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?

Point Topic figures reveal North South digital divide is expanding 

Data published today by leading broadband research firm Point Topic shows that 13% of UK premises still can’t get broadband speeds higher than 2Mbps. As the UK continues to gain internet bandwidth and consumers, stubborn holes in the deployment and take-up around the country remain.

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.

The maritime market for satellite services is one of the fastest growing segments of the industry.  Euroconsult has forecasted that the number of satellite communications terminals in the global maritime market will nearly double over the next de-cade, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of seven percent over the 10-year period.

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.

CASBAA’s annual flagship event will take place from October 29 to November 1, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.  This year’s theme, “18 Reasons Why,”illustrates how the CASBAA Convention is consistently the industry’s must attend event in the region.With 18 markets, 18 conference sessions, 18 data snapshots and 18 holes of golf, the CASBAA Convention 2012 will feature a powerful line-up including Opening Keynote Ben Silverman (Electus), among others.

Satellite capacity is a uniquely valuable asset.  It can do some things, like broadcasting one signal to millions of destinations, better and cheaper than any other technology.  But it is also a scarce asset, thanks to the laws of physics and the skilled yield management of the operators that fly spacecraft in Earth orbit. 

Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission, is set to deliver a keynote speech on the opening day of the world’s largest broadband conference and exhibition, the Broadband World Forum. Kroes will kick-start the three-day event, which focuses on service transformation and the connected consumer, by addressing the future of broadband connectivity and network speeds.

Freeview today published research undertaken by Futuresource Consulting that shows that almost every home in the UK will be able to access Connect TV powered services by the end of 2014. Connect TV brings internet delivered content to the Freeview Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). The service works on all compliant Freeview HD devices and offers live streaming and on demand services.