Asian Satellite Services See Market Growth

HONG KONG: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has released new data on Asian Satellite demand, reporting a 9-percent market growth in 2008-2009 with some 1,370 transponders currently in use across the region.

The "Video in Demand" Asian satellite services report shows this as the highest growth rate in eight years. The growth cycle has been affected by economic uncertainty, yet the impact on Asian satellite services has been relatively limited, with video broadcasting as the primary driver. The growth in TV broadcasting transponder demand increased from 25 percent in 2003 to 37 percent in 2008.

In recent years, the growth has been focused on DTH TV broadcasting in emerging markets, particularly India. Regionally from 2002 to 2008, the number of DTH platforms in Asia increased from just 13 to 28 platforms. India remains the fastest growing market, with more than 11 million DTH subscribers, and nine Asian other countries now have more than 500,000 DTH connections.

An oversupply of Asian capacity is still a structural challenge. Despite high regulatory barriers, several markets have been particularly dynamic in terms of capacity requirements, including India, China and Indonesia. The fill rate only reached 60 percent for the first time last year, still below a world average of around 70 percent. This reflects the sustained competition between satellite operators, “but shows there is still terrific up-side for our region,” said Simon Twiston Davies, the CEO of CASBAA.

“The fact is that restrictive regulations in many Asian countries continue to constrain the market,” continued Twiston Davies. “But de-regulation, like digitization, is an inexorable force that is presenting commercial enterprises, as well as consumers, with ever greater choice than ever. And it is choice that is driving demand.”