When I think about 3D the British expression "two swallows don’t make a summer" keeps coming to mind. In the last few months we’ve indeed seen two "swallows": "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland", both of which generated the vast majority of their significant revenue (they were respectively the 1st and 22nd highest grossing films ever) from the theaters showing the movies in 3D. "Call of the Wild" also in 3D was released six months before "Avatar" but only managed to produce box office revenues of around $30,000 in the US.

During the most recent broadcasting trade shows since the IBC in Amsterdam last fall, 3D technology has been the buzz including the NAB show in Las Vegas early this month. The blockbuster success of 3D movies such as Avatar help fuel interest in 3D technology among tech-savvy consumers, but will 3D—essentially a recycled technology that was first introduced in the 50s and became a passing fad—deliver the goods this time around? 

The Connection is in the Satcoms. In my various recent columns in this space I have focused on important, and ongoing, key thematic developments in the communications solutions marketplace which are separately, and collectively, creating manifold expansion opportunities for the satellite communications industry to leverage the several advantages that it has over all other communications technologies and platforms. 

The issue of inadequate bandwidth in the world very small aperture terminal (VSAT) market has experienced a conflicting impact: a spurt in service revenues and, simultaneously, a dip in the sales of equipment or hardware. VSAT providers, while pleased with the hike in service revenues, are wary of pricing many potential, cost-sensitive VSAT users out of the market.  

A telco PR executive once remarked to me that satellite was like a solution always looking for a problem.  Given that he was looking to represent my satellite consultancy firm, I thought this was an odd way to earn my business!  Dents to my ego aside, what this guy was reflecting is simply the wider telecommunications industry and a great many potential customers’ perception of satellite – VSAT communications in particular.  How things have changed!

The 3rd Annual GVF Oil & Gas Communications Europe Conference (O&GCE3) on 12th & 13th May 2010 is also the 9th event in the global Oil & Gas Communications Series organized by GVF and UK-EMP. Continuing the Series into its fifth year, the 2010 conference takes the ‘Digital Applications & Communications Dynamics’ focus beyond the territory of the hydrocarbon-bearing sectors of the North Sea, continuing far to the north to the Arctic Ocean region.

by Bruce Elbert President, Application Technology Strategy, Inc.

Markets for satellite communications equipment and services have expanded to fill the gaps in terrestrial broadcasting and telecommunications networks. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Middle East, which is the focus of this article.

Despite the disappointments of the Copenhagen climate talks, climate change is fast becoming a reality for business.  It is partly a matter of planning for the future.  The political battles rage on, taking different paths in different parts of the world, but the overall trend is clear.  Activities that produce greenhouse gases will be penalized economically.   More efficient use of resources from energy to water will become a high priority.  Companies face a choice of when, not if, to “go green.”

After reaching around 4.6 billion mobile cellular subscriptions by the end of 2009, ITU expects the number of mobile cellular subscriptions globally to reach five billion in 2010, driven by advanced services and handsets in developed countries and increased take-up of mobile health services and mobile banking in the developing world.

At the 4th Annual Navy Satcoms Users Workshop organized by  the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) during the AFCEA West show in San Diego last February 3rd, senior U.S. Navy officials affirmed that the US Navy’s reliance on commercial satellite communications will continue to grow in the next few years.