The number of pay Direct to Home (DTH)  homes for 80 countries covered in a new report by Digital TV Research will be 220 million by end-2017, up from 154 million at end-2011 and 91 million at end-2007. India will lead the sector with 50.9 million pay DTH homes in 2017, followed by the US with 36.5 million. Russia (14.7 million) and Brazil (14.6 million) will take third and fourth places respectively.

The global volume of mobile data traffic will exceed 107 exabytes in 2017, shows a new forecast from ABI Research. This total traffic volume will be eight times more than what is expected for 2012. But how significant a growth rate would this represent, exactly?

Smart set-top boxes often garner less attention than other connected CE devices like TVs and game consoles – Apple has referred to its Apple TV as a “hobby” although it leads the market with around 4 million units shipped through 2011. Roku has had recent success (e.g. passing 2.5M units in 2011), but the future looks at the very least challenging for these dedicated streaming devices to break out of a niche status. TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, and even mobile devices are quickly conspiring to engender a very competitive market for the digital living room.

Euroconsult announced the findings of its most recent study of fixed satellite services. The report entitled "Company Profiles, Analysis of FSS Operators," now in its 5th edition, indicates that regional operators in particular continued to see strong business growth from various applications including DTH TV broadcasting, cellular backhaul and enterprise networks. Many of these regional operators are continuing their ambitious expansion plans with growing satellite fleets and a number of satellite launches still ahead in the coming years.

In my contribution to the previous edition of Satellite Executive Briefing I wrote of the maritime communications environment being fairly characterized as “highly dynamic”.  Indeed, this very dynamism was well demonstrated at the “Maritime Insights Europe 2012: Expanding Communications with Fixed & MobileNetworking Solutions to Further Horizons” conference, which took place in London on 27th and 28th June, and about which I also wrote in that earlier column.

Several things became clear during the privatisation process of Telstra in the 00s. Broadband quality was below the international benchmark; end-user and wholesale prices were above that mark; and there was no economically viable business case for high-speed broadband infrastructure for regional and rural Australia. This is according to a recent Research and Markets report entitled "Australia - The National Broadband Network."

The world’s leading experts attending the International Telecommunication Union’s upcoming ITU Telecom World 2012 Forum will promote leadership and innovation to expand broadband services in a competitive marketplace and achieve global connectivity while ensuring equal access and transparency, according to the conference agenda released today.

CommunicAsia2012, EnterpriseIT2012 and BroadcastAsia2012, Asia’s focal industry venue for ICT, digital broadcasting and entertainment technology industry professionals concluded today, with more than 56 countries and regions in attendance over the last four days. Close to 2,000 exhibitors presented the latest technologies in next generation fiber broadband, M2M technology, cloud security, DVB-T2, Over-the-Top Technology (OTT) and more.

The annual CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum concluded June 18 on a strong note as delegates agreed that growth opportunities for the sector in Asia remained emphatically positive. Addressing nearly 250 delegates, speakers and media, Michel de Rosen, CEO & Board Member of Eutelsat, illustrated the potential of the satellite industry in Asia Pacific thanks to the region’s high population growth, incomplete terrestrial infrastructure and strong GDP prospects.

Over one‑quarter of TVs shipped during Q1’12 were equipped with internet connectivity, as reported in the new NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Smart TV Shipment and Forecast Report, which tracks connected and smart TV shipments by brand, region, display technology and screen size. Approximately 27% of TV sets shipped worldwide had internet connectivity, led by Japan, where 46% of sets had networking capability, and Western Europe with 36%.