The television industry is back on a growth path, with a global market of EUR 289.2 billion, which marks a 7.1% increase compared to 2009., according to the latest  World Television Market Report by IDATE.  This report analyses the overriding trends and changes taking place in the markets around the globe. It explores the driving forces behind the market’s growth and transformation, including an examination of the chief market trends, plus volume and value forecasts up to 2014 by geographical area and by country.

It seems like a natural progression to bring the Internet to every possible consumer electronics device available today, and the television set is no exception. Not to be left behind, many a DTH provider has provisioned Ethernet ports in the next generation of STBs, although the software and strategy to provide enhanced services may still be a few years away. As expected, North America and Western Europe are leading this market as viewers in these regions become more particular about what content they want as well as where and when they want it.

As noted in my column last month, the program for the recent GVF Oil & Gas Communications conference in Kuala Lumpur included a session entitled Cloud Computing and Future Oil & Gas Industry Networking.  This was the first time the topic of the Cloud had been introduced to any of the GVF-EMP vertical market-focused series of conferences, though not the first time that a Cloud-related topic had been included in one of the GVF’s horizontal-market events – specifically the MENASAT Summit held at the time of the Satellite MENA exhibiti

2010 has been another bumper year for the satellite operators, including the European operators. This is all good news in times where many other sectors are still struggling. However, there is a risk that good times breed complacency. 

Satellite Markets and Research are media partners for the following events where we will be participating as either exhibitors, speakers or session moderators. To book a meeting with Satellite Markets and Research in any of the shows below, e-mail: virgil@satellitemarkets.com 

The opportunities  for satellite communications in Africa has never been greater.  We saw a glimpse of this in June this year during the World Cup finals held in South Africa. The successful holding of the World Cup in South Africa demonstrated to the world that Africa is coming of age in the world’s stage. 

Plans to make Britain’s broadband the best in Europe are in danger of stalling as the rural population of the UK falls further behind their city cousins. This was the warning given today by Chief Analyst Tim Johnson of Point Topic   who was speaking at the  NextGen10 conference in Birmingham.

The World Teleport Association (WTA) announced its rankings of the Top Teleport Operators of 2010, providing a unique look into the diverse teleport sector of the global communications industry. Rankings are reported in three categories: the Independent Top Twenty, the Global Top Twenty, and the Fast Twenty.

The Independent Top Twenty

As illustrated by the inclusion of such subject matter as ‘Cloud Computing and Future Oil & Gas Industry Networking’; and, ‘Commercial Applications in the Oil & Gas Sector Context: Helping Developers Get on the Satellite Wavelength’; to ‘Building-Out the Hybrid Opportunity: Evolving Regional Broadband Satellite-Wireless Integrated Solution Deployments’, and ‘Satellite in MENA: The Future is Ka...‘, the GVF “Event Horizon” over the next several months can be characterized as having both vertical market-related and horizontal market-related elements.

Military satellite market just a few years ago was one of the fastest growing segments of the satellite communications industry.  However, a global economic downturn and de-escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and South West Asia coupled with changing warfighter requirements have had a profound effect on the future of military satellite communications.