Jordan behind Al Jazeera World Cup jamming 30, September 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Al-Jazeera.Tags: Al Jazeera jamming, Al Jazeera world cup problems, Jordan jamming al Jazeera
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During the recent World Cup, Al Jazeera’s coverage of the opening game and seven other important matches was severely affected. The picture was intermittently lost, garbled and commentary changed languages.
It has been revealed that the jamming that caused Al Jazeera to lose its signal emanated from Jordan. The Guardian suggests that this could be an act of retaliation after a deal to show the World Cup on Al Jazeera in Jordan fell through.
Initially, Egypt and Saudi Arabia were assumed to be the culprits given their antipathy towards Al Jazeera. However, The Guardian has obtained documents unequivocally showing that at least five instances of jamming came from a town north east of Amman, As-Salt (at coordinates 32.125N 35.766E if you want to be really precise).
Experts say the jamming was unlikely to have been done without the knowledge of the Jordanian authorities. “It was a very sophisticated case,” said one.
Al Jazeera won an exclusive pay-TV deal to show the World Cup matches to all Arab and North African countries including Iran. They charged up to £100 for the month’s subscription which fostered severe discontent.
The Gulf blog 