{"id":77542,"date":"2014-05-14T19:39:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T11:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/high-throughput-satellites-a-growing-opportunity-in-asia\/"},"modified":"2014-05-14T19:39:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T11:39:00","slug":"high-throughput-satellites-a-growing-opportunity-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/high-throughput-satellites-a-growing-opportunity-in-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"High Throughput Satellites: A Growing Opportunity in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Asia is one of the most vibrant regions for satellite communications. However, the future for High Throughput Satellites is open to question. With rain fade more of an issue in Asia compared to other regions, will these satellites ever have the impact they have had in other parts of the world?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"VS_Asia_050114_Cover\"High Throughput Satellites (HTS) have been a topic of debate in Asia for years. With the ability to provide significantly more throughput than a classic FSS satellite, these multiple spot beam satellites deliver reduced cost-per-bit, increased capacity and high-quality broadband Internet service.<\/p>\n

Currently, the only operating HTS in Asia is Thaicom\u2019s Ipstar 1 satellite, also known as the Thaicom 4. Launched in 2005, the satellite specializes in bringing high-frequency broadband service to underserved regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHTS has made a significant impact in Asia in strengthening its infrastructure to cater for broadband in underserved areas and where nationwide networks are required,\u201d says Patompob \u2018Nile\u2019 Suwansiri, Thaicom\u2019s vice president of marketing and sales for the Southeast Asia Region. \u201cThis is especially true in our region where it is geographically diverse such as the archipelagos of Indonesia and the Philippines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsat is currently working on the Jabiru 1 satellite, which has an HTS payload of 7 GHz of Ka-band capacity. This satellite is not technically a high throughput satellite, but it does have similar capacity and bandwidth to HTS. Jabiru 1 is not focused on consumer broadband like most HTS, but instead if focused on enterprise and telco-grade communications. The satellite is expected to launch on an Arianespace rocket in the second half of 2015. David Ball, CTO of Newsat, says the company is providing \u201craw capacity to our customers rather than a specified managed service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our vertical, all customers are different so we need to make sure that we have a flexible approach to that conversation rather than trying to force them into a specific managed service, a specific service type. So we may end up some managed services to customers, but as a general standing point we\u2019re talking about raw capacity by the MHz,\u201d says Ball.<\/p>\n

With only one HTS in orbit and one other being designed, the Asia-Pacific region still has a long way to go in terms of attaining high levels of HTS technology. However, no matter how you look at it, executives from the major players in the industry agree that HTS technology will highly benefit the Asian region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an absolute need for HTS platforms in the region,\u201d Terry Bleakley, regional vice president of Asia Pacific sales at Intelsat says. \u201cThe capacity provided by HTS will enable new applications and solutions in every sector \u2014 broadcasting, cellular backhaul, broadband and mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Wade, president and CEO of AsiaSat, says that although there is certainly a market and a need for HTS in Asia, he expects the take up to be slower than it has been in other parts of the world. \u201cWe certainly feel that high throughput satellites will be something that will emerge in the future, but we still think in Asia it\u2019s going to be a little slower than other parts of the world simply because the business models have not yet been fully defined at this stage,\u201d he says. But Suwansiri disagrees, saying he expects the development of HTS to be faster than other regions. \u201cThis is due to the combination of the lack of terrestrial infrastructure and the high adoptability of technology in the region and the continual demand for higher and higher bandwidth,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Youssif, COO of ABS, though he agrees that HTS will benefit the area when used in the right way, believes it is more important to focus on the type of application needed rather than the region it will be in. For HTS, according to Youssif, it is imperative to find an application that works, and works well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a different view on HTS. I know it\u2019s a kind of wagon and everybody is jumping on, and we feel that there is a certain application that this might be good for, but the majority of the usage will not be that way. It\u2019s related not necessarily to a market but more to an application,\u201d Youssif says. \u201cSo if what is needed is high-speed Internet via satellite, probably HTS would go regardless of what the region is. If you\u2019re talking about cellular backhaul, then really we don\u2019t believe that HTS will have much in that kind of application. If you\u2019re talking about DTH, again high throughput is not going to be the thing. So it\u2019s more or less the application, where is the application going to be used rather than in what region it will be used \u2026 So we\u2019re still skeptical about HTS a little bit in its current form.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, markets in China, Australia and India could benefit from the use of HTS for applications in sectors including broadband, commercial, mobile, public transit and aviation. Many executives agree that these markets, among others, would benefit exponentially from the high bandwidth provided by these satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cHTS will enable growth in all markets and sectors throughout the region. For example, the ability to use satellite to cost-effectively expand cellular backhaul and enterprise networks will have an immediate impact in countries where terrain limits the ability to expand terrestrially, enabling operators to enhance the reach and power of their networks and provide benefits to the end users,\u201d says Bleakley. \u201cIn the broadcast sector, channels can be customized for a specific region and beam. Spot beams and frequency reuse provide greater throughput and drive lower cost per Mbps, changing the economic model for delivering localized content \u2014 by country, region, language and even culture \u2014 and increasing Average Revenue per User (ARPU).\u201d<\/p>\n

So why is there still a delay in getting these satellites into the region? Executives that spoke to But what about rain fade and regulation? These two major issues have an equally critical impact on the successful implementation of HTS in the region. Rain fade is an environmental factor that occurs in regions with heavy amounts of rainfall and has a significant impact on the high frequencies HTS provide. This can cause significant blackout periods in the satellite\u2019s signal, resulting in spotty service for customers.<\/p>\n

Rain Fade<\/h2>\n

Rain fade is really only an issue with frequencies of Ka-band. Ball says the industry will have to create a design around this issue, which is something that has happened before.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do have to allow and design for rain fade at the high frequencies,\u201d says Ball. \u201cThe industry\u2019s been through this when we made the transition from C-band to Ku-band 20 years ago \u2026 people just couldn\u2019t get the idea of using a frequency that has rain fade associated with it because C-band generally doesn\u2019t. But Ku-band has grown to be accepted. People understand that technology, the ground segment providers, the modem manufacturers have engineered around that with the Adaptive Coded Modulation (ACM).\u201d<\/p>\n

ACM allows the link to slow down in power and speed once it hits rain fade, then pick up speed again once the rain fade clears. These systems, according to Ball, have \u201creally enabled rain fade to be taken out of the equation\u201d for Ku-band. But as far as Ka-band goes, the industry is still trying to find a solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the high frequencies of Ka-band, you run into those problems. So when you get down in the equatorial areas where you have these very heavy rainy seasons, you will have significant blackout periods. And these outages, depending on what type of services you have, may be tolerable for non-essential services, but it\u2019s going to be very difficult for people to put essential services on these types of networks if you\u2019re not able to deal with the rain fade,\u201d says Wade. \u201cIn our view, we think there will be certain markets in Asia where Ka-band high throughput will find applications that are very applicable, that will be able to use the benefits and advantages of HTS to a real advantage, but those types of applications will be applications that are specifically designed for HTS.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wade also says that even if rain fade wasn\u2019t an issue, the region still has to create the applications that will be supported by these satellites. He expects more traditional applications such as video and basic telecommunications to remain on the standard frequencies for the time being. However, applications for markets like aviation and other transportation modes will find more of a need for the frequencies HTS can provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of research and analysis that\u2019s being done now, but you could look at areas like China, central Asia, Australia, and certain parts of India; these areas don\u2019t have serious problems with rain fade but the issue then boils down to what type of applications,\u201d says Wade. \u201cAnd you might find applications for broadband connectivity, for commercial enterprises; you might find mobile applications that could utilize these high throughput satellites for public transportation; you\u2019ll find opportunities for mobile applications for aviation, because obviously that doesn\u2019t have rain fade issues because you\u2019re traveling typically above the cloud cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, as the only HTS in the region, Thaicom\u2019s Ipstar 1 satellite, according to Suwansiri, performs well when considering rain fade. When designing the satellite, Thaicom engineers took those environmental issues into account and they were able to create a network architecture that has \u201cexceeded customers\u2019 expectations\u201d in terms of dealing with issues that come from rain fade.<\/p>\n

\u201cRain fade can have an impact on services in certain bands, which is why we stress to customers that they should not base their HTS platform choice solely on the spectrum use,\u201d says Suwansiri. \u201cC-band and Ku-band are much more resistant to rain fade issues than Ka-band, so systems like EpicNG that are spectrum agnostic allow network operators and broadcasters to tailor their solutions and adapt to any potential raid fade issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Wade says Ipstar is \u201cahead of its time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has really struggled over the years to gain traction for a number of reasons. One of the reasons was that when it was first developed, it was developed to provide low cost satellite connectivity, but what ended up happening when it was finally launched and operating, it had been designed to provide services in many of the urban areas and by the time it was up and running DSL and other terrestrial services has been quite well-established within the urban areas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Wade continued to talk about how regions outside of the urban areas he mentioned, which would be more inclined to use satellite services, struggle with disposable income, which creates a challenge for the Ipstar 1 and HTS in general.<\/p>\n

Regulatory Concerns<\/h2>\n

Regulatory concerns are another issue that HTS has to overcome in the region, and they are currently playing a large role in whether or not the region can support these satellites. According to Wade, many countries in Asia have highly regulated and restricted local telecommunications in order to protect local markets. While there usually are not any difficulties within borders, the challenge, Wade said, comes when services begin jumping borders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be landing right restrictions, there will be cross-border restrictions where you\u2019ll not be able to provide services across borders. I think in every single market, if you\u2019re providing basic telecommunications and broadband, you\u2019ll have to have the proper licenses and gaining licenses for these types of services. In many places in Asia it\u2019s a long, drawn out and, in many cases, a difficult process,\u201d says Wade.<\/p>\n

Suwansiri agrees that regulatory issues are a major concern when considering HTS in the Asia-Pacific region. \u201cIt has to be dealt with uniquely from one market to another,\u201d says Suwansiri. \u201cIpstar has placed strategic importance in this area and has successfully established local strategic partners in markets across Asia-Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cross-border restrictions make providing services based on HTS a challenging endeavor in the region. Ball says regulatory matters in multi-national regions are some of the most difficult issues to deal with in the industry. Between each country\u2019s local restrictions and laws, the transfer of content from one country to another on the same bandwidth can be virtually impossible to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s down to a local licensing issue for telecommunications,\u201d says Ball. \u201cThe license to serve consumers directly is obviously a license given to a local service provider, and often you\u2019ll see that the conditions on those licenses, the content must be uplinked from within the country. You see that, for example, in India with the Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services, you can\u2019t broadcast a DTH service from outside its borders; it must be uplinked from within India so they can have content control and regulation on censorship and unsavory content can be regulated. And you see that in many markets on the television side, and I believe it also applies on the Internet side where governments are concerned about things that are coming from outside their borders that can be either from a political point of view or from a censorship and content point of view.\u201d The idea of HTS in the Asia-Pacific region has been picking up steam over the last several years, but there is still a long way to go as far as Wade is concerned. When it comes to developing HTS, AsiaSat is holding back for the time being. Instead of jumping in and launching a high throughput satellite, he says the company will take it step-by-step.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe that we as a company, and many other companies, will just launch HTS with the idea that when we put it up customers will come to us and have applications,\u201d says Wade. \u201cI think what we will do, as we look at HTS development from an AsiaSat perspective, is we will take it slowly. We\u2019ll put maybe a payload on a standard satellite that would be able to service a particular market and provide the capacity needed for a specific application or a specific need rather than dedicating an entire satellite to HTS and hoping that multiple locations will have a requirement. I think we\u2019ll design out satellites specifically to meet the needs of a specific market and an application.\u201d VS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asia is one of the most vibrant regions for satellite communications. However, the future for High Throughput Satellites is open to question. With rain fade more of an issue in Asia compared to other regions, will these satellites ever have the impact they have had in other parts of the world? High Throughput Satellites (HTS) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77543,"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-77542","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\/77542"}],"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=77542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}