CommunicAsia 2012 – Singapore – The increasing growth of the direct-to-home (DTH) market in the Asia-Pacific and the growing demand for high-definition (HD) content are driving the demand for satellite capacity in the region.

Deepak Mathur, Senior Vice President Commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, SES, said the vast majority of young demographic, who are increasingly consuming content, have led Asia to become one of the strongest growing regions in the world when it comes to DTH distribution. By 2016, the number of channels offered by DTH platforms in Southeast Asia alone is projected to reach 1,600.

In line with this, SES is ramping up its investment activities in Asia-Pacific to meet the increasing demand for satellite capacity. One of its current committed investments in the region is the SES-8 satellite, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2013. According to Mathur, this will provide a significant amount of capacity to India and Southeast Asia. SES-8 is the first satellite to be launched by SpaceX.

SES is now the leading satellite operator carrying the highest number of pay DTH channels in Asia-Pac, with nearly 650 pay DTH channels. It reaches 20 million pay TV homes in the Asia-Pacific via DTH, or one in three DTH subscribers in Asia – which is a great achievement given the region’s diversity, according to Mathur.

SES is also mulling two more additional satellites, with investments totaling $650 million, for APAC. This will deliver increased satellite capacity and coverage in Asia, helping to fuel further growth in the pay TV markets, as well as the maritime industry in the region. According to Mathur, the plan is under active evaluation.

Widening footprint in the Philippines

SES has also announced a new multi-year agreement with MediaScape Inc., one of its largest customers in the Philippines, to provide additional capacity on the SES-7 satellite at the prime orbital location of 108.2°E. This will enable MediaScape to ramp up Cignal TV’s DTH offering to 15 HD channels and 51 Standard Definition (SD) channels in the Philippines, up from nine HD channels and 37 SD channels last year.

Cignal is one of the largest and fastest growing satellite TV providers in the Philippines. It currently serves over 250,000 subscribers across the country.

In a statement, Mathur said that SES is delighted to be able to provide MediaScape with the capacity it needs to help realise its goal of changing the Philippines’ media landscape by providing households with a full digital experience.

Annie Naval, COO and Managing Director of Cignal, said: “The new deal will allow us to grow new TV audiences throughout the Philippines, enabling millions of TV households to access high quality satellite TV. We are also benefitting from SES’ global expertise in carrying HD TV programmes as we expand Cignal HD’s lineup, which now offers a wide variety of premium programmes covering sports, lifestyle, kids, history and movies.”