News Analysis

by Elisabeth Tweedie, Associate Editor

London, December 14, 2011--Europe has certainly delivered more than its share of headline grabbing news this last year.  Most of it very negative and focused on the economic problems of some its member states.  In the satellite world while attention is being given to teleport consolidation and the potential impact on Satcoms resulting from troop withdrawal from the Middle East and Afghanistan the major headlines have centered around two topics: Navigation and Broadband.  On the whole the news has been more positive, even if laced with a hefty dose of skepticism at times.

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.

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.

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.

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.