In January 2012, an agreement to buy shares in the U.S. Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) was signed by Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The agreement enables immediate access to WGS capacity in exchange for financing the WGS-9 spacecraft. Moreover, a WGS-10 satellite is expected to be contracted soon.

by Martin Jarrold

London, February 1, 2012--Taking place on the second (29thFebruary) and third (1stMarch) days of CABSAT 2012, at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center (DICEC), is GVF MENASAT @ CABSAT, which this year will comprise the Satellite Interference Mitigation Forum, and the Satellite Markets & Services Summit.

In contrast to recent military shows like MILCOM in Baltimore last November and last  year’s WEST show, there is more of a cautious optimism over the impending defense budget cuts now that it’s inevitability has  more or less sunked in.

The Fall 2011 IPTV Market Leader Report from MRG, Inc., is now tracking over 934 IPTV Operators globally, an increase from 913 just six months ago, and revealing over 50 million IPTV subscribers worldwide. “Although the MLR only tracks pure-play IPTV deployments worldwide, it clearly reflects that IPTV Operators are using other hybrid delivery methods including satellite, digital terrestrial and over-the-top (OTT) Internet services to complement their IPTV offerings or expand into new regions and markets,” says Jose Alvear, MRG Senior Analyst.

VSAT operator service revenues grew by 14 per cent to $5.2 billion globally in 2011 according to the 12th Edition of he COMSYS VSAT Report. The VSAT Report is the result of over twelve months of research, involving site visits and interviews with companies from Australia to Argentina and from Pakistan to Peru.

Key findings of the report include:

When The UK Government announced support to finance half of SSTL’s newest radar satellite, it confirmed a trend NSR has seen cropping up in recent times: smaller satellites are gaining ground in both optical and now in SAR markets.As more manufacturers are looking to address this market with finer ground resolution and smaller satellites at a lower cost (£200 million for four 300 kg. SSTL radar satellites), the effect is likely to be a reduction in the cost of data at the end user side.

The World Teleport Association announced the release of its newest report, How to Reduce Costs and Optimize Use of the Local Loop. The report shares the best practices of teleport operators for managing local connectivity, where costs, quality and availability can have a significant impact on business operations and financial results.

Reports indicate that Iran in the "near future" will start enriching uranium deep inside a mountain to conduct sensitive atomic activities at an underground site for better protection against enemy attacks. The U.S. and Israel are not ruling out strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute.

High-quality marine VSAT terminal deployments are being facilitated through the collaboration of three leading industry organizations on a global online training program. The Global VSAT Forum (GVF), Sea Tel, and SatProf have announced that they will jointly launch a web-based training platform at www.gvf.org/training that enables faster, more cost-effective delivery of operation and installation training for personnel who either utilize or deploy Sea Tel marine VSAT terminals.

According to the GSM Association (GSMA), mobile penetration in the Asia Pacific will reach a landmark three billion connections in Q1 2012, nearly two years earlier than projected. More importantly, by 2015, the region is expected to reach 4.1 billion connections, growing at twice the rate of Europe and North America, and will account for 40% of mobile data traffic worldwide.