Europe has certainly delivered more than its share of headline grabbing news this last year.  Most of it very negative and focused on the economic problems of some its member states.  In the satellite world while attention is being given to teleport consolidation and the potential impact on Satcoms resulting from troop withdrawal from the Middle East and Afghanistan the major headlines have centered around two topics: Navigation and Broadband.  On the whole the news has been more positive, even if laced with a hefty dose of skepticism at times.

NSR's annual review of the government and military satellite market shows the industry stands to continue revenue gains until 2020 but will need to provide higher level solutions for less cost, and via a host of new procurement methods. The shaky global economy as well as increasing budget pressures within countries that have driven market growth over the past 10 years, notably the United States, are at the core of future procurements and in choosing the solution mix over the long term.

CABSAT 2012, is bringing together the most dynamic – and lucrative – broadcast markets in the world.  According to the latest research by Informa Telecoms and Media, there are 80 million television households in the Middle East and North Africa market. Today satellite television reaches 65% of them, but by 2016 that proportion will rocket to 80%.

The telecoms industry is currently involved in a massive transformation. Since the arrival of the internet, the focus of the industry has moved from providing defined end-products to becoming a facilitator in the development of a range of new products, companies, and indeed new industries, according to a new report by Research and Markets.

Television might well be the world’s most universal technology. Almost the entire surface of the planet now has TV signal coverage, with television sets in over 1.4 billion households worldwide, representing 98% of dwellings in developed countries and nearly 73% in the developing world.

High Throughput Satellites (HTS) will increasingly be a key addition to the offshore communications industry’s portfolio, as energy-sector interests demand more broadband for less cost. The projection of strong demand for HTS solutions was one of several prominent topics explored during the “GVF Oil & Gas Communications South East Asia” conference (O&GCSEA2011) held 22-23 November at the Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A quick look at the supply numbers seems to indicate that the previously hot satellite market in Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to become an oversupply fiasco for the FSS industry. During the run up of the African market, satellite operators of every stripe decided to launch new capacity into the region with NSR estimating over 300 TPEs of new and replacement C- and Ku-band capacity will be launched in the coming two years for Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

The  Global VSAT Forum (GVF) has launched a global campaign to assure that communications customers will continue to have unfettered access to Ka-Band spectrum for delivery of state-of-the-art consumer, government and enterprise solutions.

London, UK, November 3, 2011 by Howard Farr

How is the buying and selling of satellite space and managed services changing? Is it purely transactional and becoming more commoditized? Will a no commission, web-based marketplace catch on where the buyer and seller can find each other instantaneously and for a much reduced cost of sale?

Economic stagnation and financial uncertainty across U.S. and European markets, the continuing significant political unrest manifest in the “Arab Spring”, the litany of manmade conflicts and natural disasters across the globe (including serious flooding in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines), concerns over hydrocarbon-based energy supplies, consumption, prices, and climate change impact – short-, medium-, and longer-term problems, and justified news headline-grabbers all!