San Diego, CA, June 11, 2008--At the ISCe 2008 conference and exhibition the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today released its 2008 State of the Satellite Industry Report, showing a 16 percent growth in global revenues for the commercial satellite industry.  Worldwide revenues in 2007 were $123 billion, representing an average annual growth of 11.5 percent for the period from 2002-2007. 

by Dan Freyer

Its NAB time again, and as you read this many of us in the industry will be gearing up for that lovely confab in the city of lost wages. I have one recommendation: check out satellite HD, MPEG-4, transcoding, and DVB-S2 products.

by Howard Greenfield

IPTV continues to offer a mix of opportunities and challenges. As telecoms sprint to become video network operators, broadcast, media, and satellite companies everywhere are placing their bets on what’s around the corner.

Satellite-based broadband services—arguably the best way to get broadband access to hard-to-reach rural areas—could be serving nearly 1.3 million U.S. households by the beginning of 2012, market research provider Pike & Fischer (P&F) estimates. But that will represent only about 11 percent of total rural homes, P&F notes.

Satellite-based navigation is a very popular technology with consumers, and the upsurge in purchases of GPS (Global Positioning System) devices is fuelling a similar growth in the market for GPS receiver chipsets. A new study from ABI Research forecasts GPS IC shipments to reach one billion annually in 2013. Average Selling Prices (ASPs) will continue to fall, but the effect on vendors' revenue streams will be more than offset by this strong growth in volume.

 by Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief

With all the fears of a recession and a tightening financial market hanging over the satellite industry in 2008, one  particular market that has provided a good revenue stream for the industry in recent years may remain constant or even continue to grow. 

In its recently released study covering the entire commercial satellite transponder leasing sector, NSR projects that worldwide carriage of new standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) channels for all categories of television services will account for between 75% and 85% of C- and Ku-band transponder demand growth in most regions around the world. NSR projects in its Global Assessment of Satellite Demand, 4th Edition (GASD) report that approximately 1,750 additional SD channels and another 150 HD channels will be placed on commercial C- and Ku-band satellite payloads every year for the six-year period between 2006 and 2012. In fact, DTH services alone will contribute nearly 4,000 SD channels and just fewer than 500 HD channels by 2012 according to NSR’s latest industry forecasts.

IPTV uptake is increasing on a global scale as telcos develop compelling multi-play offerings to compete with cable and satellite operators. Infrastructure upgrades and strategic alliances between major industry players have enabled tier two and tier three telcos to deliver IPTV, leading to significant growth in rural markets. IMS Research forecasts that by 2012, over 52 million pay-TV subscribers worldwide will have adopted IPTV service with IP STB shipments growing nearly 30% annually during this time period.

By NSR
The word Mark Dankberg used on 8 January in describing the impact on ViaSat of their announcement of the new Viasat-1 satellite was "transformational". In many ways Viasat-1 has the potential to remake the company from a manufacturer of specialized satellite and wireless communications equipment to that of an infrastructure business that owns the underlying technological asset that gives rise to a large array of services, from consumer satellite broadband to mobile to video services possible.

Euroconsult’s recently published report “World Satellite Communications & Broadcasting Markets Survey, Market Forecasts to 2016,” finds that growth in the fixed satellite market continues at a healthy pace, driven largely by digital entertainment and, more specifically, emerging digital markets. Accelerated deployments of corporate networks, significant needs for military communications and the takeoff of broadband access also contributed to growth.