A bit off topic, I post this only due to the fact that LSATA may receive a stake in Sky Global Networks, which is in the hunt for DirectTV.
Hughes' Spaceway to Hit Europe In 2004
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broadband-daily.com
If satellite is to be a contender in providing broadband links, then Hughes Network Systems' Spaceway is among its first incarnations, one that has unsettled satellite and terrestrial competitors alike. Satellite links have traditionally been expensive, but Hughes' two-way global IP machine promises to 'substantially' cut transmission costs. This will open up a whole new vista of customers and revenues. Hughes will start building Spaceway at the end of next year, starting on the West coast of the US, and extending it to Europe by 2004.
What's different about the satellites in the Spaceway constellation is that they will carry on-board intelligence with fast packet-switches and processors. They will operate in the ka frequency spectrum – 20GHz to 30GHz – and will be deployed in a mesh architecture, like a cellular phone network, so that spot beams can hand off traffic to each other rather than bouncing signals down to earth stations. That will keep transmission costs low and make more efficient use of frequencies. The combination of that architecture and intelligence will allow the satellites to do on-board packet replication, which makes it cheaper and easier to operate multicasting services, for example, and to exploit point-to-point links for video and audio.
The project has put the wind up European satellite competitors, including Inmarsat and SES Astra. Inmarsat runs one of the only two-way data satellite services in the world. It's expensive and operates at only 100 Kilobits-per-second (kbps), but it has found a niche that would be hit hard by Hughes' low-cost spot beam machine. Terrestrial network operators are in an even weaker position with a number of alternative carriers having already hit the skids.
Hughes, along with the world's other big satellite operators, including its stable mate PanAmSat, are moving to capitalize on delays in building DSL and digital cable networks to siphon off frustrated would-be broadband customers. Like terrestrial phone companies, they are scrambling to move up the value chain and away from commodity transport services by providing value-added services to customers. Astrolink, lead by Lockheed Martin, will start providing broadband multimedia services to businesses and consumers via satellite from 2003.
Hughes said it is in talks with partners to develop applications to run over the Spaceway platform. It wants to become a magnet for content providers in the same way that AOL and its peers have attracted content companies to their portals. Spaceway will offer a direct broadband link between one 70cm satellite dish and another at the other end, which will make it possible to launch a range of new multimedia applications, including e-learning and video services.
"The combination of Internet and mesh connectivity allows direction connection between a user and a Website, for example, which gives us the opportunity to bypass terrestrial infrastructure," said Mike Cook, general manager of Spaceway at Hughes, speaking at an IIR broadband satellite conference in London this week. "We're moving full steam ahead with this program." He said the cost of using the network will be 'substantially' lower than using today's satellite networks. That represents a significant threat to terrestrial network operators because satellite links have traditionally been more expensive.
Certainly, Hughes is not alone in seeing an opportunity for satellite services as demand for broadband outstrips supply. Morgan Stanley believes broadband satellite revenues will reach $25bn by 2007. Others have a piece of that pie in mind. PanAmSat has built a content delivery network, called Net 36 and Intelsat and Eutelsat are moving closer to customers as they become private companies in advance of plans to sell shares. If the satellite community can pull it off in time, the industry could become a significant force in developing the broadband market. But it's a big if.
VSATs have been around for around 20 years but have so far failed to find a significant market. Satellite may be able to provide ubiquitous coverage, something its wireless and wireline competitors will never have. But it is unlikely to become the superhighway of choice in the long term. Even Hughes' Cook is cautious: "we're talking to partners and we have some committed funding, but we're not pushing the button until we have all the funding," he said. |
