Press Release

Paris- Euroconsult, the leading global consulting firm specializing in space markets, announced the recipients of its 12th Annual Awards for Excellence in Satellite Communications on the occasion of the World Satellite Business Week, its annual senior executive event, the 19th edition of which took place in Paris from Sept. 14 to 18. These annual awards recognize companies and their management for their outstanding accomplishments in the satellite sector. Winners are chosen by a panel of industry experts from Euroconsult, SpaceNews, and SatelliteFinance who assess candidates using rigorous qualitative and quantitative criteria.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to the 8^th edition of Euroconsult’s newly published report,over 400 civil and commercial Earth observation (EO) satellites (>50kg) are expected to be launched over the next decade compared to 179 over 2005-2014. This will result in $39 billion in manufacturing revenues over the period, an 80% increase over that of the previous decade. The increasing satellite units will arrive from both government and private sources as more countries invest in EO technologies and the commercial business continues to evolve. In addition, over 1,200 <50kg satellites are anticipated to be launched to support the development of cubesat constellations, adding to the overall data supply.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to Euroconsult’s newly released report, the FSS industry posted an average annual growth rate of 4.3% over 2010-2013 with 2013 showing clear signs of slowdown at only +2%, the lowest growth rate since 2004. Further deceleration was witnessed in 2014, with sales remaining almost flat y-o-y at $12.3 billion. Note however that at constant exchange rates, industry revenue would have grown by 1.9% driven by the significant strengthening of the U.S. dollar vs. most currencies.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to Euroconsult’s newly released report, 140 satellites with launch mass over 50 kg will be launched on average each year over the next decade for governments and commercial companies. In comparison with last year’s forecast, the number of satellites is due to grow more than the market value over the decade.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama – According to Euroconsult’s newly released report,capacity revenues from cellular backhaul in fast growing economies could reach over $1 billion by 2025, up from around $550 million in 2014, corresponding to a 6% CAGR over the ten-year period. These numbers reflect a sustained increase in the number of sites using satellite backhaul, leading to around 37,000 sites by 2025. These forecasts also recognize a 14% CAGR in traffic carried that should reach around 150 Gbps by 2025, along with a corresponding 8% CAGR for capacity used in MHz reaching close to 45 GHz by 2025, when taking into account spectrum efficiency.

Brussels- The European Defense Agency has just launched a €1 million, 18-month feasibility study to prepare a future cooperative governmental satellite communications (Govsatcom) programme.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to Euroconsult’s newly released research report, world government expenditures for space programs decreased by 4% to $66.5 billion in 2014. The decrease in U.S. military space expenditures combined with the impact of adverse exchange rates on Russia had a considerable influence on global trends as the two countries together account for 65% of space expenditures worldwide. Government spending excluding the U.S. and Russia actually increased by 8% in 2014.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to Euroconsult’s newly released report,the Latin American Earth observation market is undergoing significant expansion brought about by growing demand for Earth observation data and services, and governments’ growing investment into the application to support this demand and help to develop national Earth observation industries. In this regard, the region is considered one of the most dynamic markets globally.

Advancement to continue despite economic headwinds, expansion of fiber networks

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama, April 29, 2015 – According to Euroconsult’s newly released report, Satellite Communications & Broadcasting in Latin America, total satellite capacity usage increased at an 8% CAGR over 2009-2014, driven by growing requirements for satellite pay-TV (+1,600 channels), VSAT services (+50,000 VSATs), trunking and backhaul. Euroconsult projects total capacity leased to grow at a 10% CAGR over the next decade, translating to a total of over 330 Gbps of traffic flowing over satellite by 2024.

Following strong growth in demand, operators have invested heavily in expansion satellites causing total regular capacity supply in Latin America to double by 2017 (from 2010 levels), while HTS capacity supply will increase eight-fold to over 370 Gbps by 2017.

“As supply additions are projected to outpace growth in demand, the average regular capacity fill rate should decrease from 80% in 2014 to 70% in 2017,” said Nathan de Ruiter, Senior Consultant at Euroconsult and editor of the report. “The trend of falling fill rates is most profound in Ku-band, where utilization levels are dropping from 86% in 2010 to an expected 64% by 2017, causing serious concerns for oversupply.” The risk of a temporary situation of oversupply is anticipated to place strong downward pressure on Ku-band capacity prices in the next three years.

Several fundamentals are supporting a strong increase in the future use of satellite communication services:

• • The rising number of TV channels distributed over satellite with leading satellite pay-TV operators in the region diversifying into new geographic markets and the emergence of new platforms
• • Latin America should maintain its leading role in USO programs that include satellite connectivity solutions for rural regions
• • The availability of HTS capacity and roll-out of cost-effective services should drive consumer broadband in populated countries such as Brazil
• • The increasing use of high bandwidth applications such as video streaming and cloud services should drive the capacity requirements in energy (oil & gas, mining) and corporate networks segments
• • Mobile penetration keeps increasing along with the expansion of 3G and potentially 4G/LTE networks, which will create new market opportunities for cellular backhaul over satellite

Although demand is relatively equally distributed across the three sub-regions (Central America, Mexico, Caribbean; Brazil; Rest of South America), the two largest countries, Mexico and Brazil, are projected to represent more than half of total capacity demand by 2024. In the short to medium term, market growth will be hampered by the economic slowdown that should limit the progress of the middle class and may potentially cause instability or delays to government programs and funding. Furthermore, the analog switch-off process will somewhat temper the capacity additions from 2018 until 2022.

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama- According to Euroconsult’s latest report, the Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) industry faces multiple challenges, including increasingly omnipresent mobile VSAT, troop withdrawals, government budget reductions, and unfavorable economics in the shipping industry. The future of the MSS industry now depends on how fast MSS operators can adapt to this new market environment.