[Via Satellite 08-21-13] Via Satellite Latin America is out with a special distribution at SET Broadcast & Cable 2013 in São Paulo, Brazil, a blue chip event where many of the region’s top broadcasters and DTH players convene to talk about the market. Latin America is a dynamic region for satellite services, with huge demands for satellite capacity.

In this issue, we focus on Venezuela’s future in the satellite industry and space-based capabilities, and determine how the satellite industry will be affected by the mega sporting events coming to Brazil in the next three years.

As a special preview for Via Satellite Latin America, we take the best 10 quotes from this edition:

The major issue right now in the region is the network capability. There is a lack of fiber and satellite provides a solution in terms of content to the cable head-ends. – Oscar Lopez, CEO, Overon America

Although we have not decided on what will be the next Venezuelan satellite, the idea is that it will be designed, assembled, and manufactured here in Venezuela.  – Victor Cano, president, Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE)

The pay TV market in Latin America is very dynamic, with a strong growth trend led by DTH technology, and Venezuela is no exception. – Rodolfo Carrano, marketing director, DirecTV Venezuela

Inter serves more than 2 million homes in Venezuela with a triple play offer. However, these represent only 29 percent of homes around the country. Due to the socio-geographical characteristics of Latin America, it was impossible to reach all homes with our fiber optics network. This is why we saw the opportunity to serve these households that still have very low penetration of pay-TV services with a satellite service. – Eduardo Stigol, CEO, Inter Venezuela

TV Globo will not to be responsible for the International broadcast feed of the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, but these are not going to be a regular events for us. Usually we cover only the Brazilian team in a World Cup in another country and we get from FIFA or somebody else the feed about the others teams. However, this time we will cover the event in 12 cities and all the 32 teams. – Fernando Bittencourt, TV Globo’s technology CEO

We are also very sensitive to satellite ‘overspill’ (i.e. unencrypted transmissions which spills over to several territories). We get involved in the action monitoring of each broadcast. We have to make sure everything gets to the consumer in a smooth and secure way. We get in touch directly with the broadcasters and satellite operators regarding this aspect of a FIFA World Cup. – Niclas Ericson, FIFA TV director

Everybody is looking at these events as the breakthrough for UHDTV, but technology is still at its early stages, so there is still a way to walk before predicting the impact in terms of demand. We expect ‘experimental’ live broadcasting of UHDTV during the FIFA World Cup 2014, but still without consumer reach. As for the 2016 Olympic Games, this is the event which should mark the real massive deployment of UHDTV across consumers, starting with DTH subscribers. – Ignacio Sanchis, Hispasat

For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, we dedicated more than 900MHz of satellite capacity across nine satellites within our global fleet. For the 2012 London Olympics, we used 500 MHz of bandwidth across 11 satellites that sup- ported approximately 50 channels with 15,000 to 20,000 hours of coverage. With global interest for the 2014 World Cup expected to be high, we expect to provide similar amounts of capacity. – Carmen González-Sanfeliu, Intelsat’s regional vice president, Latin America & Caribbean

The telcos and the broadcasters face infrastructure challenges to get the content to the audiences. In Brazil, satellite will play an important role. If you look at the mobile phone companies, they have gradually been leasing more capacity to reach remote areas and provide additional offerings. All of them are getting ready for this big event. Mobile networks will face the challenge of having a substantial peak in the demand. The government has a very ambitious connectivity goal. I think video and broadband that will take place in these events will go hand in hand in terms of demands for satellite capacity. – Dolores Martos, VP, Latin America & Caribbean sales, SES

The Latin American Ka-band business does seem to be more promising in the backhaul segment instead of the last mile. – Georgia Jordan, research analyst, Frost & Sullivan

Don’t miss this new edition of Via Satellite Latin America. You can read it online for free in English, Spanish and Portuguese.