Welcome to this special edition of Via Satellite dedicated to the Latin American region. This exciting edition puts the spotlight on one of the most dynamic regions for satellite communications right now. The region contains a number of exciting country markets for satellite, including Brazil, Mexico and other smaller markets such as Colombia and Peru, where the demands for all kinds of services based on satellite are increasing.

This is also the first time Via Satellite has been launched in multiple languages, so we are delighted to provide an edition that can simultaneously be enjoyed by English, Spanish and Portuguese speaking professionals in the satellite community. Hopefully even more professionals in our community than usual will enjoy it!

The aim of this special edition is to provide unique insights for all those companies that are looking to do business in the region, and provide exciting snapshots of what is going on in the region in a number of different markets where satellite has an impact.

The region is an exciting one for satellite on many levels. The strong economic performance of countries like Brazil is fuelling the demand for pay-TV services among new emerging middle classes who want more from their entertainment experiences. While Brazil is an obvious example, other countries are also seeing an economic renaissance. It is interesting to note that countries from Bolivia to Venezuela have also invested in major satellite projects to bring the benefits of satellite to their countries.

Satellite companies such as Intelsat, SES and Telesat, as well as local players such as Satmex and Star One, are making this a vibrant market and bringing a lot of new capacity to the region to serve this demand. Intelsat signed a huge deal with DirecTV Latin America last year, which continues to be one of the poster boys for DTH globally, let alone just in Latin America.

Brazil will also stage two of the biggest global sporting events in the next four years — the Olympics and the World Cup. The demand for satellite capacity is strong. In this special edition, we talk to a number of senior executives of DTH operators throughout the region about the growth of pay-TV, and look at how many operators are trying to bring pay-TV services to households across the region. We also discuss the cellular backhaul market, another market that is having an increasing demand for satellite services as cellular operators and telcos look to satellite to provide additional services and capability.

We also have interviews with executives from ESPN Brazil and BT as well as a column written by an analyst who covers the region for Frost & Sullivan and takes a look at the potential for satellite broadband in the region.

While there are so many layers to this market, I hope this special edition of Via Satellite will offer some interesting insight into Latin America by a number of the executives who are shaping strategies and the direction of key players in the region. We have interviewed a number of telcos, broadcasters and DTH players for this edition to bring a unique end-user perspective of the market. We hope you enjoy and we wish you all the best as you look to continue to grow revenues in the region.