By Jason Bates

An era in which many countries in the Asia-Pacific region wished to own and operate their own satellite crippled transponder prices in the area for many years. The actions of smaller, government-backed operators confirmed what smart business people already knew, it doesn’t pay to launch a satellite based on national pride.

Now that era seems to be drawing to a close, and while there are still complaints of overcapacity in the region, transponder prices are on the rise. So the obvious move would be to continue to let the number of transponders drop in order to keep prices rising.

Instead, another group of satellite owners are preparing to place even more transponders over the Asia-Pacific region. But the names behind this planned series of moves should instill more confidence that business in the area is getting ready to take off. Rather than making decisions with their hearts and egos, companies like Intelsat, SES, China DBSat and Measat are known for making shrewd business moves, and their forecasts see a rash of business opportunities taking shape and a need for more satellite capacity to serve the market.

It looks like the communications market is getting ready to take off.