Welcome to the first dedicated edition of Via Satellite Asia, where we focus on one of the most dynamic regions for satellite communications: Asia. We are also delighted that this special edition of Via Satellite will have special distribution at the Asia Pacific Pay-TV Operators Summit (APOS) hosted by Media Partners Asia in late April, one of the key regional industry events.

With large country markets such as India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam among others, there is huge potential for satellite to play an enhanced role in providing communications and entertainment services across the region. While rain fade is undoubtedly an issue, particularly when looking at the possibilities for High Throughput Satellites (HTS) in the region, there is still potential for a number of services based on satellite. Also, as technology improves to deal with the rain fade issue, there could be a strong satellite broadband play in the region.

Pay-TV via satellite is shaping up to be a lucrative market across the region. Over the last few years, the whole world has watched India grow to have more than 40 million DTH subscribers, with players such as DishTV, Tata Sky and Bharti Airtel pacing the markets. Indonesia, however, has also seen a flurry of new entrants, seeing strong take-up of pay-TV. In one of our main features, we look at how pay-TV is developing in some markets outside of India with case studies in Indonesia, the Philippines and Nepal, assessing the impact pay-TV is having there.

In our second feature, we look at satellite-based cellular backhaul services. With more than 3 billion cellular connections across the region, the demand for wireless services is at an all-time high. However, this is placing a strain on GSM and 3G networks throughout the region, particularly when you get out of some of the major urban centers.

Finally, we explore the developing market of in-flight connectivity in the region. This is a market on the upswing in Asia, with many regional airlines now confirming plans to offer these services based on satellite. We talk to Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Thai Airways and All Nippon Airways about launching these services and the demands they are expecting from Asian passengers. This is another highly interesting, and relatively new market for services, which is another boon for satellite operators.

Asia has also been largely insulated from the global economic recession, with many markets performing strongly in recent times. Consequently, demands for bandwidth have been consistently on the increase, which is good news for local operators as well as more global players such as SES, Intelsat and Eutelsat. Asia has long been a focus for Eutelsat with its CEO Michel de Rosen making no secret that the company wants to become much more of a force within the region. The operator, which bought the GE-23 satellite, is likely to want to expand still further in the region.

While undoubtedly there are still regulatory issues, particularly in India and China, it is a region where satellite has become a more vital part of the communications eco-system. Besides providing comprehensive in-depth features about some of the major growth segments for satellite, this issue also features columns from experts from NSR, Media Partners Asia and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, all looking at different parts of the market.

Finally, I would also like to take the time to once again congratulate Tom Choi, the CEO of Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) who became our Satellite Executive of the Year for 2012. Tom was the first winner to come from Asia in the history of the award, which is a highly significant milestone.

Asia is a vibrant region for satellite communications, and poised for an exciting future. We look forward to seeing what happens next.