Even though business opportunities are increasing throughout the Asia-Pacific region, regional directors and general managers of some of the leading satellite companies in Asia are moving forward cautiously with their business plans. Strategic penetration of vertical markets and offering managed solutions are the practices industry executives are implementing today in order to garner market share and increase their revenues from a region that not too long ago was anything but profitable.

Voice over Internet protocol, Internet connectivity and mobile trunking are the top applications being offered within this region, according to many executives that I talked to during the CommunicAsia Conference and Exhibition in June.

Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand are the countries that kept resurfacing in conversations. China, though touted many times in the West as a proverbial hotbed for satellite-delivered applications, was casually referred to by officials living and working in the region. VSAT and broadcasting opportunities have increased since China was named to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, but its business environment is no more robust today and many executives view the country’s business future growing conservatively.

One country that all eyes keep focusing on more closely is Thailand, triggered by Shin Satellite’s IPStar endeavour. As we went to press, the satellite was undergoing final preparations by Ariansespace in Kourou, French Guiana, prior to its scheduled launch.

When I sat down with Dumrong Kasemset, executive chairman of Shin Satellite, he seemed excited that nearly a decade of planning and preparation would soon bear fruit. "This has been a long time coming, but we are very excited to see our nine years of hard work come to a head," he told me. He remained steadfast in his belief that IPStar will succeed in providing broadband Internet bandwidth for consumers, corporate customers and telecom providers throughout the Southeast Asian region. "We have followed closely what the customer wants and will be better able to serve those customer needs," Kasemset added.

But broadband is not the only significant service fueling the business drive of executives within the region. Direct-to-home operators, broadcasters and corporate users are becoming an increasingly stronger business for satellite service providers. But an interesting fact emerged during my conversations with those transmitting and managing programming content to and from the region: The long-term successful business within the Asia-Pacific region will come from bundling video and data services. In order for that service offering to truly succeed, stronger partnerships among content providers, service managers and distributors will have to be formed.

Indeed, cautious optimism is shared among all doing business throughout the Asian region. As one executive put it, the region is "warm" but not "hot" today. Opportunity and a solid venue for revenue growth are spread out throughout the region but all agreed that only smart, well-calculated business initiatives will prevail in the short and long term.