The satellite industry, or at least the overwhelming majority that were still in business or were still employed at the start of the new year, breathed a collective sigh of relief for having survived 2009--one of the worst years since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The industry can take heart that not only has it survived 2009--it has gone through an entire decade in a better position than it started.

The Society of Satellite Professionals International released December 17, 2009 the results of its first member survey. The report, "The Satellite Industry Workforce 2009," reveals some surprising and a few not so surprising results based on responses from SSPI members around the world.

Key findings of the report, include:

· The satellite industry is not a "graying" business. The age distribution of satellite professionals is remarkably even, with 43% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 39 and 80% of respondents under the age of 54.

With the introduction of digital TV a new way of video transport and delivery has emerged, using the Internet Protocol (IP). Video over IP is a general term to describe the use of IP in any or all stages of video transport to the subscriber (or end-customer). This has to be distinguished from the term IPTV, which means specifically the delivery of video as an IP stream to the subscriber set-top box or TV set. All digital video today that is broadcast, transported over satellite or distributed in cable systems is using the MPEG transport stream (TS) communications protocol.

My previous column for this publication focused on the oil and gas exploration and production sector, with particular reference to the increasing attention of the energy industry on deepwater and ultra-deepwater hydrocarbon reserves which now appear to be much more abundant than was thought ten years ago.

 The Asia-Pacific IPTV subscriber base is expected to grow by 51 percent in 2009 to close at 9.4 million users and account for 37.6 percent of the global subscribers.

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) revealed at their annual conference held in Hong Kong November 3rd, new data for subscription TV penetration across the Asia Pacific, noting that the region now has 326 million pay-TV in 2009, up 26 million homes from last year.

According to CASBAA estimates, , subscription television in Asia Pacific now reaches more homes than the rest of the world (ROW) combined. Digital pay-TV subscription households now account for over 115 million homes.

ITU’s latest statistics, published in The World in 2009: ICT facts and figures, reveal rapid ICT growth in many world regions in everything from mobile cellular subscriptions to fixed and mobile broadband, and from TV to computer penetration - with mobile technology acting as a key driver.

While 3DTV has its skeptics, the giants in the consumer electronics industry see huge potential, according to a new report from GigaOM Pro. As HDTV manufacturers face shrinking margins and a maturing market, big players like Sony and Panasonic see 3DTV as the way to rejuvenate their TV business. While the market is only in its infancy today, by 2013 up to 46 million 3DTV capable flat-panel HDTVs will head to consumer homes.

By 2014, 84 percent of all pay-TV net additions will come from emerging markets, however a successful pay-TV VoD service in these markets will depend on a variety of factors, according to a new report by Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

by Martin Jarrold, Chief, International Programs Development, GVF

Deployment of broadband satellite technologies is correctly recognized as an imperative to maximization of cutting-edge digital oilfield applications and to considerations of cost-effectiveness – it is a force multiplier, enabling return on investment, as well as facilitating mission critical communications links.