Bangkok, Thailand, January 29, 2008- Shin Broadband Internet (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (SBI), a subsidiary of Shin Satellite Plc., announced at the press conference at the Thaicom Satellite Station the launch of its new product called “Wiworld”, a mobile satellite antenna used to receive digital TV signals from a moving vehicle.

New Delhi, India, January 21, 2008 - Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. announced that it has received a new order from Bharti Airtel, India"s telecommunications operator, to supply a broadband satellite network which comprises more than 13,000 SkyEdge IP VSATs.

Tel Aviv, Israel, January 14, 2008.- Tel Aviv-based digital video networking solution provider Scopus Video Networks announced the appointment of Dr. Adi Bonen to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

by Peter I. Galace
Asia’s satellite operators in 2008 are now coming to grips with the same market realities that clouded their horizon in 2006 and 2007: too many underutilized transponders, limited demand and falling transponder prices.

Bethesda, MD, January 8, 2008. - Satellite operator SAT-GE,announced the appointment of Vince Walisko to the position of VP Engineering. Walisko will be responsible for all aspects of engineering and sales engineering for SAT-GE, including satellite configuration, payload management, strategic supplier liaison and operations.

Long Beach, Calif., January 15 2008 – The third Geo-mobile satellite of Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecom Co. has been successfully launched by Sea Launch, January 15. Lifting off at 11:49 GMT from the Odyssey Launch Platform at 154 degrees West Longitude, the Zenit-3SL rocket placed the 5,173 kg (11,381 lb) Thuraya-3 satellite manufactured by Boeing into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Spacecraft separation occurred 99 minutes after liftoff, at 1,388 miles above the Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand. All systems performed nominally throughout the flight, according to Sea Launch.

By Bruce Elbert, President, Application Technology Strategy, Inc.
Markets for satellite communications equipment and services have expanded to fill the gaps in terrestrial broadcasting and telecommunications networks. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Middle East, which is the focus of this article. Comprising this picture are satellite operators, such as Arabsat and Nilesat; teleport operators in particular countries such as Dubai, Egypt and Jordan; and service providers who utilize these facilities to deliver applications to their Middle Eastern customers. An example of the latter would be companies that provide Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services in a two way satellite communications format that use a particularly small dish (70 cm to 1.2 m) to transmit low bandwidth data such as credit card transactions and provide medium data rate Internet services. Satellite TV is a very important service for the region as it occupies most of the available satellite transponders in the region.

Nonthaburi, Thailand. January 2, 2008. - Shin Satellite, operator of the IPSTAR satellite broadband system, announced that they have achieved a key milestone by delivering 100,000 IPSTAR User Terminals at the end of 2007. The IPSTAR User Terminal consists of the satellite modem and antenna and is used to send and receive high speed data at the end user site.