[SatNews] The latest addition to the GVF-EMP Conference Partnership’s portfolio of global communications events occurred in London, on February11th and 12th, 2014, and was lauded by speaking and delegate participants alike as a great success, and a noteworthy beginning to the GVF-EMP 2014 event calendar.
 
Conference delegates heard that in the aero and maritime satellite broadband mobile markets, respectively, passenger take-rates and penetration levels are anticipated to show strong growth, with anticipated decreases in capacity cost. The Paris-based consultancy, Euroconsult, has forecast that total mobile broadband VSAT will show a CAGR of 32 percent over the period 2013-2022, breaking down into 66 percent CAGR in aero and 28 percent CAGR in the maritime sector. As well as being important for the business community, this is good news for the Millennial—or Y-Generation, about whom the conference also heard. Of this 18-30 years age group—a generation of frequent travelers—some 40 percent “would feel anxious like part of me was missing” if they couldn’t constantly check their smartphones, according to the 2012 Cisco ‘Connected World Technology Report’.
 
Following on from the Partnership’s also celebrated December 2013 HTS Roundtable—London event, Connectivity 2014: In-Flight, at Sea, on Surface & Rail - High Altitude, High Seas, High Speed, was widely recognized as having successfully facilitated an acute and penetrating focus by the communications solution provider community, and the communications solution user community, a focus directed towards the future of innovation in commercially viable connectivity services and products—and the effective generation of new mobile communications user verticals—comprising detailed analyses, clear insights, and forthright projections on markets and technologies.
 
The conference was presented in association with sponsors, Intelsat, Kymeta, Hughes, and SES, and supporting associations, APEX (the Airline Passenger Experience Association), and InterManager (the International Ship Management Association).
 
Martin Jarrold, Chief of International Program Development with GVF, and conference chairman, observed at the conclusion of the program that whereas “Wireless broadband connectivity has always required a combination of satellite and terrestrial solutions, now an ever-increasing and important role for the most mobility-enhancing and nomadic communications technology of all – satellite – will be progressively more evident as part of a the ‘seamless connectivity ecosystem’ which the conference set-out to explore and profile.”

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