CASBAA’s first Forum of 2013 lifted the covers off the emerging market of Myanmar. Held in Singapore on February 27, 2013, the Myanmar in View forum attracted over 100 delegates and speakers eager to explore the opportunities and pitfalls of the multichannel TV industry in the country.

“We were extremely encouraged by the tremendous turn-out and reception for the Forum,” said Christopher Slaughter, CEO, CASBAA. “This tells us that there is great interest in doing business with Myanmar and that people are hungry for information about the market.”

For most satellite service providers and teleports, satellite capacity is the single largest Operating Expense (OPEX) cost item and is therefore key to their profitability. This is traditionally also one of the most difficult cost elements to manage, especially for service providers who provide data services for VSAT and trunking.

The launch of the first commercial communications satellite (Intelsat1, nicknamed “Early Bird”) on 06 April 1965, the commercial satellite industry has seen declining technology risks but still remains fraught with many business risks. It is a capital-intensive industry with high barriers to entry. An aspiring satellite operator faces the difficult decision of investing hundreds of millions of dollars up to three years before the satellite takes its flight and stabilizes in its orbital slot.

Intelsat S.A. reported it suffered a net loss of $146.6 million on revenue of $2,610.2 million in 2012. The company reported EBITDA of $1,940.6 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of $2,016.5 million, or 77 percent of revenue, for 2012. 

Intelsat posted revenue of $672.4 million and a net loss of $3.7 million in the last quarter of 2012.  The company EBITDA, or earnings before net interest, loss on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization, was $520 million, while its Adjusted EBITDA was $516.5 million, or 77 percent of revenue, in the last quarter. 

As India hurtles towards inevitable digitisation, the intricacies of broadcasting are becoming ever more apparent. The CASBAA India Forum 2013, on March 7 in New Delhi, brings into focus the disparate voices of various television industry stakeholders, who each have an interest in a thriving India.

For the first time, delegates from both the CommunicAsia2013 Summit and BroadcastAsia2013 International Conference will be participating in a two-part visionary address on 19 June 2013. The first is the Governmental Visionary Address by the Minister for Technology, State Government of Victoria, Australia, The Hon. Gordon Rich-Phillips. This is followed by the Industry Visionary Address by Mr. Karim Temsamani, Head of Asia Pacific, Google.

Bob Zitter, EVP and CTO of Home Box Office (HBO) and Daniel Danker, General Manager of On Demand at the BBC, leading industry players in the OTT space, are set to deliver keynotes at next month’s TV Connect in London. The conference and exhibition, now in its ninth year, has evolved to reflect the changing nature of the converging connected entertainment ecosystem, which increasingly looks towards services, content and user-experience, rather than just technology, to drive the market.

Ultra HD or what is also called 4KTV was the buzz at the CES show in Las Vegas this year.  With its high bandwidth requirements, Ultra HD has the potential to be the next big user of satellite services.   NSR's Jose del Rosario believes the market push for Ultra HD is expected to be led by three key regions of the globe, notably North America, Western Europe and East Asia, home to the wealthiest in terms of household disposable income levels and pay-TV households.

Arabsat has signed an agreement with the Hellenic Telecommunication Organization (OTE;), one of the largest telecom groups in South Eastern Europe, for the acquisition of its 99.05% equity participation in Hellas-Sat Consortium Ltd.The share purchase agreement was signed upon an aggregate consideration of €208 million  (US$ 280 mil).

The purchase price represents 99.05%, of:

• An enterprise value of Hellas-Sat, amounting to €157 million, which corresponds to 7 times the EBITDA of Hellas Sat for 2012, and

As part of a broader initiative to prevent signal interference, GVF today announced that it is working with the organizers of Cabsat in Dubai to highlight satellite communications equipment that has been tested and approved in co-ordination with a global product-certification initiative.

There are a total of 6 exhibitors with approved products at Cabsat. Those technologies will have demonstrated compliance with GVF-coordinated industry standards, which encourage integrity in equipment design, production, and performance.