Advanced Television

Turning point for FSS satellite operators

July 27, 2011

Euroconsult, the research and analyst firm specialised in the satellite communications sector, has published the findings of its most recent study of fixed satellite services.

“2010 was a particularly important year for FSS operators with a number of important strategic investments, including in Ka-band,” said Richard Roithner, Senior Consultant at Euroconsult. Among the FSS operators analysed in the report, 17 operators have invested in Ka-band over the last 18 months, with six companies actually having launched Ka-band capacity recently.

Roithner continued, “2010 saw more contrasted performances among operators. 90 per cent of all active FSS operators saw revenue growth in 2010, with 10 operators even achieving growth of 20 per cent or more; however, more than half experienced slower revenue growth than during the previous year.”

The report indicates that regional operators in particular continued to see strong business growth from various applications including DTH TV broadcasting, cellular backhaul and enterprise networks. Many of these regional operators are continuing their ambitious expansion plans with growing satellite fleets and a number of satellite launches still ahead in the coming years.

Other report findings include:
– 10 operators had revenue growth exceeding 20 per cent
– More than half of operators saw a slowdown in revenue growth
– 17 operators had fill rates of 80 per cent or more, while seven had average fill rates of less than 70 per cent
– 10 operators added more than 100 TV channels on their satellites in 2010
– 12 operators added one or more DTH pay TV platforms

Although the top five operators accounted for about 70 per cent of the industry’s revenues, the rest of the market is still fragmented with growing competition among the operators. In particular, the Asian market is increasingly crowded with 20 operators active in the region in 2010.

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