U.S. and European broadband stimulus plans are dampening prospects for delivering broadband Internet access using satellite networks, SES, the largest satellite operator, says. On the other hand, growing demand for satellite-delivered high-definition television likely will grow.
In many ways that is a "back to the future" move, as satellite point-to-multipoint networks always have been optimal for delivery of linear TV signals. Specifically, SES sees a growing role for use of satellite as the delivery mechanism for multi-channel TV by telcos in situations where fixed broadband networks do not have the capacity to delivery TV signals.
That might represent a market including 40 percent to 50 percent of locations.
“I personally believe the rollout of terrestrial broadband will be such that you can’t demonstrate the viability of satellite in the long term,” Romain Bausch, SES CEO, told the Financial Times.
SES provides two-way satellite broadband to 45,000 customers in Europe but would not invest in new capacity for purposes of serving Internet access demand, Bausch says. Support for mobile voice and video is a different matter, though.
SES plans to add eight satellites to its 40-strong fleet within three years, boosting capacity 19 per cent. About 170 of the 200 new transponders will cover emerging markets where SES supplies the “backbone” to mobile networks in remote areas.
High-definition television, which requires twice the satellite capacity of standard definition channels, continued to power SES’s video revenues.
BSkyB, an SES customer, has announced plans to pioneer 3D television in the UK in 2010, which will require a third more satellite capacity than current HD programming.Ultra-HD, being tested in Japan, could consume four times as much capacity, Bausch also notes.
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