ISCe 2007 Bests Previous Year Turnout; Military Satcom and Vertical Market Focus Drives Attendance
Art Paredes, ISCe President and CEO.
LONG BEACH, CA, June 14, 2007 - Satnews Daily - With a major focus on the role of satellites in naval warfare, the sixth annual ISCe conference in San Diego last week brought together military planners, launch companies and equipment manufacturers to examine the ever-increasing integration of satellites into the global communication network.
During the course of the three-day conference, speakers discussed topics ranging from the challenge of beaming command instructions between orbiting satellites to listening to XM radio with a small receiver positioned in a south-facing window of a commercial aircraft. The rapid evolution of the role of satellites in all communications was summed up by one speaker who said his company's goal is that "someday, each satellite in space is going to be just another node on the Internet."
Several themes dominated the conference: the critical need for commercial bandwidth and services to support the military and its warfighters; the convergence of satellite communications with fixed, mobile and wireless networks and the increasingly crucial role played by integrators of satellite services to deliver solutions to commercial and government customers.
ISCe featured tracks devoted respectively to "Profiting from Hybrid Solutions" sponsored by the WTA/GVF and The Carmel Group's annual "Five Burning Questions Forum.” These market-focused sessions brought together satellite and new media executives for the first time in spirited debate on the market drivers behind today's new technologies, and the pivotal role of satellite in these delivery systems.
One full day of workshops was devoted to a Navy Satcom Users Workshop with the final day of the conference devoted to a Military and Government Requirements Forum. Kicking off this session, Rear Admiral Michael C. Bachmann, commander of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, described the every-increasing need of the Navy to provide broadband access to personnel on all of its ships.
"Satellite communications are integral to the Navy's operations," Bachmann said. "We need to work together with industry to develop evolutionary, upgradeable systems and capabilities, not just replacement equipment for our ships."
Conference organizer Hannover Fairs USA (HFUSA) said the attendance at conference registered a 14 percent increase over ISCe 2006. The conference attracted executives representing the world's leading satellite operators, manufacturers and service providers along with representatives of most branches of the U.S. military. In plenary sessions and panels, in hallways and multiple networking events, participants debated and discussed satellite and hybrid network solutions for the entertainment and military government markets.
During ISCe's annual awards dinner hosted by The Boeing Corporation, ISCe honored Wild Blue Communications with its Innovation Award. The Leadership Award was presented to Intelsat General Corporation while Robert Berry, Chairman of Space Systems Loral, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. In his annual State of the Satellite Industry report, David Cavossa, Executive Director of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), reported that the global commercial satellite industry generated nearly $106 billion in revenue in 2006, an increase of more than 19 percent compared with previous year results.
David Cavossa, SIA Executive Director.
Cavossa noted that the ground equipment industry, particularly receivers of direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television, continued to be a major source of industry revenue. He said DTH subscribers grew by 10 percent over 2005, reaching 89 million worldwide, while satellite radio subscriber count was up 50 percent to 14.2 million in 2006. In addition, mobile satellite service revenues were up 18 percent, driven by the growth in voice traffic.
Cavossa told ISCe attendees that while worldwide manufacturing revenues in 2006 reached $12 billion, compared to $7.8 billion the prior year, launch revenues actually declined. The worldwide launch industry saw a 10 percent drop in revenue in 2006 from the previous year, to $2.7 billion versus $3 billion. He attributed this in part to 2005 being the final year of the higher-priced Titan 4B launches.
ISCe President and CEO Art Paredes applauded co-hosts Satellite Industry Association, Carmel Group and the California Space Authority for contributing to the success of HFUSA's sixth annual U.S. satellite conference. "Our goal is to provide real value for ISCe attendees, through high level panels and featured speakers, as well as excellent networking and access to key decision makers in all military branches and every sector of the consumer and enterprise business," he said. "We received accolades from our exhibitors and attendees alike. They cited our quality program that addresses the market needs and issues of the industry in their overwhelming support of the conference."
ISCe is an annual satellite and communications event that focuses on satellite and hybrid network solutions for the business, retail, entertainment, government and military sectors. ISCe 2008 will take place June 10-12 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. Hannover Fairs USA is planning to build on the success of the ISCe conference by extending the brand to additional venues addressing emerging markets throughout world. In addition to ISCe Satellite and Investment Symposium (ISIS) which will take place in New York, NY, this October 9, HFUSA will launch ISCe India on November 30, in Hyderabad, the "Silicon Valley" of India.
