Connectivity

by Douglas Graham Have satellite-based distribution networks and broadband been over-hyped? This is the view of some industry insiders and analysts who claim satellite’s real future may reside in a mixture of new and established applications, such as in-flight entertainment and enterprise VSAT networks that should be a strong area in 2003. Traditional VSATs have...

by Gerry Oberst Historically, a substantial amount of satellite services have been based on either a small number of customers relying on two-way distribution links using very large antennas, or on one-way, receive-only services aimed at many customers with relatively small antennas. To make the next big leap in markets, however, satellite networks in the...

Peter J. Brown Asia remains fragmented when it comes to the state of the regional economy. Although news in mid-November of a second large IPO in the Asian telecom sector seemed to point to a possible turnaround, this development is tempered by the fact that only East Asia and India are poised to see any...

By Nick Mitsis Satellites are still the best way to reach multiple points with large quantities of content in the most economical way. Even so, applications like Internet streaming have a few more years of development ahead before sufficient broadband connections and revenue models to collect payments for content are totally resolved. In the meantime,...

by Armand Musey To the very end, Echostar CEO Charlie Ergen swore that if his Dish Network and DirecTV were not allowed to merge, the DBS companies were doomed to second tier status among the U.S. multichannel television providers and consumers everywhere would be forced to accept increasing subscriber rates. We disagree. While we readily...

by James Careless Club Med’s Columbus Isle in the Bahamas: the name conjures up images of sun, sand and luxurious leisure. For Club Med Management Information Systems Director Mario Fernandez, however, Columbus Isle also conjures up satellites. The reason: satellite communication is the data lifeline between Columbus Isle–located on the island of San Salvador, where...