Thaicom, Thailand's leading satellite operator, has become the first in the Asia Pacific region to introduce commercial In-Flight Connectivity Services using Ku-band to provide broadband on commercial flights. The deal has been agreed with Thailand's number one premium low cost airline Nok Air, which last year transported nearly six million passengers. With 48,000 flights per year the carrier will provide broadband Wi-Fi services on many of its aircraft starting in August - ranging from Internet access to other complimentary services in the future.

SpeedCast, today announced the acquisition of Oceanic Broadband, an integrator and solutions provider in the Oceania region. The acquisition will strengthen SpeedCast’s growing leadership position in Australasia servicing the natural resource sector, a market which Oceanic has been successfully developing for several years.

Vislink today announced it has entered into a cooperation with ND SatCom the satellite communication solutions supplier. The agreement gives the companies access to each other’s product portfolios, and the ability to offer suitable products to customers in their respective broadcast and surveillance markets.

CASBAA welcomed issuance of the first authoritative study of the extent to which satellite C-band services provide socio-economic benefits to countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The study found that “C-band is extensively used for communication networks, often of critical importance to these countries’ economy, society or security.”

Google has entered into an agreement to buy Skybox Imaging for US$ 500 million in cash, subject to adjustments Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery.

"Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has long been interested in," said Google in a statement

More than 1600 participants including around 100 Government Ministers and leaders from international organizations, from business, civil society and academia are meeting in Geneva this week to review progress on the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) over the last ten years and to set priorities for the post-2015 development agenda.

There have been many radical changes in the recent broadcast industry as the collision  between broadcast and IT-centric technologies has accelerated. Where once the industry was a ‘walled garden’ with its own specific technologies, standards and practices, increasingly it finds itself open to the vagaries of wider progress in other fields. And while this means it can reap the advantages of piggybacking on Moore’s law, not to mention a hugely expanded R&D effort in multiple diverse fields, it has also led to numerous problems.

A high level meeting opened today to review progress on the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which was held in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005. Policy-makers, including Government Ministers and leaders from civil society, academia, business, and international organizations will focus attention on implementation of the outcomes of the Summit for next year’s ten-year review during the WSIS+10 High-level Event that kicks off today.

NSR’s newly released Wireless Backhaul, Trunking and Video Offload via Satellite, 8th Edition finds the Asian region dominating the wireless backhaul, trunking and video offload market on an annualized basis, leading to over 27% of cumulative global revenues from 2013-2023. The large user base, the topographic challenges and key markets that include Australia, China, India and Indonesia are key elements favoring satellite usage compared to other regions.

HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, President of the Royal Scientific Society and Chairman of Board of Trustees, inaugurated today the 11th Convergence Summit taking place in Amman at the Four Seasons Hotel. The two-day summit brings together top regional and global media and telecoms industry executives.