There has been solid growth in the Earth Observation (EO) market in the past few years due to a strengthening of demand for civil government and military EO satellites and associated data. However, this reliance on government and military organizations distorts true market economics, as only a few large users such as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) provide the majority of revenues for U.S.-based operators according to NSR.

A  new report entitled “Two Worlds Connected: Consumer Electronics Meets Mobile Broadband” from the UMTS Forum predicts that there will be  one billion Consumer Electronics (CE) devices connected to mobile broadband networks by 2016. While the market for connected devices remains embryonic, the study argues that CE device connectivity will outstrip overall wireless market growth in the next five years. This trend is signalled by a wave of device categories – from e-Book readers to satnav devices – that are already demanding access to cellular networks.

Wellingborough, UK, Jan. 20, 2011--Preliminary results from the IMS Research study IPTV: A Global Market Analysis – 2011 Edition, reveal that the IPTV subscriber base in the emerging BRIC markets exceeds 8 million subscribers for 2010, with China dominating the figure.  A CAGR of 13% for BRIC is expected through the forecast period, which ends in 2015.

The Majority Deployed in North America and Europe

Bytemobile data shows that video became the dominant form of mobile data traffic in 2010 – accounting for more than 40 percent of the total volume in wireless networks worldwide. With the rise of full-length and studio-quality videos and live streaming of multimedia content on mobile devices – as well as the emergence of two-way video communications – Bytemobile expects mobile data traffic to spike to an all-time high in 2011.

Based on an analysis of data trends across its customers’ wireless networks, Bytemobile expects to see the following developments in the coming year:

Based on information from 875 IPTV Operators, where the total number of IPTV Operators have increased by 22 since Q2/2010, the rate of growth of global IPTVOperators continues at a rate of over 10 new Operators per quarter, with about 50% of those in North America.

While many regions and markets see video demand growth arrive in peaks and valleys, the constant and steady expansion of the Central & Eastern European video distribution and DTH segments has come with near clocklike regularity over the last five years (or more).  

The latest illustrations of this trend include:

Although mobile service revenue growth accelerated in 2010 as mobile operators benefitted from growing consumer spend after the recession, a similar boost in 2011 is unlikely. The Strategy Analytics Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS) service report, “Worldwide Cellular User Forecasts and 2011 Market Trends,” predicts revenue growth will slow to 4% in 2011 as the sector crawls toward the $1 trillion revenue mark.

Year on year growth rates of 6.7% have taken broadband subscription to 508,761,837 in the third quarter of 2010, according to figures prepared by Point Topic (http://www.point-topic.com) and announced today by the Broadband Forum in its Global Broadband and IPTV Industry Update. Over 14.3 million lines were added in the third quarter alone, representing 2.88% growth over the previous quarter.

It seems like a natural progression to bring the Internet to every possible consumer electronics device available today, and the television set is no exception. Not to be left behind, many a DTH provider has provisioned Ethernet ports in the next generation of STBs, although the software and strategy to provide enhanced services may still be a few years away. As expected, North America and Western Europe are leading this market as viewers in these regions become more particular about what content they want as well as where and when they want it.