News Analysis

The Light Ahead for the Satellite Industry

by Lou Zacharilla

New York City, December 15, 2011--“Experience,” author George Will wrote, “is like the light on the back of a train.  It reveals only where you have been, not where you are headed.” Yet as the year 2011 ends its service to the world, the satellite industry continued to quietly circle above it.  Perhaps there is a wreck ahead, but 2011 did not reveal where it would come from.  In 2011 our industry seemed above the economic climate that continued to derail the spirit of the business world as much as it had the material. 

Government & Military Satcom Market to Face Reduced Budgets but Increasing Demand

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass., December 13, 2011--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.

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Is there a Future for Telcos?

Dublin, Ireland,  December 6, 2011- 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.

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DTH Operators Beat Expectations, Find the Right Combination of Packages and Services to Continue Subscriber Growth into 2020

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass. November 29, 2011--NSR’s Global Direct-to-Home (DTH) Markets, 4th Edition study finds the DTH market continues to drive satellite demand and revenue worldwide amidst a troubling economic climate and increasing competition. DTH services utilized 950 Ku-Band 36 MHz Transponder Equivalents (TPEs) in 2010. In the same year, DTH platforms delivered almost 16,900 SD, HD, and 3D television channels to nearly 140 million subscribers, and generated over $75 billion in subscription revenues.

GVF Launches Campaign to Protect Ka-Band in Preparation for WARC 2012

Washington, D.C. November 18, 2011--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. The centrepiece of the campaign is the “White Paper for National Regulators on Satellite Services in the Ka-Band.” The GVF’s Regulatory Working Group (RWG) finalized the White Paper in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union’s 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WARC), where the world’s governments will meet in Geneva, Switzerland to consider how best to allocate and manage spectrum in all three of the ITU’s Regions.

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U.S. Passenger Aircraft Satellite Connectivity is Flying High

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass., November 9, 2011-In announcing on November 7 that it would outfit its entire fleet of aircraft with Ku-band connectivity by 2015, United/Continental Holdings confirmed a trend underlining NSR’s aeronautical market forecast for the next ten years: connectivity to commercial passenger planes is here to stay. After agreeing to previous incarnations only to drop orders in the wake of major financial difficulties post-9/11, U.S. airlines are stepping back on the bridge to connectivity and not just for regional routes but overseas routes as well.

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Internet and the Future of Satellite

by Robert Bell

New York City, November 3, 2011-- As interactivity becomes an essential component of the television experience, how will it affect the satellite business? For one thing, there is the lingering concern that, sooner or later, a ubiquitous high-speed Internet will take over many of the applications currently delivered via satellite.

Satellite Video and IPTV Gaining Fast on Cable Video

Campbell, Calif., November 2, 2011--The global pay TV market, including telco IPTV, cable and satellite video services, totaled $125 billion in the first half of 2011  and is forecast by Infonetics Research to grow to $353 billion by 2015. according toits Pay TV Services and Subscribers report, which forecasts and analyzes the telco Internet protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services markets.

Satellite Operators Buck Global Economic Malaise

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass., November 2, 2011--NSR's Global Assessment of Satellite Supply & Demand, 8th Edition study, released today, indicates that satellite operators continue to buck the global economic malaise. In 2010 global satellite operators saw a strong revenue increase of over US$550 million, derived from the lease of commercial satellite capacity. NSR projects that by 2020 capacity leasing revenues will reach US$17.2 billion, up from US$10.1 billion in 2010.

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Online Video Now Reach 50 Percent of Total U.S. Population Each Month

Reston, VA, October 24, 2011-comScore, Inc. released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 182 million U.S. Internet users, nearly  50% of the U.S. population, watched online video content in September  for an average of 19.5 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in 39.8 billion video views.

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