Internet Offers Nimble Satellite Operators Huge Opportunities
satellitetoday.com
Monday, Feb 8
by Gordon Masson
The Internet is by far the fastest growing sector of the telecom business,
but satellite operators should move quickly to capitalize on that growth,
SATELLITE 99 attendees were advised yesterday (2/4).
The only constraints that industry consultant Susan Irwin could see on the
growth of satellite-based Internet services are the expansion of transatlantic
and regional fiber networks, improvements in the landline infrastructure of
developing countries, and ignorance of the benefits that satellites offer.
Irwin is the president of Washington-based Irwin Communications Inc.
But John Stevenson, Intelsat's technical manager for Internet service
development, took note of the rapid pace of technological change in urging
satellite operators to work on the development of next generation systems.
"Internet and Internet protocol-based applications have become a windfall
for geostationary satellite operators," he said. "But networks require fast
development of infrastructure and that is not always a strength of
satellite-based solutions."
Stevenson said that by the end of this year, the Internet could account for
up to 15 percent of Intelsat's total revenues. To get your share, "it is
crucially important to take their [the customers'] needs into consideration,"
he advised.
Some of the things to expect on your customer's wish list for
Internet-over-satellite services are: cheaper international bandwidth;
multi-tiered access at a variety of prices; localized content sources;
electronic commerce applications for small businesses, he said. "The last
two imply the need for local - that means national and regional - Internet
traffic exchanges. That gets rid of the need for all the backhaul to the
United States," Stevenson added.
Burt Liebowitz, chief technical officer of Loral Orion, said his own wish
list would include a breakthrough in the production of low-cost, two-way
very-small-aperature-terminal technology that would allow satellite
companies to target smaller corporate users and, eventually, consumers.
Asked what he saw as the hurdle, Liebowitz retorted: "The high cost."
High-volume production eventually could drive the costs downward. "I'd
like to see VSATs in the $2,000 range," he said.
Stevenson revealed that Intelsat has been doing exploratory research into
the delivery of "skinny data" to such things as personal digital assistants
(PDAs). While such services might not give users full Internet access, they
could facilitate newsflash-type applications such as the instantaneous
delivery of stock prices.
Gordon Masson is the editor of Satellite Today.
SATELLITE 99 Show Coverage
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