MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced five new corporate members of the association drawn from India, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the US.

The two new members who have signed up as Casbaa corporate members from India are broadcaster Zee Entertainment Enterprises, headquartered in Mumbai and law firm Amarchand and Mangaldas and Suresh A Shroff and company, an intellectual property rights specialist based in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Taiwan cable operator Fu Yang Media Technology, a division of the Fubon Group and formerly known as Pacific Broadband, has also signed as a corporate member of Casbaa, as has Hong Kong-based technology advisory group ITSun. The fifth new corporate member of the association is Asia-Pacific focused regional direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operator ProtoStar headquartered in San Francisco, according to an official release.

“We believe the new memberships, especially those in India and Taiwan, reflect the new internationalisation of our industry, as well as the effective work that Casbaa undertakes as an industry voice. Leading content players are looking beyond immediate domestic agendas, while infrastructure specialists see new value in international best practice and regional experience. Our industry is reaching a new level of maturity thanks to new capital and technological change,” says Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies.

The Casbaa membership now includes over 125 member companies drawn from 14 markets, running from Japan to India, and China to New Zealand.

The association’s events programme for 2007 includes the Casbaa Satellite Industry Forum  in Singapore on 18 June 2007, the Casbaa China Sports TV Forum in Beijing on 23 August 2007 and the Casbaa Convention 2007 in Hong Kong from 30 October to 2 November 2007.