Significant surge in trade visitors for CABSAT2006

"Considering the international stature of the show, we are delighted with such a positive increase in visitor attendance. It only reiterates the event's global appeal and the potential the regional markets offer to multinationals looking for new areas of revenue generation," said DWTC Director General, Helal Saeed Al Marri.

Many businesses pointed out that order negotiations during the show would be confirmed in the ensuing months. Participating companies added that the response generated at the show has been tremendous.

Prominent among the deals closed at the show included Arri Lighting Solutions GmbH's and Salam Mediacast's largest deal in the region with Al Jazeerah International for providing lighting turnkey solutions for their studios based in Doha, Washington, London and Kuala Lumpur.

The show which was divided into three distinct segments including "Broadcast & Production", "Communications", and "Cable & Satellite", covered Halls 5, 6, 7 and 8 in a total gross exhibition space of 13,680 square meters, and witnessed several new products launches as well.

A total of 439 companies participated from more than 45 countries showcased their wide array of state-of-the-art equipment incorporating the latest technology at CABSAT2006. There were six country pavilions at this year's event.
Emirates Cable TV and Multimedia (E-Vision) showcased some of its latest products including the advanced set-top-box Personal Video Recorder (PVR), developments on the games and logo downloading for mobiles, as well as the advancements in the pay-per-view service and the info channel.

Panasonic, the leading global manufacturer of broadcast products and consumer electronics, launched the AG-HVX200, the world's first hand-held high definition solid-state memory camcorder at the show. While Hirschmann Multimedia Electronics launched its new Head End station CSE 2000 Generation 2 in the Middle East at the event.

NewSat, communications specialists, unveiled its new state-of-the-art mediaport services, which offers a wide range of cutting edge, and reliable satellite services to broadcasters, cable programmers, news agencies, telecommunications carriers, ISPs, corporations governments and distance learning centers.

The 2nd two-day 2nd CABSAT2006 Broadcast Conference on "Digitalisation - The Continuing Challenge For Broadcasters" was well attended by delegates and invitees who had an opportunity to discuss developments across a wide range of services and applications, including HDTV, IPTV and Mobile TV. The conference on the 8th and 9th March was organised by ABU (Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union), in association with ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Union) and the IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers.

Besides the conference, industry experts and trade professionals also attended two one-day symposiums - on March 8 and March 9. The 2nd GVF Satellite Symposium on "Broadband over Satellite - Defining, Enabling & Leveraging Middle Eastern Demand" and the 1st Middle-East DVB-RCS Symposium on "Answering Satellite Communications Challenges with DVB-RCS" organised by SatLabs which were both attended by around 100 delegates.

Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), International Association Of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) and Global Satellite Forum (GVF) endorsed CABSAT2006.