Market Trends

Amman, Jordan, January 3, 2013--Up until the booming era of free to air satellite TV, terrestrial TV was the main source of entertainment and information for people in the Arab World. Today, local terrestrial TV stations are still alive in the region, although the boom in the supply of free satellite TV channels in the Arab region seems to have stifled the terrestrial TV landscape.

New York City,  January 2, 2013-Fixed broadband in Asia still dominated by the North Asia players as the other markets try hard to close the 'digital gap. 'The energetic expansion of broadband was for a long time a phenomenon limited to the developed economies, with narrowband dial-up access being the norm in the majority of the poorer developing countries of the region, according to a new report entitled "Asia Fixed Broadband and Internet Market Forecasts. "

London, UK,  December 5, 2012--Informa Telecoms and Media forecasts that the OTT video market will be worth over US$37 billion in 2017. However, advertising will still be a larger revenue-generator than subscriptions in the OTT-video market in 2017, highlighting its continued immaturity. Although US$37 billion is an eye-catching number, OTT remains a small proportion of total TV and video revenues.

London, UK, December 4, 2012--COMSYS released the thrid edition of its Maritime VSAT report. The report projects vigorous growth in the maritime VSAT market, forecasting that the number of vessels in service will double by 2016, bringing the total number of VSATs in service to more than 26,000. Market revenue expanded 9% in 2010 and 2011 and is now close to $1 billion, due to increased demand for bandwidth.

Amman, Jordan, November 29, 2012--A new report, entitled “Privatization Levels in Arab Cellular Markets” was released by the Arab Advisors Group analyzing the ownership structure and revenues of all cellular operators in fifteen Arab countries. The analysis aimed at examining the "actual" level of privatization and state ownership in each country measured by the proportionate share of each operator of total cellular market revenues. The analysis revealed that the Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti cellular markets are the most privatized markets.

Singapore, November 29, 2012--CASBAA and international media and technology law firm Olswang today launched Singapore's first online directory of digital content available from legitimate sources. The pilot directory is available to all at finddigitaltv.com and allows users to search for content by genre, device or just search for content that is free. The directory is being launched in tandem with “Digital, Legal and Anywhere – TV in Singapore Today”, a new report showcasing the varied and abundant audio-visual content available through non-traditional media platforms and delivery mechanisms in Singapore.

London, UK, November 28, 2012 – Over 220 million Smart TV sets will be sold worldwide in 2017, up from the 54 million that will be sold in 2012, according to Informa Telecoms & Media’s latest Smart TV device forecasts. 31% of households worldwide will own at least one Smart TV in five years time, according to Informa, with household penetration much higher in North America (63%) and Western Europe (64%).

Frisco, Tex., November 27, 2012  – New research from TDG finds that 13% of broadband subscribers – some 11 million households – do not subscribe to cable-like pay-TV services. TDG’s latest report entitled " PayTV Refugees: A Primary Profile of Cord Cutters and Cord Nevers, "offers a detailed profile of this small but growing segment of home entertainment consumers.

Lagos, Nigeria, November 26, 2012--Nigeria's telecoms and IT sector has proven to have massive growth potential in the coming years; but the country must first overcome a number of key industry challenges before the sector can fulfil its potential. One of the largest challenges is the lack of reliable power supply to the region; however, deficiencies in ICT infrastructure must continue to be addressed. Software piracy remains evidently rampant within the country as per a recent study released; the commercial value of unlicensed software installed in 2011 represented an 82% rate of piracy, nearly double the global rate of 42%.