Market Trends

 The issue of inadequate bandwidth in the world very small aperture terminal (VSAT) market has experienced a conflicting impact: a spurt in service revenues and, simultaneously, a dip in the sales of equipment or hardware. VSAT providers, while pleased with the hike in service revenues, are wary of pricing many potential, cost-sensitive VSAT users out of the market.  

The World Teleport Association announced the release of a new report, What Customers Want. A product of interviews conducted by WTA with senior decision-makers for teleport and satellite customers in the media and entertainment sector, the report explores the thinking process of key buyers in North America and Europe as they are likely to affect their purchases of services and technology from teleport operators and their space segment partners.

by  Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief

Los Angeles, Calif., April  1, 2010--Today, Africa is one of the fastest growing markets for telecommunications and satellite services. The African satellite market is estimated to have grown in the last few years as much as twice more than the global average of 6-7 percent and looks to accelerate that growth in this new decade.  

After reaching around 4.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions by the end of 2009, ITU expects the number of mobile cellular subscriptions globally to reach five billion in 2010, driven by advanced services and handsets in developed countries and increased take-up of mobile health services and mobile banking in the developing world.

As High-Definition (HD) video has hit its stride worldwide, the TV and film industry are looking ahead to the next new thing. 3D TV and Ultra-HD (UHD) are on the horizon, according to market research firm, In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com).

by NSR

In announcing in its recent budget request that it would buy 50 more UAVs of the extended range category, the Pentagon sent a strong signal to the satellite industry that more communications-on-the-move (COTM) for UAVs would be needed in the coming years.

by NSR

Recent news items from around the world give a strong indication as to the path that governments will follow in procuring satellite capacity in the coming years. The issue at hand is finding an answer to the ever increasing demand for bandwidth, and the solutions lies either with commercial satellites or a growing number of government-owned platforms. This means the impact on commercial operators’ revenues for government bulk leasing is at risk of declining.

 Euroconsult announced that growth in the satellite pay-TV market remained strong in 2009 despite the global economic downturn. According to the just released 4th edition of "Satellite TV Platforms, World Survey & Prospects to 2019, Growth through the Crisis", the number of TV Platforms in service increased to 113 in 2009 (+38% in three years). Pay TV platforms combined currently reach 131 million subscribers and earned $70 billion revenues in 2009.