coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 6
“European
policymakers need
to incentivise
hybrid solutions
combining satellite
and terrestrial.”
Norbert Hölzle,
SES
Conference 2015 (WRC-15) in November
approaches, the International Mobile
Telecommunications (IMT) industry is
claiming that it needs additional spectrum
and is lobbying regulators to identify the Cband frequency band (3.4-4.2 GHz
receive/downlink and 5.8-6.7 GHz
transmit/uplink) for IMT services. Satellite
spectrum, including C-band, is critical not
only to the satellite industry, but the global
communications infrastructure. It cannot be
‘replaced’ with other bands and sharing with
IMT services may cause unintentional
interference - if regulators are not thoughtful
about the manner in which these new
terrestrial systems are allowed to operate in
or adjacent to frequency bands used to
provide satellite services, there can be
unintended consequences for the critical
satellite services offered throughout the
world,” he warns.
CONCERN. Sandberg also notes that the
cellular mobile industry is trying to get their
hands on the lower end of the C Band
satellite spectrum. “Given that the satellite
industry has a very large space-borne and
installed earth station infrastructure using
this band, it is of great concern to the
industry. The Global VSAT forum is
spearheading the satellite industry’s
response to this spectrum threat.”
“In today’s world, video content requires
several Zettabytes (a million, million,
Gigabytes) of data per year to be transmitted
to users,” advises Hölzle. “This demand will
increase as Ultra HD gains popularity, and
can hardly be met by terrestrial technologies
alone. It is therefore important that
European
policymakers
realise that
they need to incentivise
hybrid solutions that
combine satellite and
terrestrial technologies,
or risk wasting scarce
resources and public
money and deepening
the Digital Divide. To do
so, Europe will need to
preserve access to
spectrum for satellite
operators and not
allocate them to terrestrial mobile operators.
Europe also needs to foster technology
neutrality by granting satellite a levelplaying field with other technologies to best
serve its citizens.”
Shavit notes that the intention of the ITU
to transfer chunks of C-band spectrum in
favour of mobile operators has been around
for a few years. “Unfortunately it seems that
the decision has already been taken (not
officially, of course). This act will primarily
hurt developing regions where C-band is
extensively used for various
telecommunications services.”
BROADBAND. With a number of
commentators noting the role that satellite
will play in broadband connectivity, Pannell
says that Arqiva believes that the more
pressing conversation is about the role
satellite will play regarding non-real time
and catch-up TV services, where currently
there is a huge pressure on fibre broadband.
Wilson-Dunn agrees that satellite
connectivity for broadband is already an
important component of broadband
connectivity in many parts of the world
where geography makes fibre delivery
difficult or prohibitively expensive. “This can
be as diverse as getting broadband to oil rigs
and remote bank branches in Africa, through
to domestic broadband in remote parts of
the UK through VSAT (very small aperture
terminals dishes). BT operates a long
standing global VSAT business,” he advises.
According to Riera, non-linear
consumption as a driver for broadband
distribution is not currently negatively
impacting linear consumption. “The
Globecast view is that satellite should be
considered as part of an overall global
technological ecosystem including
broadband networks
and DTT broadcast
infrastructure.”
SPEED. Ostapiuik says
that when it comes to
broadband connectivity,
it’s about speed to
market, coverage and
cost to deploy services.
“OTT services will
have little effect on
linear TV services
on satellite.”
Dr. Eli Shavit,
Spacecom.
24 EUROMEDIA
“Satellite services are quick to deploy and
can provide connectivity in even the most
remote area. Thus, satellite-enabled
broadband connectivity allows network
operators to quickly provide services in
remote areas. It can be incorporated into
existing cellular networks to expand services
into remote areas and also can be used to
deliver additional capacity in areas where
demand is growing rapidly.”
Sandberg says the satellite industry has
been leading the delivery of broadband
services for many years. “Video on demand
is a good example of the industry’s
leadership in this field. SES has a
development team that works on the video
and broadband applications for the home.
They work hand in hand with the earth
segment manufacturers to ensure that the
consumer continues to receive the rich
content now available over satellite,” he
advises.
Cox says: “The TV viewing experience is
moving to OTT platforms that have the
ability to react to technological
advancements at a much quicker pace. The
consumption of satellite TV will inevitably
decrease, meaning that it will merely fuel the
competition between OTT providers and
drive future development in the space,” he
suggests. Plunkett says that eventually the
day will come when DVB will become
obsolete and all transponders in service will
be configured to deliver ubiquitous IP
service only.
ESSENTIAL. “Satellite has always been
essential in providing broadband connectivity
in areas which do not have access to terrestrial
infrastructure, and will increasingly play an
even more important one in the future of the
connected world,” asserts Hölzle. In the last
year, SES has provided Astra Connect satellite
broadband services to villages in German and
the UK, all of which are aimed at improving
quality of life and competitiveness for
residents and businesses located in rural areas
respectively. The newly-launched SATMED
platform in Benin also illustrates how
broadband connectivity via satellite overcomes
lack of terrestrial infrastructures to connect
three hospitals across Benin.”
Shavit agrees that satellites are already
taking a very important rol H[