broadcast
broadcast technology
technology trends
trends and
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insights 2015
2015
Singtel Satellite’s
success story has
more pages to fill
APB sits down with Tan Tian Seng,
Director, Business Development, Singtel
Satellite, to discuss the company’s first
forays into the broadcast sphere, and how
it continues to evolve to meet customers’
diversified needs today.
Singtel Satellite has come a
long way in establishing itself
as one of the leading global
providers of one-stop satellite
communications and ICT
solutions today.
When the company’s first
satellite earth station was
established on Singapore’s
picturesque island resort of
Sentosa in 1970, its main focus
was on providing voice for IDD
services. Today, Singtel Satellite
operates three earth station
sites that provide a whole
suite of satellite services for
various customer segments,
including the broadcast industry.
Specifically, the Bukit Timah
earth station today, serves as
Singtel Satellite’s main broadcast
station, revealed Tan Tian Seng,
Director, Business Development,
Singtel Satellite.
He told APB: “In the early
years, our focus was on providing
voice for IDD. Once we had
set up our earth stations, we
then looked at deploying them
for various applications and,
of course, broadcast came
along, because satellite is a core
technology platform behind the
delivery of content.”
The ’80s and ’90s proved
to a boon period for Singtel
Satellite, as Singapore continued
its transformation into one of the
region’s leading broadcast hubs.
As more companies set up their
Asia-Pacific operations in the
republic, the demand for Singtel
Satellite’s broadcast services
grew in tandem. “Our broadcast
services were very much, then,
focused on providing uplinking
and downlinking of content
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for broadcast customers,” Tan
added.
Another milestone was
achieved in 1998 with the launch
of the ST-1 satellite, which was
followed by the 2011 launch
of the ST-2 satellite. As more
satellites came online, Singtel
Satellite continued to expand its
infrastructure; for instance, the
company’s antenna farm was
expanded to improve uplinking
and downlinking capabilities. And
over the past decade, the move
into adjacent services has also
become a priority.
Tan explained: “To enable
our core business to continue
to expand in terms of reach
and coverage, we will continue
to invest in our current satellite
infrastructure. But at the same
time, we are also looking at the
adjacent value-add services that
we can offer to our broadcast
customers — for example,
hosting and disaster recovery
services.”
A key trend that Singtel
Satellite is observing and
following very closely, revealed
Tan, is outsourcing via the
cloud. “Many customers are
now looking to outsource
using the cloud. We have cloud
infrastructures that we have built
ourselves or with partners, and
we are looking at how we can
leverage our cloud infrastructures
to provide the next generation
of services for our broadcast
customers. One area we try
to look at closely now is cloud
storage for media content, which
traditionally has taken up a lot of
space. We are looking at how we
can be an outsource partner in
When its first earth station was
established in 1970, the company’s
main focus was on providing voice
over IDD services. Today, Singtel
Satellite operates three earth station
sites that provide a whole suite
of satellite services for various
customer segments, including the
broadcast industry.
terms of the c