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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[