"The next ten years will rival the heydays of the late 1990s for the MSS industry with the launch of up to 160 MSS satellites," stated Claude Rousseau, Senior Analyst for NSR and author of the report. "That total does not count the number of FSS transponders in C-, Ku- and X-band that will be also available to the mobile satellite market. However, despite positive launch and supply trends, the stakes have never been so high given the turbulence in global financial and economic markets, which may affect demand."
After a difficult year, which saw the handheld market shaken by the woes of one operator, and delays in satellite launches of another two operators, the competition has increased greatly in satellite data services, which will face-off against many terrestrial wireless products. But through the introduction of new broadband satellite services, improved voice and data products and dual-mode 3G and 4G satellite-terrestrial handheld devices, NSR forecasts the MSS market will reach more than 18 million in-service units and generate retail revenue of $17.1 billion for the period 2006-2017.