Broadband is the hot topic all around the world and the global satellite industry is responding to accelerating demand for frequency spectrum to satisfy the requirements for increasing Internet bandwidth from a wide range of end-users. Key end-users include the Corporate, Enterprise, Government, NGO, and Internet Service Provision sectors, as well as the satellite news gathering (SNG) segment, and the consumer sector.

The U.S. remains the overall leader in space competitiveness, but its relative position has declined for the fifth straight year

Futron Corporation announced the publication of the fifth-anniversary edition of the 2012 Space Competitiveness Index: A Comparative Analysis of How Countries Invest in and Benefit from Space Industry, an independent study of global space competitiveness.

The number of pay Direct to Home (DTH)  homes for 80 countries covered in a new report by Digital TV Research will be 220 million by end-2017, up from 154 million at end-2011 and 91 million at end-2007. India will lead the sector with 50.9 million pay DTH homes in 2017, followed by the US with 36.5 million. Russia (14.7 million) and Brazil (14.6 million) will take third and fourth places respectively.

The global volume of mobile data traffic will exceed 107 exabytes in 2017, shows a new forecast from ABI Research. This total traffic volume will be eight times more than what is expected for 2012. But how significant a growth rate would this represent, exactly?

Point Topic figures reveal North South digital divide is expanding 

Data published today by leading broadband research firm Point Topic shows that 13% of UK premises still can’t get broadband speeds higher than 2Mbps. As the UK continues to gain internet bandwidth and consumers, stubborn holes in the deployment and take-up around the country remain.

During the first half of 2012 subscribers to pay TV services in Brazil grew 14.5% compared to the same period last year, totaling 14.5 million subscribers, according to the Brazilina National Telecommunications Agency ANATEL (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicaciones).

Of that total, 58.1% subscriberd to Direct-t-Home (DTH) services , 40.6% cable television and the rest MMDS.

ICTs declared “engines of economic prosperity and sustainable development”

The ITU Connect Americas Summit wrapped up last week  with a declaration from Heads of State and Government from Latin America and the Caribbean aimed at mobilizing “the human, financial and technical resources needed to connect the unconnected and to strengthen the role of ICT as the engine of economic prosperity and sustainable development, as well as poverty reduction in the Americas region.”

Smart set-top boxes often garner less attention than other connected CE devices like TVs and game consoles – Apple has referred to its Apple TV as a “hobby” although it leads the market with around 4 million units shipped through 2011. Roku has had recent success (e.g. passing 2.5M units in 2011), but the future looks at the very least challenging for these dedicated streaming devices to break out of a niche status. TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, and even mobile devices are quickly conspiring to engender a very competitive market for the digital living room.

Globecomm Systems will be holding its annual Techforum event at the  company’s sprawling facility in Long Island, New York from August 6-7, 2012. This year’s event will include keynotes from David Kline, CTO, Viacom Media Networks and Bradley Blanken, Vice President, Rural Cellular Association as well as unique networking opportunities.

Key announcements slated for rollout of ICT and broadband

The Connect Americas Summit is set to open its doors on July 18  to push broadband connectivity in the region, enlisting the support of Heads of State and Government and Ministers along with Chief Executives and top-level management from the ICT industry, heads of United Nations and international development bodies, financial institutions as well as academics, media and industry analysts.