trend towards internet protocol delivery, and the provision of broadcast services to mobile devices.

This year the event moves to Olympia in central London. Visitors must pre-register online before 20:00 GMT on Friday 6 May to avoid paying the £20 entrance fee.

www.mediacast.net