CASBAA Forum Highlights Satellite Communications Versatility
Jeremy Dale Thompson
The recent CASBAA Satellite Forum, held in Singapore last June, brought many industry players to the island-city to showcase the satellite sector’s exceptional growth, and to discuss the many technological hurdles to be faced. Many are betting on DTH services, which has seen the most remarkable growth in the satellite industry.
Fears that fibre would be the death of the industry was somehow relieved at the conference, and industry leaders were quick to reassure that there is still plenty of room for growth in the satellite communications sector.
“While the international point-to-point business declined, new applications and demand from consumers have exponentially increased across video, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite and data backhaul,” said Scott Sprague, the Chief Operating Sector of Asia Broadcasting Satellite.
Couple with this new trend has been the growth of the industry in Asia, which has seen the largest growth in partnerships with satellite operators. Efforts to bring into service the new Ka band spectrum, along with the drop in the cost of delivery for DTH operators have contributed to the robust satellite communications industry of today. A new generation of Ka-band satellites is emerging, delivering more powerful, more focused, market-specific beams.
Satellite operators themselves are taking the much-needed initiative, as they embark on improvements to their services, overhauls in their strategies, and cooperate with competitors to ensure the industry continues to grow.
The new generation of satellites is something to look forward to, especially in Asia, where many of the satellites launched were not DTH-ready. Satellite payloads are also becoming more and more versatile, allowing operators in the region to choose between Ku-, Ka-, or even C band coverage.
Australia’s satellite and teleport operator, NewSat, is quite confident in the emerging Ka Band satellite market as well.
“We see a strong appetite for Ka band” said NewSat CEO, Adrian Ballintine.
Operating exclusively in Ka band has advantages for the satellite company down under. Ka-band services can easily be combined with present ku-band services, allowing innovative services in diverse ethnic markets like in India.
The ultimate challenge remains on the issue of “crowdedness” in the skies. Orbital positions and frequencies are not limitless, so operators must be open enough to consider joint-development of programmes. Both the regional and international players must be willing to engage in a collaboration.