Trade Shows See Discussions on Industry’s Future

September was a busy month, as we took in a number of trade shows from World Satellite Business Week, IBC, VSAT Global, and even APEX. There were many observations and firstly, it seems clear from the big operators that broadcast is unlikely to see any major growth. The onus now is very clearly on data services. For example, who could have predicted a few years back that SES would be doing deals with the likes of IBM, which is something we have seen recently. Speaking of SES, the creation of the C-Band Alliance (CBA) with Eutelsat, Intelsat, and now Telesat was one of the big news stories of the month, and it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the U.S. in regards to spectrum sharing.

Speaking of watching how things pan out, the U.K. will be fascinating to watch over the next year. As a U.K. citizen, I would not dare make a prediction on Brexit and whether there will be a deal or no deal, but either way, it will be interesting to watch what happens with its very dynamic space industry. In this edition, we have an interview with U.K. Communications Minister Sam Gyimah, who talks exclusively about the U.K.’s space ambitions.

We also look at the issue of cybersecurity as it relates to military satcom. This is particularly relevant as we have our CyberSat event coming up. There is a great line-up of speakers including those from U.S. CyberCom, NATO, and NOAA, many big satellite companies. It is not too late to join us in Washington, D.C. in November. With trade show season back in full swing, it would be great to see you there in one of the most diverse speaker line-ups you will see at any satellite show this year. VS