The Satellite Hub Summit @ CABSAT 2019, GVF’s prominent MENA platform for addressing and analyzing evolutionary and revolutionary transitions in satellite technologies, services, applications, and markets, was a central feature at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre/Dubai World Trade Centre over 12th to 14th March. The Hub program started-off with the first of two important keynote addresses.

Leading figures from the Middle East’s growing eSports community believe that government-backing would give the Gen Z-led phenomenon the backbone it needs to “thrive” in the UAE and wider region.

Mohammad Albanna, who is on the board of the UAE eSports Federation, and Saeed Sharaf, CEO of eSport Middle East and president of the Syrian eSport Association, led an open panel discussion at the debut eSports Pavilion at CABSAT – the region’s leading event for the satellite, broadcast and filmed content media and entertainment industry.

Vertice 360, the Spanish media company owned by Squirrel Capital, is set to acquire M-Three Satcom, the Italian based teleport operator founded in 2004 and acquired by Giglio Group in 2015.

M-Three Satcom will be main part of a wider agreement including the purchase by Vertice of other media assets of Giglio Group as the internationally distributed Nautical Channel and  the Italian DTT Lcn  68.

The global Entertainment and Media (E&M) industry is in the midst of a significant shift as viewers demand a more personalised experience, both in terms of the content they consume and their platform of choice. The fast-paced development of mobile and streaming technologies have sparked a marked shift in consumer behaviour, thrusting the industry into an era analysts are referring to as Convergence 3.0. In this new wave of entertainment, technology is giving a voice to the consumer and that voice is clear - viewers are demanding bespoke content that they can consume anytime, anywhere.

Integrasys concluded last week its VIP Partners’ Summit to present the company’s latest products and services, and also to listen to success cases on the use of its products.

In common with the rest of the world, the market for traditional satellite services in the Middle East and Africa is facing challenges, from terrestrial competitors, new space competitors and shifting consumer taste. Nevertheless, all of the operators interviewed for this article, remain very upbeat about the prospects for their services in this region.

Once upon a time, a large teleport operator was hit by a major power outage.  Uninterruptible power supplies immediately kicked in and the NOC staff waited for the generator to start.  Nothing happened.  So, they switched to the backup generator.  Still nothing.  Work crews rushed to trouble-shoot the generator failures while the countdown timer on the UPS batteries ticked downward…and downward…and still downward.  Just minutes from total loss of power, the work crews got one of the generators started and customers suffered no loss of service.  

Since 2016, the FCC had approved satellite constellations for new Non-geostationary Orbit (NGSO) Systems and the latest ones given green light were Spacex, Telesat, Keppler, and Leosat in November 2018 authorizing nearly 8,000 small telecom satellites to serve U.S. entities from Low Earth Orbit allowing global coverage.

In my previous column I recounted the genesis of the GVF Satellite Hub Summit @ CABSAT, a progress which has led us, in 2019, to the 5th event in this successful series, which takes place over 12 to 14 March at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre/Dubai World Trade Centre.

Telesat Canada reported today consolidated revenues of US$174.48 million (Ca$232 million) for the 4th quarter ending December 31, 2018, a decrease of 8% US$15.79 million (Ca$21 million) compared to the same period in 2017. When adjusted for the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, the revenue decreased by 9% or US$16.55 million (Ca$22 million) compared to the same period in 2017.