CASBAA CEO Sees Huge Opportunity for Satellite in Asia

 

Via Satellite: Do you believe the region can sustain a number of FSS players?

Twiston Davies: There should be, and it is desirable, to have consolidation. The question is who should be consolidated with who? You have issues of flagship carriers and the perceived needs of individual jurisdictions such flagship carriers. We know that various multinational players have looked into consolidation or purchasing outright other operators, and we have still not seen the movement we would expect or hope for in the market. I am not sure in the short-to-medium term we are going to see that.

Via Satellite: How satellite as a delivery mechanism for pay-TV compare to cable, terrestrial and IPTV?

Twiston Davies: I think satellite is particularly strong in a market such as Malaysia, where there is a single operator with a long term exclusive license. In other markets such as India, you have DTH in where there are now three established DTH operators with 3 million to 4 million subscribers between them. However, India also has 72 million cable households and the opportunity for DTH remains huge, especially when you have a cable environment, which is largely underinvested in terms of digital services. The upside for satellite is quite clear.
    I think a market like Indonesia already has three DTH operators and there could be more. The Philippines has one satellite operator in a pay-TV market which is still only penetrated at around 10 percent. That is one of the elements that gives you enthusiasm for Asia where pay-TV as a whole is only penetrated at only around 30 percent. There is 70 percent upside in some absolutely enormous markets. That is one of the reasons why we are seeing new investments into the Asia-Pacific satellite services market.

Via Satellite: Do you see any significant changes to the landscape throughout the next year?

Twiston Davies: We can see the demand curve clearly rising across the board. While China is a closed and highly regulated market at the moment, it has no DTH platform. We have got vast opportunity when that happens. China will completely change the shape of the pay-TV market, when satellite comes into play. You have the Philippines with a very low DTH penetration. Indonesia is under-penetrated for cable and satellite services and comes in at below 20 percent penetration of all TV households there, so there is plenty of upside in that market.
    The mature markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, we don’t see a vast increase in satellite there, but [average revenue per user] will rise. Japan remains 40 percent penetrated by cable, so that growth will be a little slower. Korea has a fairly well-established pay-TV market with one domestic DTH provider in a very competitive media market. Australia is a high-value market also where there is a strong demand for satellite services.

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