Asian Satellite and Cable Industry Sees Turnaround This Year

Satellite platform operators, cable TV providers, equipment suppliers and content providers are seeing subscribership and revenues increase after years of investment and sluggish growth, according to the Hong Kong-based Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

In Hong Kong, TVB Galaxy is ready to launch its satellite platform service in November. Industry reports suggest the launch package will comprise 24 channels with at least four channels supplied by 49 percent investor TVB. The Galaxy package should increase to 40 channels within 18 months of the launch and will be distributed via satellite capacity leased from TVB Galaxy partner Intelsat.

In Japan, satellite platform operator SkyPerfect TV reports that it expects to become profitable next year.

In Malaysia, local direct-to-home (DTH) satellite platform operator Astro, owned by Measat Broadcast Network Systems, has reached the one million subscriber mark. Earlier in the year, Binariang Satellite Systems and Boeing Satellite Systems announced a $200 million contract for Boeing to build a Measat-3 satellite that will be collocated with Measat-1 at 91.5 degrees East Longitude. Scheduled for launch in 2005, Measat-3 will carry 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, each providing 36 MHz of bandwidth over a 15-year minimum service life.

In Indonesia,cable operator KabelVision has revealed plans to launch a DTH platform in the final quarter of this year using the Palapa C satellite. Within 12 months, the platform could be distributing up to 35 channels.