Mobile Satellite Services Sector Enters Heavy Launch Phase amidst Financial and Economic Uncertainty

ITU launched its key Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Report for the Asia-Pacific region at ITU TELECOM ASIA 2008, which got under way  in Bangkok, Thailand, September 1. The Report focuses on broadband connectivity as a vehicle for content to drive development and build a knowledge-based information society.

NSR released findings from its latest report, Mobile TV and Mobile Video, 2nd Edition - A Complete 360-degree Analysis,  on September 9, 2008. The report examines market and technology trends influencing mobile TV stakeholders' participation and provides regional forecasts for broadcast and unicast distribution.

Inmarsat’s new, Fleet Broadband services is facing never anticipated competition.  Its huge investment in its i4 satellite system and its revenue stream are being challenged by the proliferation of Ku Band deep ocean coverage and new hybrid VSAT/L Band solutions as well as by Iridium’s new OpenPort service. For those merchant shipping users that demand high capacity broadband, typically large fleet owners, rising demand for fixed priced broadband is making Inmarsat’s “pay-by-the-byte” services unaffordable at high usage levels and price-challenged at low usage levels.

The IMS Research study The Worldwide Market for High-Definition TV Equipment & Services – 2008 Edition estimates that 45 million households worldwide received HDTV service via DTH, cable, IPTV and DTT at the end of 2007 with approximately the same number of HDTV sets shipping during the year. IMS Research forecasts that 255 million TV households worldwide will be watching HDTV by the end of 2013, including video households viewing only pre-recorded non-broadcast programs.

At the ISCe 2008 conference and exhibition the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today released its 2008 State of the Satellite Industry Report, showing a 16 percent growth in global revenues for the commercial satellite industry.  Worldwide revenues in 2007 were $123 billion, representing an average annual growth of 11.5 percent for the period from 2002-2007. 

In the wake of personal navigation devices' success, cellular carriers have started to offer on-board and off-board navigation solutions, as well as a range of LBS (Location Based Services) such as friend finder and local search on GPS handsets. Community and social-networking-related functionality, such as the sharing of POIs (Points of Interest) and geo-tagged pictures, is also becoming popular and is expected to boost GPS-enabled handset uptake as carriers, handsets manufacturers, and service providers look to capitalize on the LBS trend.

While the European Mobile TV market is on the verge of significant growth, it still faces problems related to the efficient transmission and distribution of Mobile TV services. This being the case, recent and emerging studies have clearly shown the use of satellite technologies for Mobile TV services to be a sensible and cost-effective solution. Hence, the use of satellite services can be expected to significantly aid the sustainable growth in spread, quality and reliability of mobile TV service offerings.

While the European Mobile TV market is on the verge of significant growth, it still faces problems related to the efficient transmission and distribution of Mobile TV services. This being the case, recent and emerging studies have clearly shown the use of satellite technologies for Mobile TV services to be a sensible and cost-effective solution. Hence, the use of satellite services can be expected to significantly aid the sustainable growth in spread, quality and reliability of mobile TV service offerings.

IPTV continues to offer a mix of opportunities and challenges. As telecoms sprint to become video network operators, broadcast, media, and satellite companies everywhere are placing their bets on what’s around the corner.

In the cable sector, Comcast and other companies are building up their network capacity and CableLabs’ DOCSIS 3.0 with 160 Mbs channel bonding enables a new level of IP video services. Telecoms such as Verizon have become veterans at delivering TV services over hundreds of video, music and HD channels. Their FiOS business reached 1.5M subscribers last year.