TWO WAY VSAT INTERNET, VOICE, DATA VIA SATELLITE MIDDLE EAST GULF REGION AFRICA DVB S2 SCPC

Middle East Communications and Internet via Satellite

Product Type: Market Research Report 
Published by: Spotbeam Communications Ltd
Published: October 2002
Product Code: R131-008

Reposting from :http://www.mindbranch.com/listing/product/R131-008.html

Description

About this ReportMiddle East Satellite Communications and Internet via Satellite is the latest in a series of market research reports which cover the latest trends in satellite communications and associated technologies.
It focuses on the two main areas we believe are of interest to the industry, satellite broadcasting and Internet via satellite.
We have chosen to cover the Middle East because it is of an area of major success for DTH broadcasting, a major market for Internet via satellite and an area of intense topical interest. We have, within the report, identified a long-term major market for military broadband and narrowband communications.

The report is a regional follow-on and update to our annual Internet via Satellite reports published in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. We have, though, made substantial changes to the nature of our research on Internet via Satellite, opting for a series of regional reports looking at the issues in a much greater depth, providing a general overview of all forms of satellite communications within each region. The geographic coverage of the report is the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. The primary topics covered are DTH satellite broadcasting, satellite operations, point-topoint satellite links for ISPs and hybrid and two-way satellite-based broadband services. It also covers mobile satellite communications and military communications, with an overlap into cable, MMDS and thin route rural satellite coms. It details major players in the region and current trends in satellite communications and provides a comprehensive database of key satellite players and ISPs in the region.


Overview of Satellite Communications in the Middle EastThe Middle East has a substantial satellite communications sector based on regional satellites and DTH broadcasting. Its development reflects economic modernisation. The market consists of a core Arabic-speaking sector surrounded by a periphery of Iran, Turkey, Cyprus and Israel. Indeed, Turkey has developed as a regional satellite communications node. In North Africa there is considerable overspill of satellite broadcasting from Europe.
Our key conclusion is that DTH satellite broadcasting in the Middle East is that it is the primary distribution platform for commercial TV, either advertising or pay-TV financed. We have come to this conclusion because, overwhelming, terrestrial TV broadcasts in the Arabic-speaking sector and Iran are those of basically turgid state-owned public service broadcasters.

There is little evidence to suggest that politicians in the region are willing to let go of their control over domestic terrestrial broadcasting. The only true commercial terrestrial broadcasts in the region are in the Lebanon, Israel, Turkey and Cyprus.


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The penetration rate for DTH in the region is a staggeringly successful 24% of TV households - rising to 92% in Algeria. It is less than a decade ago that French channel TV5 was telling us that its Algerian viewers were having their throats cut for owning satellite dishes.

The only two countries with an alternative delivery platform of any significance, cable, are Israel and Turkey and even in Turkey, DTH has already won the battle for audiences. MMDS in the region has long failed as a significant alternative.
The core demand for DTH is from free-to-air television. The Middle East follows the German model. Arab consumers are used to having some 55-60 free-to-air Arabic language services, often available through cheap analogue DTH receivers. They have proved unwilling consumers for pay-TV even where disposable incomes are high.

The core advertising support pan-Arabic DTH advertising supported sector consists of four channels, LBC, Future TV, MBC and Al Jazeera. At rate card, they have a potential advertising income of around US$1 billion a year but the Arabic advertising sector is under-developed and deep discounting means their actual income is around US$ 200-250 million a year.

We expect in the medium term this will change. The advertising agencies are loosing a lot of potential revenue through the deep discounting. DTH TV is getting closer to its customer base with an increasing local production base and the consolidation of the industry around four regional broadcasting nodes in Egypt, Dubai, the Lebanon and Jordan.
Politicians in the region are increasingly regarding satellite TV as a major driving force behind modernisation of the regions economies and are sponsoring its development.

Hitherto it has been seen as somewhat of a political pariah, been perceived as a source of troublesome news and opinion and a Western threat to Islamic values.
However, attempts at control through dish bans and the development of MMDS (allowing filtering of content at national level) have largely ceased and now only remain of significance in Iran and marginalized Iraq.
We believe that a really big success of the DTH sector has been Al Jazeera. It is not a problem that this Arabic all-news channel is still loss-making. The losses are peanuts to its Qatar backer.

Al Jazeera is center-stage in the modernisation of Arab-language broadcasting. At present it probably has an audience of around 35 million viewers - an extremely healthy figure for an all-News service, and is expected to launch another two channels.

Al Jazeera, though, offers what no terrestrial broadcaster in the region does - a worldclass, free, uncensored, professional source of news and opinion provided by Arabs and targeted at Arabs.

That is it doing its job brilliantly is evidenced by the widespread criticism of its content by regimes in the region, Israel, the United States and Britain's deeply conservative middlebrow newspaper, the Daily Telegraph. Of course it is sometimes biased - so are CNN, the BBC and the Daily Telegraph. "All news is something, someone, somewhere, doesn't want publishing - the rest is advertising." But its strength is that it isn't cowered into self-censorship and it allows dramatically opposing views to be aired. It is a slick and professional operation.

Yet Al Jazeera alone is not responsible for the deep changes taking place in the control of Arab broadcasting. In the 1990s Arab satellite broadcasters were clearly scared of operating from within the core region. MBC opted to operate our of London to avoid censorship and control and the pay-TV services ART and Orbit operated out of Italy for much the same reasoning. It is probably no coincidence that two of the big four free-to-air

Arabic services, LBC and Future TV, are based in the relatively uncensored Lebanon. Araboc brpadcasters are being induced back into the region by guarantees of freedom from governments who see satellite broadcasting as a key economic driver. ART has moved its operations from Italy to Amman in Jordan and MBC from London to Dubai. The spin-off is the growth of local production capabilities and the infusion of commercially oriented management into a region where state-owned and often badly run and overstaffed broadcasters have been the norm.

There are now four broadcasting nodes for satellite television in the Middle East - Dubai, Cairo, Amman and the Lebanon. Amman is probably the outsider - it is too politically risky for US broadcasters to use as a base. We believe that the front runners are Dubai and Cairo. Dubai is the more expensive base and the United Arab Emirates lacks both a strong production base and a broadcasting infrastructure. On the other hand, it is a fabulous citystate where everything works. It is aiming to be a regional Singapore - a comment that should be carefully noted. Not for Dubai is the scruffiness of that other great city-state, Hong Kong. But it doesn't have its own regional satell

Table of Contents

1: ABOUT THIS REPORT 

Author Profiles 

DTT’s Management Consulting Services 

2: OVERVIEW OF THE REGION

A Model of Communications in the Middle East

Overview of Internet in the Middle East

Satellite ISP Links With Backbone

Satellite-Based Internet Access

Thin Route Satellite Telephony 

Broadcasting in the Middle East 

Overview of Satellite Broadcasting in the Middle East

Prospects for Integration of satellite TV with Internet access

Mobile Satellite Communications

Military Satellite Communications

General Overview of Satellite Communications in the Middle East

Satellite Operators Consolidate 

3.1: AFGHANISTAN 

Overview of Afghanistan 

Communications in Afghanistan 

Industry Contacts in Afghanistan 

Comments on Internet in Afghanistan 

3.2: ALGERIA

Overview of Algeria 

Telecommunications in Algeria 

Internet in Algeria 

Broadcasting in Algeria 

VoIP in Algeria

Two-Way Satellite Access in Algeria 

Hybrid Internet Access

Satellite Links to Backbone

Industry Contacts in Algeria

3.3: BAHRAIN 

Overview of Bahrain 

Telecommunications in Bahrain

Broadcasting in Bahrain 

Internet in Bahrain 

Internet via Satellite in Bahrain 

General Commentary on Satellite Communications in Bahrain

Industry Contacts in Bahrain

3.4: CYPRUS 

Overview of Cyprus

Telecommunications in Cyprus

Hellas-Sat Review

Internet via Satellite in Cyprus 

ISP Satellite Links in Cyprus 

Broadcasting in Cyprus

Industry Contacts in Cyprus 

3.5: EGYPT

Overview of Egypt 

Telecommunications and Broadcasting in Egypt 

The Eygptian VSAT Sector

Internet in Egypt 

Nilesat, DTH and Internet 

Internet Access via Satellite in Egypt

Egyptian ISP Links to Backbone

The Growth of International Fibre 

Industry Contacts in Egypt

3.6: IRAN 

Overview of Iran 

General Overview of Communications in Iran

The Capriciousness of Communications Policy in Iran

Deep Hostility to Modern Communications 

Dish Bans in Iran

Closing Down Coffeenets 

TCI’s Monopoly Track Record 

Hostility Towards VoIP 

The Voice over IP argument 

Hybrid Satellite-based Internet Services in Iran 

Two-Way Satellite-based Internet Access in Iran

Internet in Iran 

International Fibre Connectivity 

Demand for ISP Links in Iran

Industry Contacts in Iran 

Zohreh Still in the Running?

3.7: IRAQ

Overview of Iraq 

Telecommunications Within Iraq

Internet in Kurdistan 

Internet in Iraq 

Industry Contacts in Iraq 

3.8: ISRAEL 

Overview of Israel

Telecommunications in Israel 

Palestinian Telecoms and Internet Overview 

Regulatory Overview of Israel

Cable TV in Israel

Internet in Israel

Point-to-Point ISP Satellite Links

Recent Changes in the Israeli Satellite Industry

Industry Contacts in Israel 

3.9: JORDAN

Overview of Jordan 

Broadcasting in Jordan 

Telecommunications in Jordan 

Internet in Jordan 

Internet via Satellite in Jordan

Industry Contacts in Jordan 

3.10: KUWAIT 

Overview of Kuwait 

Telecommunications in Kuwait 

Internet in Kuwait

Internet Access via Satellite

Shownet

Falconstream

Stormsat 

Gulfsat 

Web-Sat In Kuwait 

Broadcasting in Kuwait

Industry Contacts in Kuwait 

Distributors for FalconStream 

ShowNet Distributors 

3.11: LEBANON 

Telecommunications in the Lebanon 

Internet in the Lebanon 

Satellite and Cable TV in the Lebanon 

General Comments on Satellite Communications in the Lebanon 

Internet Access via Satellite

Satellite ISP Links in the Lebanon 

Industry Contacts in the Lebanon 

3.12: LIBYA 

Overview of Libya

Telecommunications in Libya

Internet in Libya

Other Satellite Issues in Libya 

Industry Contacts in Libya

3.13: MOROCCO

Overview of Morocco

Telecommunications in Morocco

Telecommunications Regulation

Broadcasting in Morocco

Pay-TV in Morocco

Internet in Morocco 

Point-to-Point ISP Links 

VSAT Services in Morocco

Industry Contacts in Morocco

3.14: NORTHERN CYPRUS

Overview of Northern Cyprus

Communications in Northern Cyprus

Industry Contacts in Northern Cyprus

3.15: OMAN

Overview of Oman 

Telecommunications in Oman

Broadcasting in Oman

Internet in Oman

Internet via Satellite in Oman

Industry Contacts in Oman 

3.16: QATAR 

Overview of Qatar 

Broadcasting in Qatar 

Telecommunications in Qatar 

Internet via Satellite in Qatar

Industry Contacts in Qatar 

3.17: SAUDI ARABIA

Overview of Saudi Arabia 

Telecommunications in Saudi Arabia 

Broadcasting in Saudi Arabia

What Happened to MMDS in Saudi Arabia 

Internet in Saudi Arabia

Hybrid and Two-Way Internet Access 

How Saudi Internet Works 

VSATs in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Role in the Region 

Arabsat 

Industry Contacts in Saudi Arabia 

3.18: SYRIA

Internet in Syria 

Telecommunications in Syria

ISP Satellite Links 

Internet Access via Satellite

Satellite Television in Syria 

Industry Contacts in Syria

3.19: TUNISIA

Overview of Tunisia

Internet in Tunisia

Telecommunications in Tunisia

Broadcasting in Tunisia

Industry Contacts in Tunisia

3.20: TURKEY

Overview of Turkey 

Telecommunications in Turkey 

Internet in Turkey 

Regulatory Matters and Satellite Service Providers

ISP Satellite Links 

Internet Cafes and VoIP

Rural Satellite Communications in Turkey

Broadband Access in Turkey

Cable Television in Turkey

Turkish Satellite Operators 

Broadcasting in Turkey 

Internet via Satellite in Turkey

Broadband Satellite Access in Turkey

Industry Contacts In Turkey 

3.21: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 

General Overview of the United Arab Emirates 

Telecommunications in the Emirates

Internet in the Emirates 

ISP Satellite Links 

Broadcasting in the United Arab Emirates

Local Broadcasting in the UAE 

Industry Contacts in the UAE

3.22: YEMEN

General Overview of Yemen

Broadcasting in Yemen

Telecommunications in Yemen

Internet in Yemen 

Internet via Satellite in Yemen 

Industry Contacts in the Yemen

Tables

Table 2.1: Demographic and Economic Summary of the Region 

Table 2.2: Summary of Basic Telecoms Infrastructure in the Region 

Table 2.3: Summary of the Middle East Internet Marketplace

Chart 2.4: Satellite Point-to-Point Demand in the Middle East

Table 2.5: Known ISP Satellite Links, October 1st 2002

Table 2.6: Low and High Estimates of Installed Base of Satcoms Access Terminals

Table 2.7: Summary Statistics on Satellite TV in the Middle East 

Table 2.8: US Military Satellite Bandwidth Needs in the Gulf 

Table 2.9: Market Share of Satellite Operators, Middle East and Africa, Year 2000

Table 3.1.1: Basic Data on Afghanistan 

Table 3.2.1: Basic Data on Algeria 

Table 3.2.2: Summary of Algerian ISP Links to Backbone

Table 3.3.1: Basic Data on Bahrain 

Table 3.4.1: Basic Data on Cyprus 

Table 3.4.2: Summary of Cypriot ISP Connections to Backbone

Table 3.5.1: Basic Data on Egypt 

Table 3.5.2: Egyptian Connections to International Internet Backbone 

Table 3.5.3: Summary of International Links of Egyptian ISPs

Table 3.6.1: Basic Data on Iran

Table 3.6.2: Summary of Iranian ISPs 

Table 3.7.1: Basic Data on Iraq

Table 3.8.1: Basic Data on Israel

Table 3.8.2: Summary of In