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?"

by NSR

Cambridge, MA, September 20, 2010-In 2010, the UN-HABITAT’s report, State of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Urban Divide found that the global population has reached its tipping point, a condition where populations are more urban than rural. Today, 50.6% live in urban areas, and the trend is irreversible. Increased urban populations may be taking away a vital market for satellite backhaul.

Since satellite backhaul is really a proposition for rural and underserved areas, population trends initially do not appear to favor satellite

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.

Asia’s Pay-TV industry players say new technologies such as IPTV and 3D TV offer the greatest untapped opportunity, according to the 2010 Asia-Pacific Pay TV Operators Survey jointly produced by Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA), a global strategic market intelligence and advisory group, and ContentAsia, an Asia-based information resource designed for everyone in the entertainment. The survey polled 35 pay TV operators and platforms across 14 countries in the Asia Pacific.

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.

As technology moves on, so do the demands on our media infrastructure. In the world of satellite that is as true as everywhere. Satellites are being used for a whole plethora of activity, from broadcasting to powering navigation across the globe. This increased demand has a negative effect however on the feed to the satellite in the form of radio frequency interference, meaning, for broadcasters in particular, a less than perfect television viewing experience. 

Carrier ID

It’s a serious problem bedevilling the industry far too long now. Last year, in Asia alone, the estimated revenue losses were pegged at almost US$2 billion. Operators warn that the plague, if left unchecked, could destroy the whole industry-not just in Asia but the entire global Pay-TV market.  So how Asia is grappling with this persistent problem could be instructive for the rest of the world as  new markets are opening up in places such as the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

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.