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Energy Customers Benefit from Capacity Market Boom

By Jeffrey Hill | November 11, 2010

      About 1050 people attended the 2010 Offshore Communications conference in Houston this year – a 26 percent increase from 2009. The growing attendance and enthusiasm signals a healthy market, operating and developing with confidence in a time of economic uncertainty. The satellite capacity industry is doing particularly well, enjoying a period of strong growth that is projected to sustain for at least the next five years. A diversity of C-, Ku- and Ka-band transponder demand, combined with wholesale capacity leasing trends, is set to generate billions in satellite revenue gains for operators.
          Since the capacity market is doing so well, some capacity buyers in the offshore industry may ask why prices continue to rise. However, it might benefit customers to focus on the growing list of options available and leverage the competition between capacity providers that have been investing heavily in tailored offerings and bandwidth optimization.
          A majority of vendors at the 2010 Offshore Communications conference said they noticed that more customers were aware of their exact requirements and were much more engaged with service providers. Satellite operators are more than happy to provide customers with exactly what they need. It keeps transponders open to more customers and makes it easier for them to manage bandwidth. Make no mistake, analysts predict video distribution and broadband data capacity providers will report gains through 2019, but those gains will be built on efficiency, which benefits both customers and vendors when they work together.