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The experts are predicting a boom in the take-up and acceptance of mobile TV, and the Asia- Pacific region is going to lead the way. According to market research firm, RNCOS, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to account for around 67 percent of the global mobile TV subscribers by the end of 2013. That is a remarkable figure and evidence that, once again, the Asian market is driving and popularizing new innovation.

Set-top boxes are set to reach Asian consumers at an ever-increasing rate, according to new STB market data published by ABI Research. Overall STB shipments in the region, including those for cable, DBS, IPTV, and DTT television services, will approach 111 million in 2014, the culmination of a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in excess of 12% over the 2009-2014 period.

By Bruce Elbert, President, Application Technology Strategy, Inc.

Markets for satellite communications equipment and services have expanded to fill the gaps in terrestrial broadcasting and telecommunications networks. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Middle East, which is the focus of this article. Comprising this picture are satellite operators, such as Arabsat and Nilesat; teleport operators in particular countries such as Dubai, Egypt and Jordan; and service providers who utilize these facilities to deliver applications to their Middle Eastern customers. An example of the latter would be companies that provide Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services in a two way satellite communications format that use a particularly small dish (70 cm to 1.2 m) to transmit low bandwidth data such as credit card transactions and provide medium data rate Internet services. Satellite TV is a very important service for the region as it occupies most of the available satellite transponders in the region.