Via Satellite: Red 52, a growing Mexico-based satellite communications company, anticipates Latin America will remain a hotbed for satcom demand in the years to come. The company has grown year over year for the past four years, with 2015 being one of the most successful to date, according to Red 52 Director General Sergio Murillo.

Via Satellite: [Via Satellite 05-05-2015] Azam Media, a fast growing Direct-to-Home (DTH) service provider in East Africa, has climbed to more than a quarter-million subscribers since first launching in December 2013. Starting in Tanzania, the company expanded to Uganda in October last year, and opened up a new office in Kenya two months later. Rhys Torrington, CEO of Azam Media, told Via Satellite the company has sold approximately 265,000 Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) to date and plans to enter more markets in the near future.

Via SatelliteThe transition to digital television, increasing growth of mobile services, and the burgeoning connectivity needs of sectors such as energy, banking and mining, are fueling demand for satellite services in Sub-Saharan Africa, which Euroconsult expects will remain healthy for many years to come. The research firm’s newest report, “Prospects for Satellite Communications & Broadcasting in Africa” predicts a Calculated Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11 percent for capacity leased over the next decade.

Via Satellite: Euroconsult’s newly released small satellite research report projects a total of 510 smallsats to be launched in the next five years — a two-thirds pick up from the average number of these spacecraft orbited in the last decade. The report, entitled “Prospects for the Small Satellite Market,” includes research on all small satellites — nanosats, cubesats, microsats and minisats — with a mass between 1 kg and 500 kg that Euroconsult expects will be “realistically” launched between now and 2019. According to the report, the smallsat industry will enjoy a steady pickup across the market, driven by the smallest of spacecraft.

Via Satellite: Brazilian satellite operator Embratel Star One is readying for an increase in demand for mobility services, along with the permanent presence of Ultra-HD in Latin America. The company’s first new satellite since 2012, Star One C4, is scheduled to launch this year with Arianespace, followed in 2016 by the first satellite in the operator’s D-series, Star One D1.

Via Satellite: As the 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15) draws nearer, the satellite industry is preparing again to defend its use of C-band spectrum. The International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) industry, which pushed for access to the lower portion of C band at WRC in 2007, has upped its demands for the entirety from 3.4 to 4.2 GHz this year.

Via Satellite: Euroconsult predicts the growth of High Throughput Satellite (HTS) systems will see use climb from 107 Gbps in 2014 to just above 1,300 Gbps in 2023. This equates to a Calculated Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 30 percent during the years between, according to the research group’s latest report: “High Throughput Satellites: On Course for New Horizons.”