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.

HISPASAT, the Spanish satellite telecommunications operator, today announced that is has completed an agreement with Intelsat, the world's lagest satellite operator, to jointly provide satellite services at the 55.5ºW orbital position for the Latin American market.

Inmarsat and Arabsat subsiary company Hellas-sat today announce that they have signed an agreement together to launch a joint satellite into 390 E orbital location. The satellite will carry two missions; first, the S-band payload (designated ‘EuropaSat’), which represents Inmarsat’s commitment to deploy an integrated telecommunications network to deliver aviation passenger connectivity services on a EU-wide basis and a 44 Ku-band transponders payload designated ‘Hellas-sat 3’ for Hellas-sat, that will replace the existing Hellas-sat 2 satellite. 

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.

Satellite operator ABS is preparing for a major business expansion with the launch of ABS-2A & ABS-3A in 2014/2015 and further satellites to be added to the fleet in the following two years. ABS launched its sixth satellite, ABS-2 in February 2014, covering 80% of the world's population including the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Russia / CIS. 

The EUTELSAT 3B satellite was successfully launched by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in the Pacific Ocean. Lift-off of the rocket carrying the six-tonne satellite took place on Monday 26 May at 21.10 GMT/UTC.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.  today reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Non-GAAP operating income was US$ 0.5 million, compared to a loss of US$ 0.1 million in the fourth quarter 2013. GAAP operating loss was US$ 1.5 million compared to a loss of US$ 2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2013

Eutelsat Communications today announced the sale to M7A Group S.A., trading under the name of M7 Deutschland, of Eutelsat visAvision GmbH., that operates the KabelKiosk platform of digital channels and interactive services for cable and IPTV networks in Germany.

M7A Group is an affiliate of M7 Group, one of the fastest growing operators of TV platforms in Europe and particularly well positioned to ensure KabelKiosk’s continuing development, including the launch of its new IPTV and OTT video delivery platforms.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today released its 2014 State of the Satellite Industry Report, showing a three percent growth rate in world satellite industry revenues in 2013.Globally, 2013 revenues for the satellite industry totaled US$ 195.2 billion, up from US$ 188.8 billion the previous year.