News Analysis

IPTV now Serves more than 50 million Customers Worldwide

London, UK, September 27, 2011--The Broadband and IPTV Growth Report presented at the Broadband World Forum in Paris, shows that broadband continued to show healthy growth in the first half of 2011. Prepared for the Broadband Forum by industry analysts Point Topic, the figures reveal the broadband subscriber total at the end of June 2011 is now standing at 557.8 million subscriber lines, up by over 29M lines since the start of this year. The second quarter outperformed the same period last year, continuing the trend of stronger growth set in the first quarter’s results announced in June. The good news in broadband was compounded with the news that IPTV has passed a milestone: 51M customers now subscribe to IPTV services worldwide, with France in the lead as top IPTV country.

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40 Percent of Pay TV Cord Cutters Would Pay More for A La Carte

Boston, MA - September 20, 2011 –Collectively, US Pay TV providers lost 400,000 subscribers in the second quarter—their single worst period in over three years. Cable TV took the brunt of the hit, though Satellite operators were not left unscathed. While much of the subscriber loss can be attributed to traditional economic churners—“deal seekers” looking for a cheaper price—the percentage of those who say they’re giving up on Pay TV altogether is not abating, according to recent research from Strategy Analytics.

Mobile Internet Users will Overtake Fixed Users by 2013

Montpellier, France, September 19, 2011--IDATE has just published its “World Internet Usages & Markets” report. This report provides data and forecasts on Internet services markets – usage and revenue, by country and region – and is structured around the following key services: search engines, social networking, e-commerce, video and online advertising, both fixed and mobile. It covers Europe, North America and Asia, and analyses both the major trends in each segment and the market’s key players.

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GEO Launch Supply: Clouds above Two Launch Pads

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass, September 6, 2011--In NSR’s recently released Global Satellite Manufacturing and Launch Markets (GSMLM) report, a possible GEO Launcher over-supply, and thus the return to strong competition, was mentioned as a possibility in the launch market. However, recent developments from ILS/Krunichev and SpaceX may end up limiting the supply and the corresponding competition.

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What Enterprise Customers Really Want

The enterprise customer is the most attractive yet elusive for the satellite service provider 

by Robert Bell

New York, NY, September 2, 2011- The satellite communications market is a stool standing on three legs.  There is the media and entertainment leg, for which satellite provides a uniquely cost-effective, one-to-many solution.  There is the government and military leg, where satellite’s primary advantage is its ability to go places where terrestrial alternatives are unreliable or nonexistent.  And there is the enterprise leg, serving all other kinds of organizations.  Of the three legs of the stool, the enterprise market is in some ways the most attractive but also the most elusive.

Brazil: The World’s most Dynamic Pay TV Market

Middlesex, UK, August 25, 2011--According to a new report from Digital TV Research, rapid expansion meant that Brazilian DTH subscriptions overhauled cable as the most popular platform with considerable panache during the first six months of 2011. Further change is ahead as the government will soon amend legislation to allow telco to offer full IPTV services.

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U.S. Space Lead Erodes for Fourth Straight Year As Middle-Tier Nations Ascend

Bethesday, MD, August 15, 2011--Russia, China, Japan and India are among the countries challenging the US in Space leadership according to the fourth annual Space Competitiveness Index Report by Futron.

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More Challenging Environment Ahead for the Satellite Communications Industry

Growth still robust in a number of segments and regions according to new Euroconsult report

Paris, August 11, 2011– According to Euroconsult’s just-published report “Satellite Communications & Broadcasting Markets Survey, Forecasts to 2020,” the fixed satellite sector grew both in terms of transponder demand (+4.4%) and revenue, which reached $10.8 billion in 2010. However, this is set against a backdrop of slowing growth rates and a more challenging business environment in the next several years. Euroconsult nevertheless maintains an overall positive outlook for the future of the satellite sector with television broadcasting and emerging markets continuing to drive growth and high throughput satellite (HTS) capacity systems contributing to growth as well.

The Military Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Market

by Michelle Elbert

Los Angeles, Calif., August 4, 2011--Government and military clients are looking to meet global challenges yet spend more efficiently. In the US, deficit-reduction efforts have caused DoD and its various branches to make serious changes in how it acquires goods and services.

 

Writing on the Wall: VSAT Services Making More Waves in the Maritime Market

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass, August 1, 2011--Back in 2007, NSR viewed the longer term outlook in the maritime segment likely to “benefit products in Ku- and C-band ultimately and provide stronger competition to L-band services...”, recognizing that VSAT flat monthly fees with Mbps data rates provided a more predictable return-on-investment than the traditional MSS pay-per-byte model. Then Inmarsat on July 1, 2011 announced new rates that seem to go counter to this view and could drive a growing base of the smaller boat community towards the flat, predictable VSAT service fees.

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