{"id":68693,"date":"2017-03-08T18:35:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T10:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ground-segment-focus-diversify-or-drill-deep-into-a-niche\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T18:35:41","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T10:35:41","slug":"ground-segment-focus-diversify-or-drill-deep-into-a-niche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ground-segment-focus-diversify-or-drill-deep-into-a-niche\/","title":{"rendered":"Ground Segment Focus: Diversify or Drill Deep into a Niche?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When faced with a shifting market, business leaders more or less have two options to adapt: they can expand the business into new markets to stimulate growth, or they can take advantage of their specific expertise and dig into established niches. To address this dichotomy, a group of leaders in the ground segment business moderated by Keith Buckley, president of Communications &amp; Power Industries\u2019 (CPI) ASC Signal Division, gathered at the \u201cGround Segment Business Focus: Diversify Your Markets or Drill Deep into Your Niche?\u201d panel at SATELLITE 2017.<\/p>\n<p>The panelists began by looking at the question from the perspective of their respective companies. Marzio Laurenti, CEO of Telespazio Brazil, described his company as being \u201ctechnology agonistic,\u201d or willing to take advantage of any advances in telecomm technology that could benefit its customer base. \u201cWe see a lot of cheap bandwidth coming to the market and that could be put to good use for us, especially in the short term,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will, in principle, unlock new market segments. So we\u2019ll expand our market, especially [compared] to the old ecosystem \u2026 in order to provide something more than simple connectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ztjyCWxZRYCyM1zlMzoh_ShowDaily17_Cover1_DGTL-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"width: 120px; height: auto;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ztjyCWxZRYCyM1zlMzoh_ShowDaily17_Cover1_DGTL-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ztjyCWxZRYCyM1zlMzoh_ShowDaily17_Cover1_DGTL-800x599.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ztjyCWxZRYCyM1zlMzoh_ShowDaily17_Cover1_DGTL-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/ztjyCWxZRYCyM1zlMzoh_ShowDaily17_Cover1_DGTL.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"fs-5 mt-0\">Explore the Show Daily 2017 Day 4 Issue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-0 fs-smaller text-balance\">Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"offcanvas\" data-bs-target=\"#offcanvasMENU\" aria-controls=\"offcanvasExample\" aria-label=\"button\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tView More <i class=\"bi bi-arrow-right-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>Vince Matherne, vice president of strategic development at Encompass Digital Media, identified his company as primarily a broadcast technology services firm. \u201cWe don\u2019t see ourselves first and foremost as a teleport operator even though we do operate teleports,\u201d he said. For other, similar companies, he said it\u2019s important to answer that question of where your business fits into the ecosystem. \u201cAre you a services provisioning company focusing on a specific market, or are you a teleport [operator], where you may need to shift your business model to chase dollars?\u201d he said. Matherne believes teleport operators need to take the question one step further, too: \u201cHow deep and how far do you want to go across your market? Do you integrate with partners? Do you perform acquisitions?\u201d These kinds of questions, Matherne says, will help determine the direction in which you can take your business, whether that\u2019s very broad or more specific.<\/p>\n<p>Koby Zontag, vice president of media sales and business development at PCCW Global, agreed with Matherne but also pointed out that the size of your business is another determining factor. PCCW is able to stretch its reach due to the global nature of its services. \u201cOur core business is telecomm connectivity. We have a very vast fiber network, but on top of that we also have some teleports \u2014 one of them is probably the largest teleport in Asia,\u201d he said. According to Zontag, the teleport business is only a small part of what the company does. \u201cHowever, we are doing all kinds of stuff \u2014 broadcast, VSATs, point-to-point data, everything that our customers are asking us for that we can provide in a more cost effective way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Zontag also underlined that as prices for bandwidth continue to decrease, value added services will only become more important. \u201cThat is what we are trying to do with our teleport business, making it a media center\u201d that addresses more specific customer concerns, he said.<\/p>\n<p><script>var AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a69f55161644;googletag.cmd.push(function(){var AIMAP_29b58f13885ebf8ea6b032f958eb0748 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([992, 100], [[970, 90], [970, 250]]).addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_737ce075cc05dd766c8f8ea08f3faa73 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([1200, 100], [970, 250]).addSize([768, 100], [600, 300]).addSize([320, 100], [300, 250]).build();AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a69f55161644 = googletag.defineSlot('\/987\/satellitetoday.com\/via-satellite-digital-issue-ads', [ [600, 300], [300, 250], [970, 250] ], 'div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a69f55161646').defineSizeMapping(AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());   });<\/script><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a69f55161646'); });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>For smaller teleport operators it\u2019s more difficult. Zontag believes that in order to diversify, a company needs a reliable foundation to lean back on if things go awry in the market. \u201cYou have to be solid in the one thing you do so you know you can try something else. If you are doing VSAT and want to do broadcast, you need to know your VSAT side is strong enough to support your ventures,\u201d he said. \u201cThe question is how solid are you in what you do\u201d and whether or not you have a good foundation that allows you to experiment with risk.<\/p>\n<p>Laurenti also emphasized the importance of size, and posited that spreading your reach is likely the better option if you truly wish to compete in the global market. \u201cIf you want to be in this business, you have to play big. The price of bandwidth is declining but we all know that the cost of ground structure is increasing exponentially. So, to play as a global service provider where the growth will be, you need to think big,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For James Trevelyan, head of sales at Arqiva Satellite &amp; Media, the risk inherent in diversifying broadly is only worth it when he\u2019s confident the company \u201chas a right to win in whatever market in which it\u2019s playing.\u201d Arqiva is a rather large company with a broad portfolio, he says, which makes this question a tricky one to answer but always relevant. \u201cThe temptation to diversify further is like an itch you can\u2019t scratch because you can\u2019t reach it \u2026 but you want to stick to the focus. Invariably when things do turn in specific sectors, we try to stay relevant and make sure we\u2019re winning more than our competitors.\u201d Rather than branch off into an entirely new market, Trevelyan thinks it\u2019s viable to leverage existing investments and \u201cwrap that into the services we provide to our existing customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of which direction leaders take their companies, the group agreed that working together with other teleport operators and companies in the ground segment space is very important and in fact, according to Laurenti, it\u2019s \u201csometimes a necessity to expand your business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur market is clearly a cooperative market. All teleports usually have more resources than they need,\u201d Zontag said.<\/p>\n<p>Trevelyan agreed, noting that it\u2019s \u201calmost impossible to do everything yourself on a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you go into any of our teleports or any teleports at these guys\u2019 organizations,\u201d he said, motioning to the rest of the panel, \u201cyou\u2019ll see enormous coexistence. We are part of the fabric of this system and you can\u2019t work in isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to those two main choices: diversifying or drilling into a niche, Matherne stated that there are risks both ways. \u201cIf you diversify across everything it\u2019s harder to be an expert in anything,\u201d he said, which makes it difficult to provide solutions to customers with very specific needs. On the other hand, \u201cif you don\u2019t diversify, when that area hits the skids, you\u2019re in trouble as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Trevelyan says it\u2019s a balancing game of scale. \u201cYou have to have some scale whilst keeping focus.\u201d <strong>VS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\">In This Issue<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 314:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/seJxExJ0SrS3iGEdZkmD_Cyber-Security-2-300x169.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/seJxExJ0SrS3iGEdZkmD_Cyber-Security-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/seJxExJ0SrS3iGEdZkmD_Cyber-Security-2-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/seJxExJ0SrS3iGEdZkmD_Cyber-Security-2-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/seJxExJ0SrS3iGEdZkmD_Cyber-Security-2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tCybersecurity Roundtable Highlights Satellite\u2019s Holistic Approach to Managing Threats<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 319:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"160\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/u7x8M3RnKq0GpcYmHVnw_inmarsat20airservices20flight20track20satellite20copy-300x160.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/u7x8M3RnKq0GpcYmHVnw_inmarsat20airservices20flight20track20satellite20copy-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/u7x8M3RnKq0GpcYmHVnw_inmarsat20airservices20flight20track20satellite20copy-800x427.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/u7x8M3RnKq0GpcYmHVnw_inmarsat20airservices20flight20track20satellite20copy-640x342.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/u7x8M3RnKq0GpcYmHVnw_inmarsat20airservices20flight20track20satellite20copy.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tIn-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity:  Who Picks up the Tab?<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 315:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT-300x300.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/S48cFYxvS6q1XAyO9rlx_Constellation-LEOSAT.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tLEO and MEO Execs Discuss Collaboration and Differentiating Services<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 316:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/E74en8sSuelcPpnUN6l5_ThinkstockPhotos-612856472-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/E74en8sSuelcPpnUN6l5_ThinkstockPhotos-612856472-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/E74en8sSuelcPpnUN6l5_ThinkstockPhotos-612856472-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/E74en8sSuelcPpnUN6l5_ThinkstockPhotos-612856472-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/E74en8sSuelcPpnUN6l5_ThinkstockPhotos-612856472.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tPanelists Link Flatter Antennas with Fatter Profits, But Offer Vague ROI Timetable<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 313:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SMaxzggRS4ClvB4hBZsS_Satellite20manufacturers20panel-300x225.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SMaxzggRS4ClvB4hBZsS_Satellite20manufacturers20panel-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SMaxzggRS4ClvB4hBZsS_Satellite20manufacturers20panel-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SMaxzggRS4ClvB4hBZsS_Satellite20manufacturers20panel-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SMaxzggRS4ClvB4hBZsS_Satellite20manufacturers20panel.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tSatellite Manufacturers Stress Collaboration to Overcome Industry Challenges<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When faced with a shifting market, business leaders more or less have two options to adapt: they can expand the business into new markets to stimulate growth, or they can take advantage of their specific expertise and dig into established niches. To address this dichotomy, a group of leaders in the ground segment business moderated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68693"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}