Space industry conferences come in all shapes and sizes. As someone who has spent most of my career covering the commercial and government satcom industry, most of the conferences I attend are more commercial in nature—discussion tends to focus on business plans that are already in existence, or otherwise, on the horizon.

Newtec, a specialist in the design, development and manufacturing of equipment for satellite communications, has teamed up with DVB to showcase the future of universal Over The Top (OTT) television services at IBC 2019.

Taking place at DVB’s booth 1.B71, the DVB demonstration – which will use Newtec’s MCX7000 Multi-Carrier Satellite Gateway as a receiver – will reveal the ‘single hybrid offering’ that DVB-I brings. DVB-I is an ongoing initiative to develop technical standards for delivering television services over IP.

AfricaCom is synonymous with the coming together of great minds, the generation of new ideas and the showcasing of innovation. This year, AfricaCom goes one step further to ensuring the progression of the African continent towards a digital democracy with the support of a number of causes that will focus on providing the space, skills and access to the Internet to make it all possible.

NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company, today released the global findings of the 2019 Pay-TV Innovation Forum. The report summarises key findings and insights collected from industry executives across four regions: Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America. It examines key market trends and developments, the most significant challenges facing pay-TV providers and industry executive priorities for opportunities and investments going forward.

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) welcomed over 150 delegates to its conference, Malaysia in View, on 3 September in Kuala Lumpur, for a full day of sessions with the best of both local and international players in Malaysia to discuss the state of the video industry here as it moves into the age of digital convergence.

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has announced the completion of its previously announced spin-off and subsequent merger with DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) of the portion of its business that manages, markets and provides (i) broadcast satellite services primarily to DISH, Dish Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. and their respective subsidiaries and (ii) telemetry, tracking and control services to satellites owned by DISH and a portion of EchoStar's other businesses, and certain related assets and business operations. 

ITU Telecom World 2019, the global tech event for governments, corporates and small- and medium-sized enterprises, opened its doors today to four days of exhibition, debate, networking and awards amongst some of the most influential names from across the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

I sit down to write this column within days of having returned from a GVF mission to the South Pacific, to Papua New Guinea. There, we – Riaz Lamak, Lead in GVF’s Benchmarking, Validation and High Availabilty Disaster Recovery (HADR) initiatives, and I – were hosted by both the United States Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Command and the PNG Defense Force under the ‘Multinational Communications Interoperability Program’ (MCIP).

In the competitive and rapidly changing teleport business, one company is making waves and gaining substantial market share in a relatively short time through its holistic approach to providing services. iKO Media Group (iKOMG) is a boutique end-to-end media service partner for broadcasters and content owners. They provide tailor-made solutions focused on customer needs through dedicated service to a wide range of global and local networks and a keen ability to offer the best SLA for mid-size networks.

An Inter-regional Workshop focused on preparations for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) opened in Geneva today.