Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) Satellie Special Supplement 2016 | Page 3

FSS PLUS HTS KEEP SATELLITES PULSATING

Satellite extends reach
over Asia-Pacific
With WRC-15 having declared the preservation of C-band spectrum for fixed satellite
services worldwide, the stage is set for satellite to remain a key content delivery platform,
particularly in Asia-Pacific. With High Throughput Satellites and 4K/Ultra HD on the
horizon, and as the demand for multi-platform content delivery increases, 2016 is shaping
up to be a pivotal year for the satellite industry, as Shawn Liew discovers.

L

ike a bearer of glad year-end tidings, WRC-15
brought joy to terrestrial broadcasters around the
world, as the Geneva conference announced before
Christmas the preservation of the 470-694MHz band for
terrestrial TV services.
For the satellite industry, WRC-15 was no less
significant, as a “No Change” verdict was passed on the
3600-4200MHz band, or C-band, to remain primarily
allocated to fixed satellite services (FSS) worldwide.
The prognosis for Asia-Pacific is particularly
heartening. In ITU Region 2 (Americas), a number
of countries have identified International Mobile
Telecommunications (IMT) allocation through a footnote in
the 3600-3700MHz band, while in ITU Region 1 (Europe, the
Middle East and Africa), the decision was made to allocate
the 3400-3600MHz band to mobile services, sharing coprimary status with FSS.
In ITU Region 3 (Asia-Pacific) however, C-band has
been withheld from regional allocation to mobile services.
This is a development that bodes well for the satellite
industry as a whole, said Lim Kian Soon, Head of Satellite,
Singtel, pointing out that C-band allows the industry to
continue to support applications in the areas of cellular
backhaul, as well as broadcast distribution and contribution.
“C-band is very important for this — to support a
multitude of video, television and data services, and to
expand Internet access,” Lim explained. He also said
that Asia, where rainfall is heavy, remains a huge user of
C-band spectrum. “C-band is the most resilient spectrum
to guarantee high-quality, reliable delivery of content and
connectivity,” he added.
With the preservation of C-band spectrum, it would
appear that the immediate future of FSS is secured.
However, this is unlikely to halt service providers in their
quest to seek even higher capacity efficiencies as well as
cost-efficiencies.

HTS on the rise?

Across Asia-Pacific, the traditional wide-beam FSS
is being challenged by the new geostationary High
Throughput Satellite (HTS) systems, which provide multiple,
polarisation/frequency diverse, contiguous, narrow spot
beams with Ka-band and Ku-band footprints, suggested
Karl Rossiter, APB’s contributing technology editor.
He pointed out that a number of major operators would
be bringing HTS payloads into Asia-Pacific over the next

two years. This include Eutelsat 172B at 172OE; SES-12
at 95OE; Intelsat EPIC 33e at 60OE; and Inmarsat 5 at
180OE, reflecting an emerging trend that will see services
benefiting from low latency to migrate from traditional
FSS to new HTS-style MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) and LEO
(Low Earth Orbit) constellations.
Due to spectral limitations and licensing regimes,
HTS services across Asia-Pacific are being provisioned in
either Ku- or Ka-band. The downside is expensive groundsegment hubs at multiple-gateway sites to counter the
complexities and effects of rain fade. These reasons,
among others, will ensure that traditional FSS widebeam broadcast distribution at C-band remains relatively
unaffected in the near term.
Wide-beam satellites are not going away, concurred
Robert Bell, executive director of the World Teleport
Association. This, said Bell, can be attributed to the fact
that wide-beam satellite remains the most cost-effective
and reliable way to distribute video content to millions of
people.
Even as the industry enters the ‘Age of the Internet’,
this is unlikely to change, he added. However, there is a
niche market to be found for HTS in terms of contribution,
and in the distribution of channels intended for one
country or territory.
An

The
evolution
of HTS can
also be
intrinsically
linked to
the trend
towards
multi-service
networks
across the
industry.

Supplement

1