Mumbai: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) is welcoming more Telco members to the Association, this month adding Australia’s Telstra Corp. as a corporate member.

At the same time, global English-language news channel Al Jazeera International has stepped up its membership from Corporate to Patron status, while global executive search specialist Russell Reynolds Associates has joined CASBAA as a corporate member.

"The increased participation of telco giants such as Telstra, as well as SingTel, Chunghwa Telecom, Telkom of Indonesia and Reliance of India – each of which recently joined CASBAA – is evidence that the new video platforms recognize that working closely with content owners on multiple levels is essential," said CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies.

CASBAA now directly represents 25 digital cable, IPTV and DTH platforms drawn from across the Asia Pacific, along with more than 55 pay-TV channels both domestic and multi-national. In total, the CASBAA membership now tops 130 companies.

"Almost every day, with well over 250 million pay-TV connections, our industry is achieving fresh milestones thanks to the new delivery platforms. While traditional cable and satellite services will be the bed-rock of the Asia Pacific pay-TV market for years to come, our industry is growing and changing shape irrevocably," added Davies.