The World Teleport Association (WTA) announced its rankings of the Top Teleport Operators of 2010, providing a unique look into the diverse teleport sector of the global communications industry. Rankings are reported in three categories: the Independent Top Twenty, the Global Top Twenty, and the Fast Twenty.

The Independent Top Twenty

As illustrated by the inclusion of such subject matter as ‘Cloud Computing and Future Oil & Gas Industry Networking’; and, ‘Commercial Applications in the Oil & Gas Sector Context: Helping Developers Get on the Satellite Wavelength’; to ‘Building-Out the Hybrid Opportunity: Evolving Regional Broadband Satellite-Wireless Integrated Solution Deployments’, and ‘Satellite in MENA: The Future is Ka...‘, the GVF “Event Horizon” over the next several months can be characterized as having both vertical market-related and horizontal market-related elements.

Military satellite market just a few years ago was one of the fastest growing segments of the satellite communications industry.  However, a global economic downturn and de-escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and South West Asia coupled with changing warfighter requirements have had a profound effect on the future of military satellite communications.

The global satellite industry is usually viewed as an extremely competitive and sometimes cutthroat business.  Market share; revenue growth; market capitalization; and EBITDA compete for the attention of owners, management, and the investor community.  However, there is a revolution going on supporting the idea that you can “do well by doing good;” that these measures of business success can be positively impacted by a thoughtful commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

There were three recurring themes running through the Comsys VSAT Conference in London: helping close the digital divide, Mobility – Maritime in particular and integrated service provision. 

The Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) operators have all weathered the financial crisis and even managed to continue to grow their businesses in 2009 and are continuing to grow in the first half of 2010. However, the big question is: “What is their next act?"

Eutelsat Communications announced the key highlights of its two-yearly survey of television reception by satellite and cable homes.

First conducted  in 1994 and covering Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the key objective of the survey is to measure the trends of three main indicators in the broadcasting market:

Last year in Paris the mood was very upbeat with collective sighs of relief that compared to the rest of the world the satellite industry had escaped the recession comparatively unscathed. This year, while still very positive, the mood was more balanced with a recognition that at least for the manufacturers the peak order rates for commercial geostationary satellites (GEOs) of the last few years are not going to be repeated as the major operators have now largely completed their replacement cycles.

The satellite industry is taking a positive step forward in supporting the maritime community through the creation of the GVF Maritime Satcom Forum. This new working group, being spearheaded by the GVF, includes the top manufacturers, network operators and service providers in the industry.

Britons who already own a high definition television set (HDTV) are more than twice as likely to buy a 3D television within the next twelve months as those who have not yet bought an HDTV, according to a survey of 700 UK consumers just completed by analyst firm Strategy Analytics. These findings challenge the commonly held assumption that people who have already bought an HDTV are not likely to upgrade to a new 3DTV set any time soon.