africa_africa 30/10/2014 16:15 Page 4
C-BAND ‘essential’ for continued
socio-economic development
ew research has revealed that
wireless industry efforts to take
massive amounts of additional
spectrum – amounts that have been
shown to be in excess of actual
requirements – would undercut African
economies, and threaten social and
emergency services by disrupting
mission-critical satellite services
for key applications delivered
throughout the continent.
The research, which was conducted
by international consultancy firm
Euroconsult and commissioned by the
European Space Agency, was revealed
during the VSAT 2014 conference, as
organisations representing a variety of
African user groups – including
broadcasters, humanitarian and
disaster-response agencies, civil
aviation authorities, and other
stakeholders – reach out to their
governments to convey how essential
C-band satellite services are for
continued socio-economic development.
“Euroconsult’s report re-affirms what
African governments, industry, and millions of
individuals have long taken for granted,” said
David Hartshorn, secretary general of GVF, the
London-based global association of the satellite
communications industry. “C-band satellite
services provide highly reliable, cross-border
and continental broadband connectivity that is
a cornerstone of African socio-economic
growth. We endorse Euroconsult’s conclusion
and commend the European Space Agency for
commissioning this timely research.”
Euroconsult, which recently confirmed
similar reliance on C-band satellite in the Asia
region, examined three country markets
representative of the diverse economies of
southern, western and central Africa, and found
that – in addition to the millions of consumers
N
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6 Africa Briefing
who rely on C-band television – the wireless,
banking and finance, energy production, civil
aviation, and government sectors were
particularly reliant on satellite networks using
C-band spectrum, which is prized for its
reliability and scope of coverage.
“These findings stand in stark contrast to
claims made by representatives of the wireless
industry which, regardless of the consequences,
are attempting to seize C-band for their own
use,” Hartshorn said. “C-band communications
are being represented by wireless
manufacturers from Developed Countries to be
of declining importance, but that is clearly not
true in Africa, most of Asia, Latin America and
other regions where conditions are
fundamentally different than in South Korea,
Japan, and Sweden. In particular, C-band
communications are part of the bedrock of
daily life and economic activity in Developing
Countries.”
A sample of African uses of C-band networks
described in Euroconsult’s report included:
l Nigeria: The National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC) of Nigeria says TV
households reached over 11m in 2013,
of 'society's most vulnerable
populations', according to
channel owner Bricke and
Athens.
A medical editorial board
panel of physicians,
nutritionists, dieticians and
fitness experts regularly
review AHT's subscriptionbased content.
Dr Chris Itabor, chairman
of the channel's medical
advisory board, told the
Nigerian Tribune the
representing a 33% penetration, and they
are highly reliant on C-band satellite
capacity, principally for contribution to
earth stations. Given the fact that terrestrial
reception remains the principal TV
reception mode for a large part of the
population, C-Band is required for the
Nigerian television industry to operate.
l Democratic Republic of the Congo:
For DRC’s 25m – 30m mobile
subscribers, satellite remains a primary
option to connect a large part of mobile
networks, and ISPs are currently using
C-band capacity as primary backbone
network for International connectivity.
Despite the introduction of fibre
connectivity in certain cities, its limited
reach, as well as concerns on data-rate
availability and transmission reliability,
means that C-band capacity remains
the primary option or a mandatory
backup option for connectivity.
The report not