Analysts Praise Asian Satellite Market Strength
About once every month, I receive an analyst report in my e-mail inbox highlighting the opportunities presented by the dynamic and growing Asian communications market. From the DTH transponder market to the growing enterprise and maritime sector, Asia seems to be moving ahead full speed, and in some cases, surpassing other powerhouse regions such as Europe and North America.

    Earlier in July, Global Industry Analysts released a report showing that the Asia Pacific transponder market will see compound annual growth rates in excess of 5 percent over the period 2011 through 2015, with demand for satellite transponders for reserve purposes projected to reach 358 units by the year 2012. In June, ABI Research projected that the global pay-TV subscriber base will grow by 7 percent, reaching 719 million customers by the end of 2010. Despite cable holding its place as the region’s top pay-TV platform, ABI expects telco TV growth to gain pace with estimates that the Asia-Pacific will attain a 31 percent share of the global telco TV market in 2010.

   The excitment over the region coming out of the CommunicAsia 2010 show is very real and well deserved. Asian satellite and communications companies have successfully hit target markets and adapted to demand. It's almost as if the global recession never hit the regional satcom market.

-Jeffrey Hill
News Editor, Satellite TODAY

Top Story
MPA Forecasts Healthy Asia DTH Market
The Asia-Pacific regions a strong market for satellite companies continue, particularly in the broadcast sector, where DTH subscriber growth is strong. “The market for DTH pay-TV in the Asia-Pacific is growing at a significant pace again, buoyed by large scale DTH deployment in India and robust growth in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines,” says Vivek Couto, executive director, Media Partners Asia (MPA) ...More»

Industry News
Thaicom CEO: New Ipstar Broadband Service Coming in Third Quarter
Thaicom will launch a high-speed Internet service in India via the Ipstar broadband satellite in the third quarter of 2010 ...More»

Indian Mobile Operator RCom Acquires Digicable
Indian mobile network operator Reliance Communications (RCom) has agreed to acquire cable television distribution firm Digicable in an all-stock deal ...More»

Thuraya Enhances ECO Mobile Offering
Thuraya has launched an enhanced version of its Thuraya ECO product  ...More»

Report: Asian, European Satellite Transponder Companies Dominating the Market
Asia-Pacific and European satellite transponder companies have dominated the market, cornering a share of about 53. ..More»

Skyware Global Opens Facility in China
Skyware Global has opened a facility in Shenzhen, China, to provide technical support and consultancy for the company’s products and services and to build on Asian expansion efforts ...More»

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Industry Focus
Arianespace Assesses Opportunities in Asia
Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall hopes that the successful launch earlier this week of the Arabsat-5A satellite, as well as South Korea’s COMS (Communication, Ocean and Meteorological satellite), will provide opportunities for growing its business in Asia and the Middle East. After dealing with technical delays, the launch comes as a relief to Arianespace, as it looks to build on a strong booking year with regional customers ...More»

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Executive Insight
China’s CASC Planning to Compete With International Operators
While China Satellite Communications Corp. (CASC) is planning to use capacity on its satellites to support a new DTH service in China, which could launch this year, CASC Vice President Huang Baozhong told Via Satellite that the Chinese operator ultimately plans to compete internationally with the world’s largest satellite operators ...More»

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Contracts
Sea Launch Wins AsiaSat Contract; Plans to Exit Chapter 11 in Third Quarter
Sea Launch has entered into an agreement with Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) to launch an AsiaSat satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit between 2012 and 2014 ...More»

Harris Receives $99 Million Military Tactical Radio Order in Asia
Harris Corp. has received orders totaling $99 million to supply C4I systems, including Falcon tactical radios and sensors for UAVs and other advanced satcom applications, to an unnamed military customer in Asia ...More»

APT Wins Multi-Satellite Apstar Capacity Deal with HBO Asia
HBO Asia signed a long-term transponder lease agreement with APT Satellite for capacity on Apstar 2R (Telstar 10) and Apstar 2R's replacement satellite, Apstar 7 ...More»

PolarSat Receives VSAT Orders for Asian Air Traffic Control Support
PolarSat has received more than $1 million in multiple MF-TDMA VSAT equipment orders for immediate deliver to help expand an existing air traffic control network in Asia ...More»

SpeedCast to Stream ESPN Star Sports Content to Mobile Users in Asia
Asian sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has contracted digital media content services provider SpeedCast to deliver live premium mobile sports content across Asia ...More»

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