News Analysis

Mobile Internet will Account for 25% of Service Revenues in China and 19% in India

Singapore, April 5, 2012--Mobile Internet will account for 25% of China’s mobile revenues in 2012, up from less than 23% in 2011. In India, mobile Internet will represent 19% of this year’s service revenue. While the figures demonstrate the robust demand for mobile data across the Asia-Pacific, they still pale in comparison to the region’s more advanced markets like Japan (40%) and Hong Kong (44%).

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2011 TV Shipments Fall After Six Consecutive Years of Growth

Santa Clara, Calif., March 14, 2012--In 2011 worldwide TV shipments fell for the first time since NPD DisplaySearch began tracking global TV shipments in 2004, slipping 0.3% to 247.7M units. As reported in the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, LCD TV shipments increased by 7% to just over 205M units in 2011—a substantial slowdown from the double digit growth in previous years. With plasma TV shipments declining almost 7% in 2011 to 17.2M units, the largest decline yet, and CRT shipments falling 34%, LCD growth was not enough to offset these declines.

Broadband for the Bush

by Elisabeth Tweedie, Associate Editor

Los Angeles, Calif., March 6, 2012-- After more than four years of discussion, debate and deliberation in February of this year the Australian government’s NBN Co. Ltd. signed a contract for two Ka-Band satellites to deliver broadband to the three percent of Australian households and enterprises that are located out of the reach of fiber and terrestrial wireless.  This was a landmark decision both for Australia and for the satellite industry as a whole as it marks the first time that a government has so wholeheartedly endorsed satellite as a means of providing broadband connectivity; something that last year the UN in its Broadband Challenge declared to be a “human right”.

Indonesia: A Market to Watch

Hong Kong,  March 2, 2012 – Indonesia’s pay-TV market is taking off, speakers told a capacity crowd of delegates at CASBAA’s Indonesia in View: Growing Pay TV forum, held in Jakarta on February 29th. With more than 2 million paying subscribers at the beginning of 2012, a host of new distribution platforms coming online, and strong economic fundamentals, Indonesia is looking to become one of Asia’s fast-growth TV success stories.

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Intelsat Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

Luxembourg, March 1, 2012-- Satellite operator Intelsat S.A. reported revenue of US $652.9 million and a net loss of $3.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011. The company also reported Intelsat S.A. EBITDAi, or earnings before net interest, loss on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization, of $495.5 million, and Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDAi of $514.6 million, or 79 percent of revenue, for the three months ended December 31, 2011.

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The Global MSS Market to Grow At A CAGR Of 9.33 Percent from 2012-2014

Dublin, Ireland, March 1, 2012--The Global Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) market wiill grow at A CAGR Of 9.33 percent over the 2012-2014 period according to a new Research and Markets report entitled ""Global Mobile Satellite Services Market 2011-2014."    One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is demand of data services. The Global MSS market has also been witnessing increasing investment in satellite programs. However, the migration of subscribers to other services and decreasing profit could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

Key vendors dominating this market space include Inmarsat, Iridium, Globalstar, Thuraya and ORBCOMM.

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153 countries Sign Treaty Governing Spectrum and Satellite orbits at WARC 2012

Geneva, Switzerland, February 17, 2012--The World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12)  concluded its deliberations today with the signing of the Final Acts that revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.Over 3000 participants, representing 165 out of ITU’s 193 Member States attended the four-week Conference, braving the extreme winter conditions prevailing in Geneva. Over 100 Observers from among ITU’s 700 private sector members along with international organizations also attended WRC-12.

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Thaicom Reports 2011 Results

Nonthaburi, Thailand, February 16, 2012--Satellite operator THAICOM Public Company Limited (released its full-year 2011 operating results reporting  consolidated net operating profits for a second quarter in a row of 46 million Baht  (US$ 1.45 million), an increase of 186.7% over the previous quarter’s consolidated net operating profit of 16 million Baht (US$ 520,000) . The overall performance for the year, with a net loss of 130 million Baht (US$ 4.23 million)  carried over from the first half of the year, on normalized business operations, was an 83.9% improvement over the previous year’s results, when a loss of 806 million Baht (US$ 26.24 million) was recorded.

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SingTel Posts Fourth Consecutive Quarterly Decline in Net Profit

Singapore, February 14, 2012--SingTel posted 9.6% decline in net profit to S $ 902 million  (US$ 715 million) for the third quarter 2011 covering October to December 2011.  The company has posted a net profit of S$ 998 million  (US$ 792 million) for the same period a year ago.  This was the fourth consecutive quarter that SingTel has posted a decline in its net profit.

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Global Fixed Broadband Revenue Expected to Generate $191 Billion in 2012

Singapore, February 9, 2012--Strong growth in both subscription and service revenue propelled the global fixed broadband market during 2011. Significant subscriber additions last year were made by all fixed platforms: DSL, cable, and optical fiber. In some countries with a high penetration of DSL broadband service, the DSL subscriber base declined slightly, but it was offset by the growth in optical fiber subscriptions, acording to ABI Research.

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