Europe, Middle East and Africa Markets

The International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that 3.2 billion people, or 44% of the world's population, will have access to the Internet in 2016. Of this number, more than 2 billion will be using mobile devices to do so. But what are the world's Internet users doing online?

The 22nd edition of CABSAT - the leading platform for the broadcast, production, content delivery, digital media and satellite sectors across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) - will continue to drive disruptive innovation and monetisation opportunities across the MENA filmed & audio entertainment media market.

SpeedCast International Limited today announced it has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of NewCom International a satellite communications service provider specializing in the South and Central American regions.  The acquisition opens a new growth frontier for SpeedCast in a region where satellite is widely used and SpeedCast did not have a direct presence.  The acquisition will strengthen SpeedCast’s capabilities to serve and support its customers globally, including in the important and growing South American market.

NSR’s newest report, Polar Satellite Markets, released today, finds a growth market for Arctic and Antarctic satellite communications, supported via a range of applications, orbits, and frequency bands all serving to build value in this nascent region.  Driven mainly by telephony/trunking and video, NSR projects the polar satcom market reaching $ 447 million by 2024.

Over-the-top (OTT) TV will be a big hit for consumers this Christmas, with 52% of viewers around the world planning to use an online TV service during the festive season. This is according to a new Research Now study, commissioned by Paywizard, the expert in subscriber management for pay-TV. But, although a hit at Christmas, operators like Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix will lose many of their festive gains, with 45% of subscribers planning to cancel their subscriptions immediately or within six months.

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), today announced it has signed a binding offer to acquire Thomson Video Networks (TVN). Under the terms of the offer which is in the form of a "put" option agreement, subject to the selling shareholders exercising the put option following a consultation process with TVN's employee works council in France, Harmonic would acquire all of TVN for approximately $75 million in cash plus up to $15 million in post-closing adjustments.

Parks Associates today announced results for its landmark consumer research project Connected Consumer in Europe, which surveyed broadband households in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and France to track adoption and future purchase plans of IoT, smart home, and connected entertainment solutions. The project found that approximately 9% of these Western European broadband households own at least one smart home device and 57% own at least one Internet-connected CE device.

NSR's Land-Mobile & SNG via Satellite, 3rd Edition (LMvS3) report forecasts commercial land-based satcom nearly doubling to reach $2.2 billion by the end of 2024.  Central to this growth projection are trends in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) connectivity, new form factors and HTS capacity significantly reducing bandwidth cost.  And for all markets, MSS players stand to support the lion’s share of market opportunity.

Launched today, the latest edition of the Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Mobility Report provides insight into the future of 5G networks, including a forecast of 150 million 5G mobile subscriptions by 2021.

South Korea, Japan, China and the US are predicted to lead with the first, and fastest, 5G subscription uptake. 5G will connect new types of devices, enabling new use cases related to the Internet of Things (IoT); the transition will open up new industries and verticals to ICT transformation.