Inmarsat today confirmed that it had completed regulatory and other approvals in relation to its US$ 45 million purchase of Globe Wireless, the Florida-basedprovider of value-added maritime communications services to the shipping market.  As a consequence, Inmarsat has now completed its acquisition of Globe Wireless.

Inmarsat’s acquisition includes the business and substantially all of the assets of Globe Wireless. In the twelve months ended June 30, 2103, Globe Wireless generated revenues of US$91 million and currently has an installed customer base of over 6,000 ships.

Reportbuyer.com just published a new market research report entitled "Online TV & Video Forecasts" which predicts global online TV and video revenues (over fixed broadband networks) will reach US in 2018, a massive increase from the US$ 3.98 billion recorded in 2010 and the $15.94 billion expected in 2013, according to the Online TV and Video Forecasts report from Digital TV Research.

By 2018, 520 million homes in 40 countries will watch online television and video (both paid-for and ad-supported), up from 182 million in 2010.

Astrium and Inmarsat have reached a strategic distribution partnership agreement which will see Global Xpress services made available to Astrium Services’s large partner and customer base. Astrium Services will deliver Global Xpress high-speed broadband services through its worldwide distribution channels. The strategic agreement will cover key vertical markets, including the maritime as well as the government and defence sector, initially in Europe.

Inmarsat today announces the acquisition of the business and substantially all of the assets of Globe Wireless LLC  Headquartered in Palm Bay, Florida, Globe Wireless is a  provider of value-added maritime communications services to the shipping market. 

NEP Group Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Global Television  from Catalyst Investment Managers. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction brings together US-based NEP and Australia’s Global Television, uniting two of the world’s most experienced and successful television technical services companies.

NSR's Broadband Satellite Markets 12th Edition report, released today, forecasts the entire broadband satellite market’s installed base of VSAT sites, broadband access subscribers, trunking and backhaul sites will increase by just over 5 million by 2022 and generate US$9.9 billion in revenues. Fully 87% of this growth will come from new subscribers to satellite broadband access services with the North American, Western European and Latin American markets leading the way.

Israel-based satellite operator Spacecom issued a formal notice to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it was open to offers for a sale – or merger – of its company. Spacecom operates the Amos fleet of satellites which covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Spacecom has hired investment firm JPMorgan as an adviser for the transaction. Spacecom is controlled by Eurocom Holdings Ltd., which owns several telecom companies in Israel. The note to the stock exchange stated that the process is at an early stage “and there is no certainty that a deal will be carried out”.

In a sign of how profoundly Internet-based media is revolutionizing the way consumers access video entertainment content, more than 1.7 billion devices capable of accessing over-the-top (OTT) broadband content like Netflix and Hulu are set to ship by the end of 2013. Shipments of OTT-capable devices will rise 20 percent this year from 1.43 billion units in 2012, according to a new Consumer Electronics Topical Reportf rom IHS Inc.  

The World Teleport Association (WTA) published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2013. The annual rankings of companies by revenue and revenue growth are compiled by surveying teleport operators around the world as well as referencing the published results of publicly-held companies. 

World leaders from government, industry and research institutions gathering this week in Mexico City for ITU’s World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) have sent a strong message calling for the international community to explicitly prioritize information and communication technologies (ICTs) as essential to every nation’s future social development and economic growth.