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Alan Crisp, analyst with
specialist market research and
consulting firm NSR, suggests
that despite increasing concerns about
web-based OTT video, the linear TV
via satellite market will continue to
show solid growth. NSR’s Linear TV
via Satellite: DTH, OTT & IPTV, 8th
Edition, finds that, by 2024 the
market will see an increase of over
21,000 channels across both DTH and
video distribution platforms. The
proliferation of Ultra HD, HD and SD
channels, along with limited global
impact from OTT platforms, enable
linear TV via satellite to continue
upwards over the next decade.
“Although OTT platforms have become
increasingly mature in North America,
elsewhere the development of OTT platforms
is in its infancy and is expected to have
limited impact on traditional video platforms
in the short to medium term,” says Crisp.
In North America, subscriber numbers on
most cable TV platforms are declining as a
result of cord-cutting, and subscriber growth
for DTH platforms has been at sub-par levels
for some time. However, elsewhere
platforms are moving from strength to
strength, with the pull of exclusive content,
sports and localised
channels being a
significant draw for
consumers worldwide to
linear TV platforms – and
NSR does not expect this
trend to change soon.
BOTTLENECK.
Especially in developing
regions, access to high
quality and fast Internet
access remains a bottleneck for the adoption
of OTT platforms, with wireless technologies
such as 3G/LTE not suited to the demanding
bandwidth required for streaming video
content. As such, unless a ubiquitous fixed
line or low cost satellite broadband service is
introduced, there remains limited impact to
the dominance of traditional pay TV
platforms, with a few exceptions. As such,
leased capacity video, the bread and butter
for satellite operators, continues to exhibit
strong growth, with over 3,500 satellite
transponders to be leased in 2024 for DTH
and video distribution services globally.
“Nevertheless, longer-term, it will
essentially be compulsory for DTH and other
pay TV platforms to offer OTT as a
supplementary service, to both increase
retention amongst existing subscribers, and
for signing up new subs based on exclusive
content, and effectively becoming a ‘one-
stop-shop’ for content as much as feasibly
possible,” states Crisp.
Alex Pannell, portfolio development
director with Arqiva, says that in the short to
medium term, hybrid TV (linear TV via
16 EUROMEDIA
The growth of OTTservices could have ledto a decline in themarket for DTHproviders and satelliteservices in general, butthe advent of 4K,coupled with the desireof premium contentproviders to exploitrights further afield indeveloping markets, hasput satellite’s bandwidthand reach advantageback in the limelight.Colin Mann looks at whois providing what,where, and how themarket is likely todevelop.
“The mosteconomical point-to-multipointmechanismremains satellite.”Bernard Riera,Globecast
Sky-highprospects
coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 1
satellite and OTT platforms) will be
complementary. “Broadcasters who are
offering linear TV via satellite, such as BBC,
ITV, Sky, Canal+, and NBCU are using VoD
to augment the customer experience. He
suggests that broadband networks cannot
today scale to provide broadcast quality
programmes to 10 million viewers at once,
and the investment is currently too much for
mobile operators. “In this instance,
terrestrial or satellite is so much better. Yet,
in the longer term, this could change
especially in highly dense, small geography
communities. For example, Now TV in Hong
Kong delivers over 190 channels of TV to 1.2
million homes purely over broadband.”
Mark Wilson-Dunn, VP of BT Media &
Broadcast, says that in general the
development of OTT platforms will have very
little impact on the linear TV via satellite
market in the short to medium term. “There
is a growing trend for the smaller, niche
channels to move away from relatively
expensive DTH platforms to lower cost OTT
platforms, but there is a growing demand for
HD and quality programming for
mainstream channels, particularly sports,
and DTH satellite remains a cost effective
delivery mechanism for the mass market,
particularly for higher bit rate delivery...BT
Sport is delivering UHD over broadband
DTH which is a first for Europe.”
ECONOMICAL. According to Bernard
Riera, director of new technologies and
innovation, Globecast, although audiences
are becoming increasingly fragmented, and
there’s the talk about – and deployments of –
OTT services, linear consumption still
accounts for the majority of content accessed
by consumers. “Overall, the most economical
point-to-multipoint distribution mechanism
remains satellite. There are instances where
fibre may be more economical. For example,
a new channel launch or a foray into a new
region, are instances where operators could
find fibre the better option. But when they
start to diversify their operations and their
reach, satellite is more likely to enter the
mix.”
Peter Ostapiuik, head of media product
services at Intelsat, says that while more and
more viewers are watching content across
multiple devices, linear TV remains the
number one way viewers are consuming
media. “While we do not expect an impact in
the short to medium term as viewers
continue to prefer content via linear TV,
millennials continue to ‘cut the cord’ and opt
to consume media on-demand and on mobile
devices. As a result, we believe multiscreen
viewing will continue to increase and serve as
a complementary way to view content.”
“From a satellite operator’s perspective,
satellite is uniquely positioned to support
broadcasters and programmers as they
transition their distribution models. Satellite
has the ability to deliver large-scale
transmissions that are high quality, reliable
and secure – regardless of the screen –and
remains the most cost-effective way to
multicast linear channels at a predictable
cost.”
BRIDGE. Ulf Sandberg,
MD of Paradigm, says
that media broadcasting
reliance on satellite
communication models
has shifted with the
viewers, but that the
reliance on satellite
technology hasn’t
changed. “Linear TV
satellite broadcasters are
now looking for more
bandwidth, increasing the
bandwidth of the satellite antenna terminals,
as they layer more and more data onto the
broadcast stream, offering the same OTT-
style content to their viewers. Looking more
closely, media companies are using satellite
and fibre mediums more and more to bridge
the gap from source to transmission point.
The consumer’s view of the industry is that
fibre and ADSL broadband mediums are now
taking over supply of traditional TV and
radio content, where the RF wireless
mediums once dominated.”
Peter Cox, marketing director,
PerceptionTV, suggests that in the short to
medium term, the biggest change will be the
growing focus on box sets and the adoption
rates of these sorts of services by other TV
providers. “Sky has of course set the
benchmark for others to beat. However, as
Netflix and other providers grow this feature,
Sky will inevitably be hit the hardest because
the difference in overall service fees are huge.
As the cheaper OTT providers such as Netflix
add more and more innovative, competing
features to their portfolio, the demand for
these services are likely to continue to
increase – threatening the consumption of
linear TV even more.”
Steve Plunkett, CTO, Broadcast and
Media Services at Ericsson, feels that any
such impact will depend greatly on the
geography. “In markets where high
bandwidth, inexpensive broadband is readily
available, we will see increased pressure on
those satellite channels with either niche
audiences or content libraries that are
common to OTT services. In markets where
broadband is less available than DTH,
satellite still offers the most effective reach.
The situation will evolve further when LTE
and later 5G provides much greater access to
high speed broadband in countries without a
large legacy copper network in place,” he
suggests.
HYBRID. Elad Manishviz, CMO, RR Media,
says that while capacity costs for 4K are
higher on satellite, media companies will
look for the best hybrid delivery mechanisms
based on quality and robustness, which can
be via satellite, fibre and IP delivery. “As
there is not yet a solid business model for a
pure OTT platform (Linear TV + VoD), such
services will, for the medium term,
complement the traditional platforms of
DBS, DTH, Cable, etc. This will help
providers to reach audiences anytime and
anywhere,” he adds.
“At SES, we see OTT services as today’s
Blu-rays and DVDs,” reports Norbert Hölzle,
SVP, Commercial, Europe of SES. “Just like
how Blu-rays and DVDs used to complement
linear TV back in the past decade, OTT
packages are fulfilling the same needs. With
recent research showing that people are
spending more screen time in general, we see
the trend of people watching both OTT and
linear TV content. On the other hand, the
increasingly amount of 4K content shown on
OTT platforms has also contributed to
awareness of the new technology and
resulted in more 4K content being shot. This
can only result in the audience being more
attuned to Ultra HD and demanding it in
programmes they watch on linear TV.”
“Spacecom posits that OTT services will
have no or little effect on linear TV services
that are provided via satellite,” says Dr. Eli
Shavit, director of business information,
Spacecom. “Although some reports deal with
a decline in pay-TV subscriptions (primarily
in North America), the number of
subscribers for ‘classical’ linear pay-TV
services is on a constant rise everywhere else.
No one can overlook OTT, however because
so many obstacles currently exist before most
EUROMEDIA 17
“Most operatorshave no plans tolaunch thematicUHD channels.” Mark Wilson-Dunn, BT Media &Broadcast Services
coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 2
markets will be able to enjoy OTT services,
satellite TV is here to stay for many years.”
Matt Vidmar, Vision Group chairman,
suggests that an audience shift is already
well recognised and accepted by the
industry. “In regions where OTT services
have a sizeable penetration it has already
started to take a commanding share,
particularly with the younger audience. The
good news for satellite DTH is that metadata
rich EPG and PVR technology provides
sufficient feature sets to keep satellite service
user experience at a high enough level to
provide profitable business models for the
operators. If we look into the latest industry
growth stats we can see that satellite’s
numbers of channels are still expanding,
however, the OTT curve is much steeper
which is in large part due to OTT business
being much less saturated. This means that
there is tremendous growth opportunity to
come over the next few years especially in
emerging markets.” He predicts that we will
see the steady evolution in the long term
where most of the new satellite transponders
will be utilised for satellite broadband
service facilitating OTT.
UHD. According to Keith Frost, media and
data networks director for satellite and
media at Arqiva, the demand 4K/UHD will
place on transponder capacity will be
intense. “For example, a transponder can
handle 40MB per second, and with standard
definition and current compression
technologies you can get up to 20 channels
into that space; with high definition three-
to-four channels, and with UHD/ 4K 1-2
channels maximum. In addition, the fixed
cost for a transponder is expensive, so the
aim is to get as many channels on it as
possible to make it cost effective. So it will
initially be economics that will drive the
uptake of 4K/UHD, and therefore the
demand on transponder capacity. We predict
that 4K/UHD will initially be used for
Occasional Use and instances where
aggressive content needs to be supported –
for example in sport, or where there is a long
shelf life like nature programming or movies.
This is how the programme provider will be
able to capture a return
on their investment.”
“It’s an exciting
technological
development, but at this
time caution is required
as it is not known if the
pace of uptake and the
cost will enable the
broadcast owners to be
able to monetise the
proposition, and get the
money back from the end-user at scale, to
make 4K/UHD a compelling opportunity.
But, we are beginning to see the
development of satellite and broadband
delivered models, which BT has announced
they will be doing.”
BT’s Wilson-Dunn says that 4K/UHD will
require an increase in transponder bit rate
per channel, meaning that platform
operators will only be able to launch a
limited number of such channels, almost
certainly limited to live sports in the early
years. “Most channel operators have no
plans to launch thematic UHD channels at
present, but are acquiring / creating content
in UHD for future library sales. BT Media &
Broadcast is at the forefront of UHD sports
capture, having already provided UHD
production and transmission for several
global sports events, including the ICC
World Cup in Australia in February 2015. In
terms of industry readiness, platform
operators are already providing UHD ready
set-top boxes, and UHD-ready TVs are
already available, and so the penetration of
UHD services will be predicated on the
availability of UHD content to the
consumer,” he suggests.
HYPE. Globecast’s Riera says that satellite
is still an easy way to distribute content
anywhere, with high bit-rate availability and
high quality of service. “Consequently,
satellite perfectly suits new video formats
such as UHD TV. In spite of all the hype
around new platforms such as mobile, it’s
important to keep in mind that in many
regions of the world, satellite remains the
only way to distribute video content -
including to DTT
networks for onward
transmission - due
to the lack of
suitable terrestrial
broadband
networks,” he
advises. “At this
stage Globecast
doesn’t see any
expanded satellite
bandwidth
consumption as the introduction of new
technologies, in combination with the
decrease of SD channels, will more or less
compensate the bandwidth needs of UHD.”
“While we believe the introduction of 4K
UHDTV will generate demand for additional
bandwidth, Intelsat and its ecosystem
partners have been demonstrating advances
in technology which have made the entire
ecosystem not only able to handle the
additional demand, but to do so today,” says
Ostapiuik. “Satellites currently in orbit are
able to cost-efficiently deliver high-quality
4K UHDTV content, resulting from the 4K
UHDTV technology advancements that
Intelsat and its partners have demonstrated
since 2013. Those include improvements
in HEVC compression technology and most
recently, 4K UHDTV content delivery via
IntelsatOne Prism, a new next-generation, IP
content distribution managed service that is
fully integrated with Intelsat’s powerful
global satellite fleet and IntelsatOne
terrestrial network.”
“As innovation within the 4K UHDTV
ecosystem continues, the advances occurring
in compression technology will enable a
lower barrier of entry for new channels and
services. Just as MPEG-2 facilitated
analogue to digital conversion, MPEG-4 is
driving HD growth and HEVC will bring 4K
UHDTV services to consumers, resulting in
additional demand, presenting an
opportunity for customers to differentiate
their services and drive additional revenue
for their channels,” he concludes.
BUZZ. Paradigm’s Sandberg describes 4K
and UHD as “new buzz words in the
consumer market” noting that for the
satellite industry, it’s simply the next step.
“Like most industries, the satellite industry
is very aware of the need for the faster,
bigger, better approach to content. The
development of the next generation of
satellites shows the implementation of
technological advancements currently
spreading through the industry.”
According to PerceptionTV’s Cox, the
rush and demand for an increase in 4K
content is not as important as some may
18 EUROMEDIA
“Where broadbandis less availablethan DTH, satellitestill offers the mosteffective reach.” Steve Plunkett,Ericsson
“Satellite is uniquelypositioned to
support broadcasterstransition their
distributionmodels.”
Peter Ostapiuik,Intelsat
coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 3
think. “4K TVs currently do a great job of
upscaling traditional HD to a high quality,
watchable 4K picture. Of course, having this
option available may stall the demand and
uptake but eventually satellite and TV
providers will need to assess their
transponder bandwidth and capacity – at
this point the level of 4K content available
will have a significant impact on
transponders and strain the ability to
maintain a high quality service. As the
amount of 4K/UHD content increases, in
line with demand, it will be a race for
satellite providers to adapt and compete for
the higher capacity,” he suggests.
“Even with the latest HEVC compression
ratios, UHD bandwidth requirements are
considerable, so linear delivery will place a
significant burden on transponder capacity,”
agrees Ericsson’s Plunkett. “However, this
will only be a problem if the number of UHD
channel launches in the short term is high
(which seems unlikely). As other forms of
distribution increase, reducing bandwidth
pressure on transponders, and while
transponder investment itself continues,
there will be sufficient capacity to serve the
needs of UHD.”
MAINSTREAM. “The industry is getting
there, however it will be a long time before
4K is mainstream,” says RR Media’s
Manishviz. “This will be driven by content
that demands 4K – sports, movies, lifestyle
etcetera. Investments will also need to be
made right across the value chain: on the
production side for 4K filming and editing
equipment; by operators on new 4K set-top
boxes; and by consumers on 4K-ready TV
screens. It is a bit of a vicious cycle: because
there are not yet many 4K channels or
enough 4K content, there are also not many
consumers buying 4K-ready TV sets.”
“The increasing number of UHD and 4K
channels will result in the demand for more
bandwidth,” accepts SES’s Hölzle. “The
satellite industry is more than equipped to
meet these demands, especially since it is the
only infrastructure that can deliver true high
quality UHD as most OTT content today is of
lower UHD quality. In addition, satellites
reach a wide audience, optimising the cost of
broadcasting UHD content. Europe’s first
commercial free-to-air UHD channel will be
launched on SES in fall, and there are more
UHD channels that we are expecting before
the end of the year.”
“4K/UHD is slowly gaining the public’s
attention with the first channels budding in
certain
markets
alongside
demo
channels set
up to promote
the format,”
notes
Spacecom’s
Shavit.
“Because
UHD
consumes a
larger share of bandwidth, satellite is the
best distribution method for it. Development
of UHD channels offerings will take some
years, exactly as occurred with HD channels.
As we move forward, the industry will
become more equipped for UHD into most
regions.”
According to Vision Group’s Vidmar, the
key driver at the start of the chain is the CE
equipment manufacturers who need cyclical
roll-outs of new technology backed by new
standards to sell new TV sets and cameras to
the consumer. “In turn, satellite operators
also have the incentive to tag along because
it delivers higher demand for their
transponder capacity. Due to improvements
in codec technology an increase in resolution
requires a relatively marginal increase in
bandwidth. For example, UHD transmission
is based on H265 codec which in
demonstrations and in service, with very few
early adoptees, delivers UHD channels in
12+ Mbps
which is the
same
bandwidth
that the HD
service began
with many
years ago. The
industry is
well versed
with dealing
with next
generation
deployments -
UHD is fifth generation TV technology and
roll out will be totally smooth this time,” he
predicts.
REGIONS. In terms of regions and
territories that show the most potential for
growth in demand for satellite services,
Arqiva’s Frost says the UK and Europe has
the satellite capacity, within a limited
spectrum range, to support a low-level
growth in demand for 4K/ UHD satellite
services. “But in turn, it will be the regions
where there hasn’t been the investment in
super-fast broadband – like in the Middle
East, Africa, Asia and Latin America – who
will be demanding satellite services. For
these regions, satellite will be the most cost
effective way to deliver content – by volume
and to manage the high demand by viewers.”
Pannell adds that although there will be a
very high demand for OTT in the first
instance in regions such as Western Europe,
America and pockets of Asia where there has
been a large investment in superfast
broadband, and people have the income to
watch content on the multiple devices they
are able to purchase, the challenge will be
how to get OTT content out to rural areas
where broadband is limited.
“Satellite continues to grow and expand
for channel delivery in Asia and Africa, and
from those territories where physical
geography remains a challenge to fibre,”
advises Wilson-Dunn. “At BT Media &
Broadcast we have a blended portfolio of a
robust media specific fibre network and
satellite capability which means that we can
offer our clients the best possible solution
regardless of origination and destination.”
GROWTH. Riera says it is quite hard to
generalise when talking globally because
there’s a “huge” difference between emerging
markets and those that are far more
developed. “We still see a strong future for
broadcast television and the delivery of
linear feeds, both for geographical reach but
also broadcast’s inherent point-to-multipoint
abilities. And then there’s also the
contribution side. In many parts of the
world, we are still talking about FTA,
analogue television as the only means of
watching broadcast content. In fact it’s from
emerging markets where there has recently
been the highest level of pay-TV growth,” he
notes.
“From a media perspective, we are seeing
an increased demand for satellite services
around the globe,” reports Ostapiuik. “In
Latin America, viewers’ appetite for high-
quality content is clear as the introduction of
High-Definition (HD) programming in the
20 EUROMEDIA
“The use of thespectrum needs to be
regulated at aninternational level.”
Alex Pannell, Arqiva
“Economics will drivethe uptake of UHD andtherefore the demand ontransponder capacity.”Keith Frost, Arqiva
coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 4
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region continues to be one of the biggest
drivers of demand for satellite services used
for cable and Direct-to-Home (DTH)
distribution.”
“In Africa, the analogue switch-off and
implementation of the digital migration is
driving the demand for satellite services.
Leading broadcasting
signal distributors in
Africa are utilising
Intelsat’s premier video
neighbourhoods to expand
their DTH and DTT
services to reach viewers
in underserved, outlying
areas in the region.”
DEMANDS. “In North
America and the Asia
Pacific, the introduction of
4K and 8K UHDTV
content – both which
require increased
bandwidth – is driving
growth. While we
anticipate a number of new
4K channels to emerge
over the next couple years,
we expect that it will be
another three to five years
before a critical mass of 4K
UHD programming will
become available. Our Galaxy fleet and our
IntelsatOne terrestrial network is ready to
meet the increased bandwidth demands
associated with 4K UHDTV.”
“Particularly in Asia, as viewer demand
for more HD and 4K content grows,
satellite’s ability to quickly scale and cost-
effectively deliver services is a critical
differentiator for DTH operators. DTH
operators require less costly infrastructure
upgrades to support these new technology
advancements in comparison to cable or
IPTV, enabling them to bring higher
bandwidth content to market faster,” says
Ostapiuik, alluding to NSR’s research that
suggests South Asia, specifically the Indian
market, continues to see explosive growth.
For Sandberg, the growth regions for
satellite services are Asia, Africa and South
America. “Countries such as Qatar,
Azerbaijan and Nigeria are launching their
own satellite constellations to help meet the
growing demand,” he advises. According to
Cox, when considering long term potential,
the only regions that may realistically
experience a growth in demand for satellite
services are those that have no real ability to
provide high speed broadband over fibre,
also noting the cord-cutting phenomenon,
leading to subscriber loss, which he suggests
is made up of millennial viewers, the 18–34
age group, who are tending to move from
pay-TV to streaming content online through
OTT. “This shift to OTT services will have a
damaging effect on the demand for satellite
TV in all regions that can host OTT services
in a high quality format,” he predicts.
MOBILITY. “Pay-TV in emerging markets
still seems to be the likely growth driver,”
adds Plunkett. Manishviz sees growth
opportunities in areas where fibre and
internet penetration and quality is poor –
mostly in emerging regions: LatAm, Africa
and parts of Asia. “As with HD television, the
leading regions that will offer UHD channels
will include North America, Japan, South
Korea, Western Europe and certain smaller
markets outside these regions,” says Shavit.
Hölzle says that as we move towards a
connected world, it is no surprise that
mobility services will have the most potential
for growth in both Western and Eastern
Europe. “Airlines passengers who are flying
across the continent would like to remain
connected so they can check their emails,
surf the web, watch videos online, etc. The
same connectivity also provide cabin crews
the ability to document flight activities, such
as flight reports and passenger food orders,
on their tablets, resulting in real-time
reporting and far less paper weight aboard
the plane. This trend is also reflected in the
maritime industry where we see an
increasing number of merchant and
passenger vessels such as cruise ships and
superyachts sailing in the Mediterranean Sea
demanding constant connectivity.”
According to Vidmar, satellite service
regions are a thing of the past, and he says it
is important to consider transponder
utilisation with technology growth: C-band
replacement with Ku and Ku with Ka; SD
upgraded to HD being followed by UHD; and
lastly, a shift from DVB to IP which in the
mid to long term will be the most important
facilitator for long term satellite business.
“For satellite IP
to really flourish
very small and
inexpensive
mobile devices
are required.” he
warns.
REGULATION.
With
opportunities
opening up for
the sector, are
there regulatory threats facing the satellite
service industry? According to Pannell, there
is a competing demand for the limited
spectrum available and how that spectrum
will be used for different services, such as
mobile and digital terrestrial television. “The
use of the spectrum needs to be regulated
and coordinated at an international level, as
it will be a complex task to manage
stakeholder’s expectations across the
different countries and industries.
Regulatory threats like cost, competition,
availability and utilisation need to be defined
to ensure a fair market with real
monetisation opportunities.”
Riera notes that for several decades,
spectrum management policy was based on
an exclusive allocation of resources for each
system. “This meant, for example,
telecommunication satellites benefited from
a dedicated spectrum allocation, allowing
them to avoid any interference with other
systems e.g. terrestrial broadcasting. The aim
was make the installation of any receiving
antenna easy. DTH antennae are protected
against any interference coming from other
legal radio communication systems. But in
order to satisfy growing spectrum demands,
two decades ago the ITU changed its policy
and agreed to share spectrum between
different systems (for example DTH and
WIMAX). The main negative consequence
can be the creation of local interference
between two systems because the national
regulation body authorised the deployment
of a terrestrial system (e.g. WIMAX
networks) using the same frequency as that
used for DTH.”
Ostapiuik says that from a media
perspective, C-band ensures critical, reliable
media distribution services to inform and
entertain viewers around the globe. “As the
upcoming ITU World Radiocommunications
22 EUROMEDIA
“It will be a racefor satelliteproviders to adaptand compete forthe highercapacity.” Peter Cox,PerceptionTV
coverstory2808_cover story 29/08/2015 09:14 Page 5
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 C-
band 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 level-
playing 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.
“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 role in broadband
connectivity, especially in developing regions
such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. “The
benefits of satellite over other (terrestrial)
means of connectivity are huge and without
satellite, many parts of the world would have
very (if any) limited access to broadband. We
believe the satellite industry is one of the
major factors promoting broadband around
the globe.”
24 EUROMEDIA
“Europeanpolicymakers needto incentivisehybrid solutionscombining satelliteand terrestrial.”Norbert Hölzle,SES
“OTT services willhave little effect onlinear TV serviceson satellite.”Dr. Eli Shavit,Spacecom.
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