Vol. 4 No. 9 October 2011 Industry Trends, News Analysis ... · Industry Trends, News Analysis,...
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Satellite Executive Briefing 1 October 2011
Industry Trends, News Analysis, Market Intelligence and Opportunities
Vol. 4 No. 9 October 2011
Developments in Satellite Ground Systems
by Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief
S atellite ground stations and playout centers
have to cope with demanding availability re-
quirements. Unplanned shutdowns may cause
enormous follow-up costs and contract penalties.
Competition and the concentration of greater num-
bers of channels and circuits in fewer uplink and head end facilities, along with pressure to keep costs
down means that backup systems and redundancy
are perhaps more important than ever.
More Channels Through Fewer Head Ends
Today over 100 DTH platforms
around the world beam an esti-
mated 15,000-plus channels from
their uplink centers. Cable and
IPTV uplinks add even more to the mix. A single satellite transponder
can deliver scores of programs. A
single downlink polarity on a re-
ceive antenna at a CATV headed or
teleport can transmit hundreds of
services.
As a result, the failure of a single
device in the transmission chain
can affect large numbers of services - making the
need for smart, automated, backup protection sys-tems more critical, and more complex than the past,
some industry players say.
―Redundancy is a critical requirement in building a
successful broadcast facility. For linear broadcast
networks whether it be over the air, cable or DTH,
redundancy applies to all critical components in the
broadcast chain, from origination (whether tape or
file-based) to transmission delivery,‖ says Tony
Roberts, Sr. Manager, Earth Station/Teleport World-
wide Technology & Operations, Disney ABC Tele-
vision Group.
Beginning with power, it is important to have a good
UPS (uninterruptible power supply) in the event of
commercial power failure. Building a reliable
backup generator infrastructure that can support the
full technical and mechanical load with a UPS and
redundant generators that are routinely tested, will
ensure you always have power available.
―All of these components
which make up the earth
station require redun-dancy: power, router video
sources, encoders, multi-
plexers, up converters,
amplifiers and antennas to
meet the objective in
broadcasting, to stay ‗on
the air‘,‖ explains Roberts.
Redundancy Switches –
Flexibility is Your Secret
Friend
With all the service demands on active earth stations
facilities, keeping pace with changes requires flexi-
bility. For example, a facility may need to decide
quickly if they need a redundancy switch to back up
C-Band, Ku-Band, L-Band, ASI, Ethernet or other
signals.
Continued on page 4
What’s Inside
Latin American Market Update by B. Schneiderman ……………………..…9 Interference: The Counter-Offensive by Martin Jarrold...10 Regular Sections Report from IBC …11 Conference Report: Satellite Business Week………….…....13 SATCON 2011 MarketPlace……....16 Op-Ed: One Idea for the Echo Chamber By L. Zacharilla…..20 Industry Briefs…...22 Market Briefs….….26 Vital Statistics.......28 Events Calendar/ Ad Index………......29 Stock Index……....30
Ground systems manufacturers are adopting to changing customer requirements
Teleports and other ground stations need to meet various demands for interfacility links and other customer requirements.
Satellite Executive Briefing 3 October 2011
EDITORIAL Virgil Labrador Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Elisabeth Tweedie Associate Editor [email protected] Contributing Editors: North America: Robert Bell, Bruce Elbert, Dan Freyer, Lou Zacharilla Latin America: B. H. Schneiderman Europe: Martin Jarrold, London Jan Grøndrup-Vivanco, Paris Roxana Dunnette, Geneva Asia-Pacific: Peter Galace, Manila Tom van der Heyden, Hong Kong Riaz Lamak, India
ADVERTISING
Michelle Elbert Director of Marketing
Satellite Executive Briefing is published monthly by
Synthesis Publications LLC and is available for free at www.satellitemarkets.com
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©2011. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced without prior written consent from the publisher.
From the Editor
N othing really big was announced at the IBC last month. The
biggest splash was made by SES which launched its new branding, consolidating all of its operations under the ―SES‖
name. This would make it much easier for it to operate in the
competitive global environment. SES is now closing in the lead-
ing satellite operator Intelsat, which has just over 50 satellites to SES‘ 49.
What was potentially more significant was the announcement at the GVF pre-
conference at the IBC made by Eutelsat that it will be requiring all its users to
have Carrier ID capability which can help identify sources of interference.
Industry groups like the GVF and sIRG are hoping other operators will fol-
low suit, which it hopes will lead to the standardization of Carrier ID capabil-
ity in uplink equipment. Interference is a major problem for the industry and
the article on page 10 by Martin Jarrold sheds more light on this problem and the initiatives from GVF and sIRG to address this important issue.
For more on the IBC, check out my report on page 11. Elisabeth Tweedie also
covered the Satellite Business Week in Paris last month, which was held just
after IBC. Her report is on page 13.
This month, Satellite Markets and Research will be exhibiting for the first time
at the SATCON Exhbition in New York City from October 12-13. We hope
to see you there. Drop by our booth # 303 anytime.
Satellite Interference
Go online and view videos from the IBC 2011
Andreas Hausotter, CEO
Work Microwave
www.satellitemarkets.com/current
David Furstenberg, Chairman
NovelSat
David Provencher, GM
Cobham Land Systems
Eric Gallier, VP-Marketing
Thomson Video Networks
Plus audio podcasts and videos from previous shows this year
October 2011 4 Satellite Executive Briefing
Satellite Ground Systems. from page 1
Cover Story
Manufacturers such as DEV System-
technik are responding with modular
solutions, where a universal chassis can
be loaded with application-specific modules, giving customers more flexi-
bility than in the past.
―At Ericsson Television we particularly
like the DEV 1951 switch because it is
perfectly suited for broadcast needs. Its
output signal will persist even if power
is lost to the unit,‖ explains Steven
Woodhead, Systems Engineering Group
Manager, Ericsson Television Limited,
which provides compression, contribu-
tion and distribution systems used by major broadcasters and service provid-
ers throughout the world.
―This is essential for the broadcast envi-
ronment. It also offers the capability of
hosting many different card types to suit
different signal types, and can accom-
modate up to two switches in one chas-
sis,‖ adds Woodhead. Adding yet
more flexibility, DEV switch modules
can even be upgraded or swapped in and out by a user in the field.
Monitoring and Control (M&C)
Some traditional systems for failover
protection require a human operator.
The more complex the equipment com-
ponents and system, the more difficult
effective human intervention can be-
come, even with fully trained staff.
Hence, the need for Monitoring & Con-
trol (M&C) systems. ―With a good M&C (monitor and control system) you
can operate and monitor the perform-
ance of each of the components in the
broadcast chain successfully, which will
result in reliable signal delivery to your
customer,‖ says Disney‘s Tony Roberts.
Easy integration of various manufactur-
ers‘ component gear into an M&C sys-
tem via open standards, as well as easy
and increasingly web browser-friendly control interfaces remains a goal.
Technology suppliers are hearing that
message from users, and integrating
interoperability into their products. A
case in point is one of DEV America‘s
RF redundancy switching products be-
ing used in satellite, cable, broadcast,
and teleport head ends to provide both IFL redundancy and downlink antenna
redundancy.
RF Switch Redundancy Meets
Automatic Dish Backup
The traditional way to build an auto-
matic backup antenna system is to use
an RF matrix in combination with an
M&C system. The work to integrate
the matrix functions in terms of antenna
redundancy functions into an M&C
system can cost a significant amount of
time and money. ―DEV‘s innovative
redundancy switches save you as much
as 85% in cost compared to other alter-natives on the market – by delivering
signal monitoring plus built-in antenna
control and automatic positioning – all
in an economical single 3RU device,‖
says Jörg Schmidt, President of DEV
America. This kind of solution also
takes up much less space than the tradi-
tional approach, and integrates every-
thing.
―With this redundancy equipment, no
operator intervention is needed because the switching to redundant paths or
modules, or even redundant antennas, is
done automatically when it is necessary
— without any downtime or human
fault rates,‖ adds Schmidt.
Evolving Amplifiers
On the uplink path, high power amplifi-
ers (HPAs) , 1:1 redundancy (1 backup
per active amplifier) has long been stan-dard practice. "Many of our customers
use 1:1 systems, having a working unit
and a hot stand-by,‖ explains Eric
Schmidt, Director of Marketing & Sales
for amplifier manufacturer Comtech
Xicom. ―These can be switched in/out
“...Redundancy is a critical requirement in building a suc-cessful broadcast facility. For linear broadcast networks
whether it be over the air, cable or DTH, redundancy applies to all critical compo-nents in the broad-cast chain, from origination (whether tape or file-based) to transmission delivery…” -Tony Roberts, Senior Manager, Worldwide Technology & Operations, Disney ABC Television Group
Comtech Xicom’s XTD-400KHE high power amplifier (photo: Comtech Xicom)
October 2011 6 Satellite Executive Briefing
Feature
on a moment‘s notice. This provides
redundancy and the opportunity to test
or maintain the stand-by side.‖
The gradual replacement of traditional klystron power amplifiers (KPA) with
traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTA)
is changing redundancy approaches.
With a traditional fixed station that uses
Klystron power amplifiers, the users
must have one KPA for each transmis-
sion channel. These are generally pro-
tected with a hot-standby KPA protect-
ing 2 or 4 working channels.
―This is a very expensive and ineffi-
cient way to assure protection. Since a TWTA is a broadband device, one
TWTA can back-up multiple KPAs"
says Schmidt. Moving to TWTA tech-
nology lets uplinks reduce the number
of HPAs, as well as related multiplex-
ers, and simplify redundancy switching
systems, compared with traditional kly-
strons. In addition, since transmit fre-
quencies on a TWTA are easily
changed by modifying its input,
TWTAs eliminate the need for a fast channel changer for the backup HPA;
klystrons must be mechanically tuned.
In applications where solid-state power
amplifier technology (SSPAs) offers an
alternative to TWTAs, redundancy con-
siderations have also changed in recent
years. ―TWTAs must remain in a warm
-stand-by mode 7/24, constantly using
up power, HVAC resources and opera-
tional life,‖ says Colin Boyd, VP of
Broadcast Systems for amplifier manu-facturer Wavestream. ―Our SSPA solu-
tions operate in a cold stand-by mode,
with no power usage. Customers save
energy costs over the life of the system,
which can add up to hundreds of thou-
sands of dollars annually.‖
Inter-facility Links and Backup via
Fiber
Above and beyond redundancy within a facility, Disney‘s Roberts points out, ―It
is important to consider satellite and
earth station redundancy by managing
through a well-designed business conti-
nuity plan or disaster recovery plan
(alternate broadcast location).‖ Thanks
Cover Story
From Dish to Rack and Back
In recent years, large earth station operators and RF distribution and switch
manufacturers have been coming to the same conclusion: compared to tradi-
tional coaxial cable, fiber-optic links within the earth station and connecting sig-
nals from the outdoor equipment offer advantages.
Manufacturers such as DEV Systemtechnik, Foxcom, SatService and Vialite
have developed fiber optic inter-facility link equipment to directly connect anten-nas and outdoor RF systems with indoor IF, L-band and base band gear in both in
a local earth station, as well as with remote facilities that may be many kilome-
ters away, such as control rooms, network operations centers or broadcast head
ends.
Advantages of RF over fiber links include:
• low transmission losses over long distances,
• no frequency-dependent losses in the transmission band
• galvanic isolation between transmitter and receiver,
• insensitivity to electro-magnetic interference
• higher security against signal interception compared to RF.
These are no doubt key reasons why RF over fiber and coax solutions from DEV
Systemtechnik have made inroads at some of the world‘s largest satellite broad-
cast facilities. DEV America (www.dev-america.com) is a subsidiary of Ger-
many-based DEV Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG, (www.dev-
systemtechnik.com) which develops and produces a complete range of leading-
edge, high-performance products and systems for the optical and electrical trans-
mission of Radio Frequency (RF) signals via coaxial cable or fiber for satellite, cable, and broadcast television head ends. DEV products include distribution
amplifiers, splitters and combiners, switching systems, distributing matrices,
routing products, multiplexers, and fiber-optic RF signal transmission systems.
OPTRIBUTION® (Optical Transmission and Distribution of RF Signals) is DEV
Systemtechnik‘s systematic approach to the ongoing development of the signal
distribution infrastructure in satellite ground stations and CATV head-ends.
Benefits that satellite facilities can gain from integrated RF and fiber optic trans-
port through OPTRIBUTION® include improved signal quality and reliability,
and the need to monitor less equipment, and the ability to do so with simpler user
-friendly interfaces. This, along with reduced rack space, power and heat con-
sumption can help satellite head ends, teleports, and uplink facilities save on costs and overhead.
―It‘s an example of DEVs innovative development strategy to minimize space
while reducing costs, maintenance time, and the number of active modules in a
chain. Also we minimize risk of signal loss, because less equipment means that
fewer devices can fail,‖ explains DEV America President Jörg Schmidt.
October 2011 8 Satellite Executive Briefing
to the huge drop in fiber bandwidth
costs over the past ten years, distant and
remotely located antenna farms con-
nected by fiber can also cost-effectively
provide disaster recovery services for catastrophic facility outages, or outages
such as an individual antenna failure.
Geographically separate facilities can
share backup antennas and route signals
between them over fiber, where tradi-
tional copper coax would be cost pro-
hibitive.
But while a Disaster Recovery site cer-
tainly increases the potential reliability
of a network, ―If a control solution does
not have visibility over both sites, then much of that potential may be wasted.
In fact, a disaster recovery uplink could
disrupt the network if both sites are
transmitting simultaneously and there
isn‘t a unified monitoring system alert-
ing operators that a dual illumination
situation is occurring,‖ says Roger
Franklin, President and CEO of Crystal
Solutions™, which provides earth sta-
tion and broadcast M&C systems. "In
multi-chain, multi-site ground stations,
having the right redundancy control
system will significantly increase net-
work reliability and deliver cost savings
over traditional hardware UPC and old-
style redundancy designs.‖
Overall, while the devices in the
ground systems chain may change over
time, the case for redundancy remains
the same: accomplishing the business
objective of uninterrupted services
within budget that are constrained by
the realities of competitive markets.
Feature Cover Story
Virgil Labrador is the Editor-in-Chief of Satellite Market and
Research based in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of two
books on the satellite industry and has been covering the industry
for various publications since 1998. Before that he worked in vari-
ous capacities in the industry, including a stint as marketing direc-
tor for the Asia Broadcast Center, a full-service teleport based in Singapore. He
can be reached at [email protected]
“...While devices in the ground systems chain may change over time, the case for redundancy remains the same: accomplishing the business objective of uninterrupted services within budget …”
Satellite Executive Briefing 9 October 2011
The record prices for orbital slots in Brazil may be indicative of the growing capacity demand
Latin American Satellite Market
by B. H. Schneiderman
W ith the sluggish satellite services sectors in the
mature markets of North America and Europe,
the focus has been on emerging regions such as Latin America which has been experiencing a major boom in
the last few years. The demand for satellite services in Latin
America is only expected to grow exponentially in the next
few years with the Soccer World Cup in 2014 and the
Olympics in 2016 slated to be held in Brazil.
Brazil-Latin America’s Leading Market
Brazil is one of the fastest growing economies in the world
along with Russia, India and China (the so-called BRIC
countries). In 2010 Brazil‘s
GDP growth was 7.5% and the forecast for 2011 is 4%.
Currently there is a shortage of
satellite capacity in Brazil. The
gap between supply and de-
mand for satellite capacity in
Brazil has seen domestic and
international satellite operators
scrambling to meet existing
and future demand.
Given the shortage of capacity,
the Brazilian government de-
cided this year through the
regulatory agency Anatel (the
Brazilian equivalent of the
FCC) to open the bidding proc-
ess for four orbital satellite po-
sitions last August 23. The in-
terested companies were al-
lowed to participate in the bidding process as a consortium,
but the same company or a subsidiary or affiliate of its parent
company could not be granted more than two orbital slots. The right to operate is valid for 15 years, renewable for an-
other 15 years. The winning bidders will have four years to
fill up the orbital slot with an operational satellite.
In the case of orbital positions already assigned to Brazil by
the International Telecommunications Union, 25% of the
capacity of the satellite is earmarked for domestic use and in
the case of positions not yet assigned, the requirement for
domestic use goes up to 50%. In both cases, the satellites
need to cover 100% of the Brazilian territory. The minimum
price set for each orbital position was US$ 2.4 million.
Last August 30, Anatel received bids for the four orbital slots
totaling that US$ 154.9 million. Anatel had qualified seven
companies that participated in the bidding process: Eutelsat,
Hispamar (owned by Hispasat), Intelsat, SES, SKY Brazil,
StarOne and Hughes Americas.
HNS Americas Communications Inc. (owned by Hughes
which was recently acquired by Echostar) was reported to
have bid US$ 88.3 million for the first orbital slot in 45 de-
grees west—a staggering sum for one orbital slot that sur-
prised many seasoned industry observers. In addition to this
position, Hughes also got the winning bid for the fourth or-
bital slot at 68.5 degrees west, at a cost of US$ 21.4 million.
Star One SA (owned by Brazilian telco Embratel and con-
trolled by Mexican conglomerate
Telmex) won the bid for the second orbital slot at 70 degrees west, for
US $ 22.5 million. Star One SA also
offered the best bid for the third orbit
slot at 84 degrees west, for the
amount of US$ 22.5 million. During
the bidding process some analysts
speculated that StarOne might appeal
against Hughes‘ second slot because
of the possibility of interference be-
tween the position of 68.5 degrees
West acquired by Hughes and the position of 70 degrees acquired by
StarOne.
Beside these new commercial satel-
lites, the Ministry of Communica-
tions of Brazil just announced in
August the 2012-2015 Plan with a
budget of US$ 433 million to launch
two or three satellites to be defined
later for the government program to provide capacity for the
ministries of Defense and Education (for Internet access to
schools and remote regions of the country). This project was on hold during the previous administration due to internal
discussions on who will manage the program. With the
budget already allocated by the telecom holding company
owned by the Brazilian government, Telebras, the govern-
ment revived the satellite project at the end of 2010 with the
target implementation in the next four years.
Currently the Brazilian telecom regulatory agency, Anatel,
lists 44 satellites with license to operate and provide services
in the Brazilian territory. Among these include 12 domestic
Regional Update
Brazil will be the venue for two of the most high profile sporting events: the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016. Pictured above is an artist’s rendition of one of the planned Olympic structures in Rio de Janeiro. (image courtesy of Rio2016.com)
October 2011 10 Satellite Executive Briefing
(Brazilian-owned and operated) satellites and 32
foreign satellites (see table).
Jurandir Pitsch, vice president of market develop-
ment for Latin America of SES said during the recent Broadcast and Cable conference in Sao
Paolo that SES is planning to expand capacity for
the Brazilian market with the launch of SES-4 in
the fourth quarter of 2011 replacing NSS-7 for the
22 degrees west and relocating the NSS-7 to the
orbital slot of 20 degree west continuing provid-
ing services until 2016. Additionally SES plans to
launch another satellite in early 2013, SES-6,
which will replace NSS-806 located at 40.5 de-
grees west expanding the current six Ku-Band
transponders with 48 new transponders in Ku-
Band beside the continue coverage with C-Band Transponders. To support the broadcast market in
Brazil, SES is launching a multi-region satellite
SES-5 in 2012 that will provide coverage in
Europe, Africa and Latin America offering capa-
city to broadcasters to transmit signals from Bra-
zil to Europe and Africa and vice-versa.
Intelsat plans to put into orbit by the end of 2013
two more satellites covering Brazil: IS-21 and
IS-27. The first is scheduled for the second quar-
ter of 2012 and will replace the IS-9 at the orbital position of 302 degrees east. The IS-27, in turn,
will occupy the position of 304.5 degrees east and
is expected to be launched in 2013. These satel-
lites will increase the number of transponders in
C- and Ku-band provided by the company for
services in Brazil.
Spanish operator Hispasat also announced Sep-
tember 7 that it has contracted with Arianespace
for the launch of the Amazonas-3 satellite some-
time in the fourth quarter of 2012 or early 2013.
Amazonas-3 will be built by Space Systems/
Loral and will have 33 Ku-band transponders, 19
C-band transponders and nine Ka-Band broad-
band spot beams. The satellite will replace the
Amazonas-1 satellite, providing a range of broad-
band telecommunications services to the Ameri-
cas and Europe from the 61 degrees west orbital
position.
These new satellites will have their hands full
meeting the insatiable demand for DTH, Distance
Learning, Government, Broadband and other
applications for the Brazilian market.
Regional Update
Satellite Operator Satellite Name Band
Hispamar Satélites Amazonas 1 C & Ku
Amazonas 2 C, Ku & Ka
Telesat Brasil Capacidade Estrela do Sul Ku
de Satelite Ltda. Estrela do Sul 2 Ku
Brasilsat-B2 C
Brasilsat-B3 C
Brasilsat-B4 C
StarOne Star One C1 C, X & Ku
Star One C2 C, X & Ku
Star One C3 C & Ku
Star One C4 C, L & S
Star One C5 C & Ku
Eutelsat Atlantic Bird 1 Ku
Atlantic Bird 2 Ku
Atlantic Bird 3 C & Ku
W2A C
Hispasat Hispasat 1C Ku
Hispasat 1D Ku
Inmarsat
Inmarsat -
3 AOR East L & C
Inmarsat -
3 AOR West -2 L & C
Inmarsat - 4F3 L
Intelsat IS 10-02 C
IS-805 C
IS-901 C
IS-903 C
IS-905 C
IS-907 C
Galaxy 28 C & Ku
IS-1R C & Ku
IS-3R C & Ku
IS-14 C
Galaxy 3C Ku
IS-11 Ku
IS-9 C & Ku
Telesat Brasil Telestar 12 Ku
Anik F1 C & Ku
Satelites Mexicanos Satmex 5 C & Ku
Satmex 6 C
SES AMC-4 Ku
AMC-12 C
NSS-806 C & Ku
NSS-5 C
NSS-7 C & Ku
Direct TV Group (Sky
Brasil) Spaceway-1 Ka B. H. Schneiderman is the Principal of Telemat-ics Business Consultants. He can be reached at : [email protected]
Satellites Licensed to Operate in Brazil Source: Brazilian regulatory agency Anatel
Satellite Executive Briefing 11 October 2011
Satellite Operator Satellite Name Band
Hispamar Satélites Amazonas 1 C & Ku
Amazonas 2 C, Ku & Ka
Telesat Brasil Capacidade Estrela do Sul Ku
de Satelite Ltda. Estrela do Sul 2 Ku
Brasilsat-B2 C
Brasilsat-B3 C
Brasilsat-B4 C
StarOne Star One C1 C, X & Ku
Star One C2 C, X & Ku
Star One C3 C & Ku
Star One C4 C, L & S
Star One C5 C & Ku
Eutelsat Atlantic Bird 1 Ku
Atlantic Bird 2 Ku
Atlantic Bird 3 C & Ku
W2A C
Hispasat Hispasat 1C Ku
Hispasat 1D Ku
Inmarsat
Inmarsat -
3 AOR East L & C
Inmarsat -
3 AOR West -2 L & C
Inmarsat - 4F3 L
Intelsat IS 10-02 C
IS-805 C
IS-901 C
IS-903 C
IS-905 C
IS-907 C
Galaxy 28 C & Ku
IS-1R C & Ku
IS-3R C & Ku
IS-14 C
Galaxy 3C Ku
IS-11 Ku
IS-9 C & Ku
Telesat Brasil Telestar 12 Ku
Anik F1 C & Ku
Satelites Mexicanos Satmex 5 C & Ku
Satmex 6 C
SES AMC-4 Ku
AMC-12 C
NSS-806 C & Ku
NSS-5 C
NSS-7 C & Ku
Direct TV Group (Sky
Brasil) Spaceway-1 Ka
The Hispasat/Hispamar fleet of satellites provide state-of-the-art technology with the latest on-board processing and innovative solutions for the American market. We can provide leading-edge, end-to-end services for broadcast, broadband, enterprise and military/government applications.
Your Gateway to the US and the rest of the Americas and beyond
www.hispamar.com.br
www.hispasat.com
Show Report
It’s All About Content Delivery at IBC by Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief
T his is not your father‘s IBC.
Like most industry shows, the
IBC is evolving and it‘s getting
harder to distinguish from the tradition-
ally broadcast-oriented shows like the IBC in Amsterdam and the NAB in Las
Vegas with the Consumer Electronic
Show (CES) and other shows deal-
ing with content delivery and ma-
nagement. This year‘s IBC featured
as keynote speaker, Facebook‘s
EMEA Managing Director, Joanna
Shields who assured the attendees in
her speech that ―we will not go into
the content business.‖ Hmm, where
have we heard that before?
The discussions at IBC dealt with,
among others, the growing Over-the
-Top (OTT) services that are gaining in
popularity. IMS Research forecasts that
in 2016, OTT video services will gener-
ate $16.4 billion in 2016 and video-on-
demand (VOD) services from pay-TV
operators will generate another $14.7
billion, for a combined $31.1 billion in
on-demand revenues.
OTT services and products were on
display at the ―Connected World‖ sec-
tion of the IBC which occupied the
largest hall in Hall 13. The Connected
World included the Mobile and IPTV
zones which featured new technologies
driving the revolution in the creation,
distribution & consumption of video/
multimedia content via internet-
connected devices and the connected
home of the future. Among the exhibi-
tors at Connected World include pro-
viders of set-top boxes, hybrid TVs,
LCDs, netbooks, games consoles, tablet
PCs, media players,
mobile phones and
other consumer de-
vices.
Satellite service providers are adopting
to the new multimedia environ-
ment and repositioning themselves
as ―content delivery providers.‖
The new mantra seems to be ―we
can take any signal, in any format
and deliver it to any media.‖
One such company is Israel-based
satellite service provider, Satlink
Communications. Satlink, which
operates teleports, is positioning
itself as a provider of ―Content
Delivery Networks‖ (CDN).
―The requirements of customers have
changed over the years. It is no longer
sufficient to just provide traditional
uplink and downlink services. Now it is
essential to provide a true end-to-end
service that can deliver content from
different formats to different distribu-
October 2011 12 Satellite Executive Briefing
tion channels,‖ said Satlink CEO David
Hochner ( Listen to a podcast of the in-
terview at www.satellitemarkets.com/
current/?q=node/98 ).
―Content is king, but interface is the
crown,‖ said Bill Roedy of MTV Net-
works in the session on the ―Future of
Broadcasting.‖ Consequently we see a
lot of interface equipment on display at
the show. The buzzwords are
―interoperability‖ and ―multiplatform
delivery.‖
The following are some key trends that I
observed from visiting several equip-
ment manufacturers at IBC:
Ka-Band. Several new Ka-Band satel-
lites like Eutelsat‘s KA-SAT, Avanti‘s
Hylas-1, Yahsat-1, among others have
been launched recently in the EMEA
region and many more are planned. This
makes Ka-Band ground equipment in
great demand.
Bandwidth Optimization. Equipment
that optimizes bandwidth and use scarce
spectrum efficiently are very hot. With
rising transponder prices and growing
demand from users, bandwidth optimi-
zation products can save customers a lot
in cost and everybody is looking to save
money any way they can these days.
Carrier ID. Satellite interference is a
major issue with incidences on the rise
globally. At IBC, Eutelsat announced
that it will be requiring all its users to
have Carrier ID capability which can
help identify sources of interference.
Industry groups like the GVF and sIRG
are hoping other operators will follow
suit, which it hopes will lead to the stan-
dardization of Carrier ID capability in
uplink equipment.
Finally, attendance this year is up 4%
percent from last year at the IBC, with
good representation from all over the
world. This just goes to show that the
IBC continues to be relevant not just for
the EMEA region but for others as well.
Show Report
Satellite Executive Briefing 13 October 2011
The mood at the Satellite Business Week in Paris was not as upbeat as in recent years
Industry Outlook ‘Generally Positive’
by Elisabeth Tweedie
A lthough the overall mood at the Satellite Business
Week conference organized by Euroconsult in Paris last September 12-16 was not as ebullient as it has
been in the last couple of years, it was none the less gener-
ally positive.
The first day was marked by a lively discussion between
Euroconsult and the satellite manufacturers as to the likely
number of satellite orders in the next few years. Eurocon-
sult‘s forecast indicating that we are now at the peak of a
cycle with a three year average of 26 orders per annum val-
ued at US$4.5 Billion in the 2011-13 timeframe, but that this
was going to fall to an average of 17 per annum by 2016-18
valued at only US$2 Billion.
Kathy Shockey,
VP of Business
De ve l opm en t ,
Space Systems
Loral opened her
presentation by
commenting that
if she believed
those numbers
she would be on her way to Notre
Dame to light a
candle for the
industry! Her
analysis of the
market indicated
that although the
market may fall a
little it would not
be as drastic a
downturn as
Euroconsult pre-dicted. Of the
290 communica-
tion satellites in
orbit, 190 were
due to be replaced in the next few years. Jean-François
Charrier, VP Marketing and Institutional Relations EADS
Astrium agreed saying that he was expecting an average of
22 orders p.a. in the coming years.
It‘s been noted before at Satellite Business Week; the satel-
lite industry has suffered less from the global economic
downturn than other industries. Eutelsat presented a chart clearly demonstrating this, showing that growth in TPE de-
mand continued to outpace growth in both world GDP and
Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) revenues. Maybe
this is one reason why export credit financing is still flowing.
The satellite industry has benefited from $4.5 Billion of this
since 2009 and an additional $3 Billion has been announced
or is in the pipeline.
On the application front the things that generated most dis-
cussion were Ka-Band and video, OTT in particular.
One thing every-one was agreed on
was that Ka-Band
is becoming a
major force in the
industry. No one
making this point
more succinctly
than Tom Moore,
Senior VP of Vi-
aSat who pro-
duced a chart showing that Ka-
Band was generat-
ing revenue of
$500K per annum
per licensed MHz
– an order of mag-
nitude higher than
revenue from Ku-
Band. He also
pointed out that he
combined Ka-
Band retail service revenues of HNS
and ViaSat ranked
on a par with the
revenue of JSAT,
the fourth largest FSS Operator in the world.
With only one HTS recently launched it is not surprising that
Euroconsult indicate that of the approximately 1,600 enter-
prise broadband terminals currently in use only a very few
are pointed at High Throughput Satellites (HTS). However
by 2020 the picture will be very different with over 50% of
The Satellite Business Week conference organized by Euroconsult featured senior executives discussing key industry issues. In this session pictured here is the panel on “Broadband Satellite Operators: New Systems for New Markets” featuring from left: Moderator: David Hartshorn, Secretary-General, GVF; Bahram Pourmand, President, Hughes USA; David Williams, CEO, Avanti Communications; Andrew Wallace, Chief Commercial Officer, Eutelsat; Patrick Biewer, Managing Director, Astra Broadband Services; Thomas Moore, Senior VP, ViaSat. (Satellite Markets and Research photo)
Conference Report
October 2011 14 Satellite Executive Briefing
Conference Report
the approximately 4.3M enterprise terminals pointing in their
direction. On the consumer side the growth in Ka-Band sub-
scribers is even more dramatic; predicted to increase from
around 1.5M today, to around 14M by 2020. Combine these
projections with Tom Moore‘s data and it‘s easy to under-stand why the future is Ka!
With a KA-SAT service launch on May 31st of this year An-
drew Wallace, Chief Commercial Officer of Eutelsat was
keen to point out that Eutelsat was operating the world‘s
largest HTS. However since ViaSat 1 is now at Baikanour
awaiting a launch, all being well this will be a short lived
claim. He opened his presentation by stating that in Europe
the market for satellite broadband existed in all countries.
13M households only have dial-up service and another 17M
have ―broadband‖ of less than 2Mbps. He cited the case of a
village in the UK only 75 minutes by car from a major city, which had no terrestrial broadband service at all. KA-SAT is
offering 50Mbps down and 20Mbps up for enterprise cus-
tomers and 10/4Mbps for consumers. For Eutelsat KA-SAT
is being marketed to existing Ku broadcast customers as a
means to offering triple play. Forthnet in Greece is now of-
fering this service. Other speakers pointed out that the re-
verse is occurring and DTH is being marketed by Telcos as
their means of providing triple play.
Ka-Band is being used for applications beyond the basic
consumer and enterprise broadband, one of the most interest-ing being its entry into the SNG market. A Ku-Band SNG
terminal costs around €150,000 and has to be mounted on a
truck. A Ka-Band SNG terminal can be packed in a suitcase
for rapid transport to anywhere in the world that news crews
jet into and costs only €10,000. As more Ka-Band satellites
are deployed the relay of news from remote areas could
change significantly. Other potential applications include
mobile (maritime, aeronautical and terrestrial), military, local
TV and off-shore.
David Williams, CEO of Avanti said that Hylas was being
used for 4 main applications. In addition to consumer and enterprise broadband it was also serving Government Or-
ganizations (Institutions and Military) and providing back-
haul and edgecasting for Mobile Operators. He said that he
didn‘t expect consumer broadband ever to represent more
than 25% of capacity, primarily because consumer applica-
tions ramp up relatively slowly compared to other applica-
tions that ramp up in large ―chunks‖.
Tom Moore predicted that there would be another 12 serious
Ka-Band programs on the books in the next year, something
that should please but not surprise the manufacturers. Char-rier pointing out that eight out of the fourteen satellites cur-
rently on the order books had Ka-Band payloads and
Shockey predicting that 20% of orders in the next five years
would be for broadband satellites. All the operators agreed
that the market was deriving considerable benefit from gov-
ernment funding around the world to extend the reach of
broadband.
Bahram Pourmand, President of Hughes USA commented
that the Echostar purchase of Hughes was giving them a stronger reach into the market, mentioning that Hughes had
global ambitions for Spaceway and was currently working
with Avanti and YahSat and hoped to expand on those rela-
tionships. Jupiter – Hughes‘ HTS - is due to be launched in
the first quarter of 2012.
Video has been and continues to be a key driver for the satel-
lite market, what is changing is the impact of HD which is
now fueling the growth as the increase in new SD channels is
slowing. Excluding DIRECTV and Dish there are now
1,600 HD channels worldwide (approximately 500 of these
are in North America). Most of the growth has come from countries outside of North America, with the number of HD
channels virtually doubling in the last year from 560 to
1,100. Overall the video distribution market has shown a
CAGR of 13% for the last few years. Of the 126 DTH plat-
forms in service in 2010, 80 were offering HD services. 3D
channels are making their appearance but Euroconsult fore-
casts show them representing only a small sliver of the mar-
ket by 2020.
At the end of 2010 there were 29,000 satellite TV channels –
2,000 more than at the end of the previous year and this is predicted to increase to 45,000 by 2020. Emerging markets
continue to fuel this growth accounting for 90% of the net
increase for the last two years.
The impact of Over The Top (OTT) TV was acknowledged
but its impact debated. Most saying that while it is definitely
a factor to be considered demand for cable and satellite de-
livery would remain the dominant force. David Hershberg,
CEO of Globecomm had a very different viewpoint stating
very forcibly that DTH was going away and would be re-
placed by broadband in the next 10 years. If he is correct –
and his predictions have been so before – this industry will be very different in 2021.
Elisabeth Tweedie is the Associate Editor
of Satellite Executive Briefing. She has
over 20 years experience at the cutting
edge of new communication and entertain-
ment technologies. She is also the founder and President of Definitive Direction, a
consultancy that focuses on researching
and evaluating the long term potential for new ventures,
initiating their development and identifying and developing
appropriate alliances. During her 10 years at Hughes Elec-
tronics she worked on every acquisition and new business
that the company considered during her time there. She can
be reached at: [email protected]
Satellite Executive Briefing 15 October 2011
A s reported in my previous col-
umn, for the satellite industry
the recent IBC show in Amster-dam kicked-off with a September 8th
pre-event Summit of critical importance
to the industry and to the wider satellite
communications end-user community –
the International Satellite Industry Fo-
rum on “Interference - The Counter
Offensive”. Much has happened since
this Summit, and key aspects of the RFI
mitigation agenda set-out in this meet-
ing continue to be explored, explained,
and actioned around the world.
As revealed at the Summit, and as de-
tailed in a press release issued during
IBC within the days following the pre-
show meeting, EUTELSAT announced
their plan to implement a new quality
assurance initiative for DVB satellite
transmissions, a development spear-
headed in collaboration with broadcast-
ers and satellite industry groups, and
which may also have a near-future im-
pact on satellite data and Internet traf-fic, in addition to video.
This breakthrough on the quality assur-
ance of DVB over satellite, announced
by Eutelsat to employ Carrier ID tech-
nology, and to be implemented in time
for the 2012 Olympic Games, is part of
a broader umbrella of global initiatives
directed at safeguarding satellite signals
and services, and which is supported by
global and regional associations in the
satellite sector.
In addition to GVF, these initiatives are
being led by sIRG (satellite Interference
Reduction Group), WBU-ISOG (World
Broadcasting Unions-International Sat-
ellite Operations Group), RFI-EUI
(Radio Frequency Interference-End
User Initiative), and other key organiza-
tions.
From June 30th 2012 Carrier Identifica-tion will be integrated into transmission
parameters for all SNG transmissions
and new DVB broadcasts using simple
firmware enhancements to existing op-
erational uplink equipment. Such en-
hancements have already been devel-
oped by key satellite ground equipment
manufacturers, enabling Eutelsat to
more efficiently identify transmissions to its satellites and accelerate coordina-
tion with earth station operators.
A few days prior to preparing this col-
umn, the Asia-Pacific region saw its
own collaboration between various na-
tional, regional, and global satellite in-
dustry groups with the announcement of
various quality-assurance plans during
an Interference-Prevention Summit at
the APSCC (Asia Pacific Satellite Com-
munications Council) 2011 conference in Bali.
GVF and sIRG, in collaboration with
the Indonesian Satellite Industry Asso-
ciation (ASSI), outlined a four-point
plan – already in the process of being
implemented in several Asian nations –
to include the following initiatives: (i)
training, (ii) product quality assurance,
(iii) spectrum management, and (iv)
carrier ID. The first three of these facets
are designed to help prevent interfer-
ence, while the fourth aims to help in-
dustry more effectively respond when
interference incidents occur.
Reflecting on the present exponential
growth in Asian regional demand for
satellite communications services a
joint statement from ASSI, GVF, and
sIRG noted that ―it is time for the indus-
try to provide even higher assurances of
quality of service.‖ The statement con-
tinued, ―Strengthening skills, product
performance, spectrum management,
and satellite operator's ability to react to interference incidents will enable the
industry to continue to provide the high
level of service that users have come to
expect.‖
Initial successes in the quality of service
arena are already being realized:
(i) Training & Certification: Training
Centers have been established in Indo-
nesia, India, Thailand, and Australia,
and VSAT Installation Certification of
personnel is underway.
(ii) Product Quality Assurance: Test-
ing of earth station equipment is being conducted by satellite operators and
through co-ordination of industry.
(iii) Spectrum Management: Advo-
cacy for protection of satellite frequen-
cies – including C, Ku, L and Ka-band
– is being coordinated, and the Indone-
sian and other governments have begun
to respond favorably.
(iv) Carrier ID: Several manufacturers have now incorporated a carrier ID ca-
pability in their earth station equipment
and discussion is underway regarding
potential launch dates.
The next in this series of meetings is
scheduled to be held this month in New
York City. GVF, sIRG, WBU-ISOG
and RFI-EUI will hold the Satellite In-
terference-Mitigation Forum on Octo-
ber 11th, the day preceding SATCON
2011. HBO will host the Forum, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., pro-
viding an opportunity to learn about the
latest solutions being applied to im-
prove quality of service and reduce op-
erational costs. Thus, global action in
the industry challenge to RFI continues
as we collectively strive towards the
foundation of a global consensus.
Feature
Interference : The Counter-Offensive
by Martin Jarrold
Martin Jarrold is Direc-tor of International Pro-grams of the GVF. He can be reached at: [email protected]
“...it is time for the industry to provide even higher assurances of quality of service...”
October 2011 16 Satellite Executive Briefing
Products and Services MarketProducts and Services MarketProducts and Services MarketPlacePlacePlace
A guide to key products and services showcased at the SATCON 2011 exhibition in New York City, from October 12-13, 2011.
AVCOM of Virginia Booth no. 713 www.avcomofva.com
AVCOM of Virginia is a vertically integrated company
with over 25 years of experi-
ence in designing and manu-
facturing high quality, low
cost spectrum analyzers.
AVCOM continued to develop and produce a variety of re-
ceivers and satellite accessories throughout the early 1980‘s.
Their catalog included products such as power dividers,
60dB isolators, DC blocks, low loss microwave cable assem-
blies as well as other more sophisticated products such as the PTR-24 test receiver, the TISH-40 terrestrial interference
survey horn and the WCA-4 waveguide adapter.
At SATCON, AVCOM of Virginia will be launching its
new SBS-2 Single Board, an upgrade of its very successful
AVCOM SBS Single Board Spectrum Analyzer. The SBS-2
comes with more features in an even smaller, more compact
form factor than it's predecessor. Come see the SBS-2 at
Booth #713.
AvL Technologies Booth no. 501 www.avltech.com
AvL Technologies designs and manufac-
tures mobile, motorized antenna systems
and positioners featuring high performance
carbon fibre reflectors, auto-acquisition controllers, and the
unique AvL cable drive system. Ideal for small aperture an-
tennae, it boasts zero backlash, high stiffness, light weight
ruggedness, reliability, and cost effectiveness. AvL has de-
signed and developed SNG antennae for 1.0M,1.2M,
1.4M,1.6M, 2.0M and 2.4M apertures and a diverse product
line of rugged motorized FlyAway packages, many available
in back-pack configurations, some as small as to meet airline requirements for cabin baggage. AvL, now recognized as the
leading producer of SNG antenna systems in the USA and
fast becoming known worldwide, developed the first motor-
ised, auto-acquisition Mobile VSAT antenna system de-
signed specifically for IP broadcast. AvL has over fifteen
thousand high-quality antennae for C-band, X,-band, Ku-
band, DBS-band, and Ka-band in service throughout the
world for SNG, military, emergency communications, disas-
ter management, mobile medicine, and other speciality ap-
plications.
ATCi Booth no. 705 www.atci.com
ATCi, founded in 1979, offers end-to-end
systems integration and technical services.
From front-end consulting and planning, to integrating, installing, coordinating and
managing technology solutions, ATCi has
the depth and experience to respond to
unique challenges and opportunities. Based upon the experi-
ence and expertise ATCi has gained through hundreds of
successful installations, the communications challenge is
turned into a success for its customer. Regardless of the sys-
tem requirements, we create complete end-to-end solutions.
ATCi introduces Simulsat5b - the newest multibeam system
capable of receiving transmissions from 35+ satellites simul-
taneously. Simulsat has been providing programming to over 30 million cable subscribers in the U.S. market making
ATCi the world leader in multibeam technology.
Comtech Xicom Booth no. 404 www.xicomtech.com Comtech Xicom Technology, Inc., a technology leader in
high power amplifier products for satellite communications,
will be showcasing at IBC its new high efficiency 400 Watt
Ku-Band traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) with the
size, weight and prime-power requirements of traditional
200 Watt products.
The XTD-400KHE high power amplifier (HPA) is a com-
pact, antenna mountable
TWTA designed for high linear power with outstandingly high
efficiency. The new amplifier is
in a compact, rugged package
weighing only 32 pounds.
Drawing only 960W at 200W
of linear RF output power, the
amplifier is ideal for transportable applications where high
efficiency, light weight, and high ambient temperature op-
eration are required.
Dev America LP Booth no. 637 www.dev-america.com For the first time DEV America will present its powerful
Satellite Executive Briefing 17 October 2011
solutions for RF over fiber, coax and
IFLs. At SatCon 2011 in New York. We
invite you to visit us on our Stand No.
637.
We will show you the best of our RF
transmission products from Dish to Rack
and Back, including:
Our brand new Core Function Product Series (CFP)
which offers up to 70% costs savings for Splitters,
Switches and Combiners.
DEV‘s Optribution series for RF over fiber with unbeat-
able high density. Up to 20 optical slots for up to 40
signals in 3 RU only save cost and rack space and mini-
mize risks while giving you more functionality, reliabil-
ity and flexibility.
Our latest Software developments for the Optribution
product family: Signal Recording helps you to analyze quickly the signal properties.
GlobeCast Booth no. 724 www.globecast.com
GlobeCast is a leading
provider of media man-
agement and global con-
tent delivery services for broadcasters and content creators.
With a secure fiber and satellite network connected to doz-
ens of teleports, technical operations centers, and points-of-
presence worldwide, GlobeCast manages and transports mil-
lions of hours of video and other rich media each year. An
integrator of audiovisual technology and a full service pro-
vider, GlobeCast works with all the actors in the audiovisual
chain from production companies to broadcasters, retail or-
ganizations, cinema chains, and more. The company pro-vides on-site service from major news and sporting events
for coverage in SD, HD, or even 3D.
GlobeCast will be speaking to broadcasters and content crea-
tors from around the world at SATCON at booth #724, about
the global distribution, media asset management, and play-
out of international content for broadcasters.
The content management and delivery company will have
staff on hand to speak directly to the needs of broadcasters
looking to repurpose and expand distribution of content
throughout the Americas and beyond to multiple platforms.
Videos and demonstrations will illustrate media asset man-
agement and playout, including the ability to localize and
repurpose content for any platform, any screen.
In addition, GlobeCast will be highlighting its expanded
satellite and fiber network, with new points of presence and
facilities around the world — including the Americas.
Globecomm Systems Booth no. 725 www.globecommsystems.com
Globecomm is one of the
world‘s largest
providers of satellite-based managed network solutions. Its
presence at IBC includes demonstrations on how broadcast-
ers, governments and corporations are successfully using
hosted and managed communications services in the control
room, on the ground, at sea and in the air.
Globecomm broadcasts content for major entertainment net-
works and recently landed a deal to provide broadcast deliv-
ery services with QVC, one of the largest home shopping channels. Globecomm tops 100 channels and logged more
than one million broadcast hours of HD and SD content.
Hispamar Satélites Booth no. 618 www.hispamar.com.br
Covering all of the Americas,
Hispamar Satélites – a His-
pasat Group company – offers
an extensive range of satellite
communication services through the Amazonas 1 and Ama-
zonas 2 satellites: IP, Broadcast, Corporate, Telecom, Gov-ernment, Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Digital Sign-
age. Amazonas 1 and Amazonas 2 are two of the biggest and
most powerful satellites serving the American Continent and
operate collocated at 61º W offering both C- and Ku-band
capacity, with immediate availability of high quality Ku-
band capacity for North America. Hispamar also offers the
state of the art AMERHIS technology on board Amazonas 1
& 2 satellites which allows connections between VSATs
located at any place in the American continent through a
single hop, thereby eliminating the need of a hub station.
The SPACECONNECTION Booth no. 816 www.thespaceconnection.com
The SPACECONNECTION is a
global provider of satellite services
and connectivity solutions. We
serve a diverse community of me-
dia, broadcast, enterprise and military customers who de-
pend on us to go the extra mile to deliver high quality end-to
-end solutions that are reliable and cost effective. Well be-
yond a basic price quote, we deliver industry expertise, value-added global industry relationships, personalized analysis
and best-in-class solutions. Because we are an equitable so-
lution, not a satellite operator focused on providing their
own solution, customers can feel confident we are 100%
dedicated to fulfilling their needs.
October 2011 18 Satellite Executive Briefing
SES Booth no. 509 www.ses.com
SES is a world-leading satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite
communications solutions to broadcast,
telecom, corporate and government cus-
tomers worldwide. SES owns and operates a fleet of 49
geostationary satellites that are complemented by a network
of teleports and offices located around the globe. This far-
reaching infrastructure enables our customers to reach 99%
of the world‘s population and places SES at the heart of the
global communications chain.
Walton De-Ice Booth no. 330 www.de-ice.com
Walton De-Ice designs and manu-
factures the broadest line of equip-
ment available for preventing the
accumulation of snow and/or ice on
satellite earth station antennas.
At SATCON, Walton De-ice will be
providing demos of its Ice Quake Sys-tem. The Ice Quake system (U.S. patent
pending) enhances the reliability of de-
ice and snowshield systems by a factor
of 100 percent.
Wavestream Booth no. 325 www.wavestream.com At SATCON Wavestream will be showcasing its new
indoor and outdoor PowerStream® 400W C-band solid state power amplifiers that are plug and play replacements
for traditional unlinearized 750W Traveling Wave Tube
Amplifier (TWTA) prod-
ucts used in satellite
communications, teleport
and satellite news gather-
ing systems. The new
PowerStream 454C-i and
454C-o products comple-
ment Wavestream‘s
600W C-band product family, and provide a lower
power, cost effective solid state solution to support appli-
cations where larger antennas or more powerful satellites
are used.
Products and Services MarketProducts and Services MarketProducts and Services MarketPlacePlacePlace
C-Band PowerStream 454C-o
The Satellite Technology Guide for
the 21st Century
An Indispensable Reference
2011 Edition-Revised and Updated
Face the challenging economic
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The Satellite Technology Guide for the 21st Century clearly explains in non-technical terms the basics of satel-
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future of satellite communications. Fully illustrated with
graphs and tables, the book contains appendices including
a glossary of terms and a list of industry resources.
Chapters include:
A Brief History of the Satellite Industry
Overview of the Satellite Communications
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The Basics of Satellite Communications
The Space Segment
The Ground Segment
Satellite Services
VSATs
Satellites and the Internet
The Future of Satellite Communications
To order copies go to
www.satellitemarkets.com/references
or send an e-mail to
October 2011 20 Satellite Executive Briefing
T his column was nearly entitled, ―In Praise of Intel-
sat.‖ But I knew people would either not read it, ac-
cusing me of being a shill for the satellite industry, or would pore over it hoping it was an ironic title, and that I
would write a funny piece intended to bash the world‘s larg-
est satellite operator.
Neither is true. I believe that the satellite industry is the
greatest industry on earth, but only because the facts bear it
out. I also believe that there are many good reasons to praise
Intelsat with a straight face. Many. The company may now
and then need a personality transplant. Who doesn‘t? For
example, its relationship with the teleport industry is
strained, but steps are being taken to create an awareness of
what may be at stake if it escalates. Increasingly, I observe that the company is often merely a target of envy, much like
the New York Yankees (America‘s most lucrative and suc-
cessful sporting franchise.) If you win often and win aggres-
sively, watch out. Everyone has you in their sights. It is
human nature.
But now and then the truth about a company‘s real core
comes from the voice or gesture of its CEO or chairman.
The FSS CEO panel at the World Summit for Satellite Fi-
nance concluded here in Paris a few minutes ago in the ele-
gant Westin hotel. This event, produced by Euroconsult, is one of the great events on our calendar. But naturally these
events migrate into an echo chamber after a few days. Peo-
ple are enclosed and deprived of sunlight for days. Ideas,
opinions and rumors circulate like the air in the hotel HVAC
system.
What also circulates are the usual grumbles and groans. It is
so today among a handful of the 400 or so in attendance.
The grumbles are predictable, and to some degree right.
―They never say anything of substance.‖
―They are so boring.‖
―They said that at Satellite in DC.‖
―They all say they want to keep pricing down and capacity
available. Bull…!‖
Any little sign of conflict or jabbing at each other brings the
audience to life. Like Romans in the Coliseum, we want
blood. I understand. CEOs are easy targets because they run
companies and have great authority over many of us. Busi-
ness is a blood sport in many ways and fear can be prevalent
in it. We are all adults and it is not always easy to earn our
daily loaves.
However, this year there were several moments when I again
found the seam which binds this industry to its true mission.
It is a powerful thing to hear. This time it came what many
would consider a throw-away remark from Intelsat‘s Dave
McGlade.
Speaking about the degree to which the downsizing of major
military conflicts will impact the revenues of operators, Dave
joined his colleagues and noted that much of what we do is
to use our technologies for other military support functions.
These are less likely to go away.
When pushed a bit, he showed his true emotion and passion.
He replied, ―Our work takes kids out of harm‘s way. Tech-
nology in service of military operations is good when it does
this and it is something our companies and our nations
should be very proud of. We should think about that!‖
I thought, yes, let that one bounce inside the echo chambers
and get posted to blogs, websites and columns for the next
year or so. If you are keeping a list on your refrigerator or
your laptop of the true virtues of the satellite industry,
PLEASE PUT THAT ONE IN ALL CAPS.
As you might expect, a cynic said outside that it was proba-
bly ―scripted.‖ In fact, it was not because I congratulated
him on the remarks and he wanted to elaborate further. It
was right straight du coeur. It kept the satellite industry right
on mission.
Lou Zacharilla extols on the virtues of the satellite industry from the Satellite Business Week conference
Opinion
One Idea for the Echo Chamber
by Lou Zacharilla “..the satellite industry is the greatest
industry on earth, but only because the
facts bear it out…”
Lou Zacharilla is the Director of De-velopment of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI). He can be reached at: [email protected]
October 2011 22 Satellite Executive Briefing
IndustryIndustryIndustryBriefsBriefsBriefs
Major industry news and developments
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
United Technologies Acquires Goodrich Corporation
United Technologies announced it has
reached agreement to purchase Good-
rich Corporation for $127.50 per share
in cash. This equates to a total enter-
prise value of $18.4 billion, including
$1.9 billion in net debt assumed. United
Technologies expects to finance the
transaction through a combination of
debt and equity issuance. The equity
component is expected to approximate
25 percent of the total. The closing is subject to customary closing conditions,
including regulatory and Goodrich
shareholder approvals.
Following completion of the transac-tion, United Technologies is expected
to have worldwide sales of approxi-
mately $66 billion based on projected
2011 results. The combined company's
increased scale, financial strength and
c om pl em en t a r y p r oduct s wi l l
strengthen United Technologies' posi-
tion in the aerospace and defense indus-
try.
Goodrich is a global supplier of sys-
tems and services to the aerospace and
defense industry. Its products include
aircraft landing gear, aircraft wheels
and brakes. Goodrich, with estimated
2011 sales of $8 billion, serves a global customer base with 27,000 employees
worldwide. Goodrich was a prime con-
tractor to the Pentagon‘s Operationally
Responsive Space (ORS-1) imaging
and surveillance satellite.
Iunctus Acquires RapidEye
RapidEye Canada Ltd., an affiliate of
Canadian optical satellite imagery pro-
vider Iunctus Geomatics Corp., an-
nounced that it has acquired the assets
RapidEye AG of Brandenburg an der
Havel, Germany, a provider of high-
resolution imagery and geospatial solu-
tions. RapidEye AG which has just
emerged from bankruptcy proceedings.
RapidEye's five identical Earth Obser-vation satellites were launched from
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
on August 29, 2008. RapidEye and
Iunctus will provide a complete geoin-
formation value chain and will focus on
customer relationships and developing
strong partnerships, according to a
company statement.
John Clark Joins Artel as VP, Product Development
Artel Video Systems announced the
appointment of John Clark to the newly
created position of Vice President of
Product Development. Clark joins Artel
after more than 30 years of experience
in hardware development for the video, image processing, telecommunications
and cable industries. Clark will report
directly to Richard Dellacanonica,
president of Artel Video Systems.
Clark has a broad background in prod-
uct development and management
within the New England high tech mar-
ketplace. He joins Artel from BigBand
Networks, an industry leader in digital
video networking for the CATV indus-
try where he was Vice President of Hardware Development. Clark has also
held senior management positions at
Verso Technologies, Motorola /
Winphoria Networks, and was a found-
ing member of Ignitus Communications
which was acquired by Lucent Tech-
nologies. He holds a bachelor‘s degree
in engineering from Daniel Webster
College.
WTA Appoints New Directors The World Teleport Association
(WTA) announced the appointment of
three new members to its Board of
Directors during its September Board
meeting. Adrian Ballintine, CEO of
Newsat in Australia, Tomaz Lovsin,
Managing Director of STN in Slovenia,
and Bill Tillson, President and COO of
Encompass Digital Media, headquar-tered in the U.S., were named to fill
new seats created by an expansion of
the Board approved by WTA‘s mem-
bers.
Adrian Ballintine is the
Founder and Chief Ex-
ecutive Officer of
NewSat Limited. With
over 30 years of global
technology experience
and extensive knowl-edge of the satellite
industry, Ballintine
has successfully managed a number of
technology start-ups prior to NewSat.
Ballintine was instrumental in the re-
cent acquisition of the rights to seven
premium orbital slots, which signifi-
cantly progresses NewSat towards the
launch of their fleet of next generation
geostationary satellites as part of
NewSat‘s Jabiru Satellite Program. He was named 2011 Teleport Executive of
the Year by WTA.
Tomaz Lovsin, Managing Director,
STN has extensive knowledge of all
aspects of the technical infrastructure
and day-to-day challenges that occur in
the teleport business. He was instru-
mental in the planning, purchasing and
oversight of STN's current system inte-
gration business, which today covers
over 400 TV & Radio channels, IPTV & Point to Point IP backbone links for
clients spanning the globe.
Bill Tillson President and COO of En-
compass Digital Media, has built an
extensive career in broadcast facilities
and operations, overseeing the launch
of more than 200 cable television net-
works in North America, Asia, Latin
America and Europe and negotiating
facilities and transponder transactions in excess of $2.5 billion. Tillson is also
the founder, CEO and principal of
Broadcast Cable Services Inc.
EXECUTIVE MOVES
Adrian Ballintine
Satellite Executive Briefing 25 October 2011
Industry Briefs
Dev Systemtechnik Appoints
Area Sales Maanger
DEV Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG
a manufacturer of satellite and cable
transmission equipment and parent
company of Newport
Beach-based DEV Amer-
ica, has appointed Cyrille
Mvondo Mvondo as Area
Sales Manager for
France, Spain, Portugal
and Africa. Based in DEV‘s headquarters
in Friedberg, Germany, Mvondo
Mvondo reports to Rainer Lorger, Head
of Sales and Marketing.
Cyrille Mvondo Mvondo joins DEV
from Eaton Corporation, a global sup-
plier of system components for the
manufacturing, automotive and aero-
space industries. With roots in Camer-
oon, Africa, Mvondo Mvondo has a degree in Electrical Engineering from
the University of Applied Sciences in
Cologne, Germany, and Luxembourg,
and a Master of Business Administra-
tion in Strategic Management from the
University of Applied Sciences Bonn-
Rhein-Sieg, Germany.
Prof. Hoffmann Appointed SES Chair, Univ. of
Luxembourg
Professor Dr. Mahulena Hofmann has
been appointed as the SES Chair in Sat-
ellite Communications and Media Law
at the University of Luxembourg. Her
term began on September 1, 2011.
Prior to her appointment at the Univer-
sity of Luxembourg, Dr. Hofmann, a
German and Czech national, was the
holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in
European Law and Transition Studies at
the Faculty of Law, Justus Liebig Uni-
versity of Giessen. At the same time she
served as a Senior Research Fellow at
the renowned Max Planck Institute for
Comparative Public Law and Interna-
tional Law where her research activities were in the field of International Space
and Telecommunications Law, as well
as the public law of Central and Eastern
European countries. Member of the
European Centre for Space Law and an
Expert Committee of the Council of
Europe dealing with regional and mi-nority languages, she has a rich scien-
tific profile encompassing all aspects of
Satellite Communication and Media
Law (International, European and com-
parative).
Professor Hofmann holds a PhD on Remote Sensing of the Earth from
Space - Legal Aspects from Charles
University, Prague and a ‗habilitation
thesis‘ on The Position of International
and European Law in the Legal Systems
of the Transformation Countries of
Central and Eastern Europe from the
University of Cologne. She is a full
member of the International Astronauti-
cal Academy.
IAI Appoints New Chairman
Satellite manufacturer Israel Aerospace
Industries' (IAI) Board of Directors has
appointed a new chair-
man, Mr. Don Baharav.
Baharav was President
and CEO of Amdocs
Management Ltd. and a member of the Amdocs
Board of Directors and
its Executive Commit-
tee from 2002 to the end of 2010.
Baharav became CEO of Amdocs dur-
ing the 2001 world economic crisis. He
quickly returned the company to growth
and more than doubled its revenues
from $1.4 billion to over $3 billion.
Baharav joined Amdocs in 1991 as Vice
President and was appointed Chief Fi-nancial Officer (CFO) in 1995, a posi-
tion he held until being named President
and CEO.
Prior to joining Amdocs, Baharav acted
as Chief Operating Officer of Optrotech
Ltd., a publicly held company that de-
velops, manufactures and markets elec-
tro-optical devices.
Don Baharav
Cyrille Myondo
SSPI Announce 2011 Promise and Mentor Award Winners
The Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) has selected three out-
standing honorees with its 2011 Promise Awards, which recognize the potential of
young satellite professionals to play a leadership role in the industry. The winners
are:
David Giger, Director, Dragon Spacecraft Development and Director, Dragon Propulsion, SpaceX
Bradley Patterson, Senior Project Manager, Intelsat
Rohit Iyer Seshadri, Senior Member, Technical Staff, Hughes Network Systems
Tom Eaton, President, Harris CapRock, was selected as SSPI‘s "Mentor Award‖ recipient, for his exemplary efforts to mentor the next generation of satellite pro-
fessionals.
The recipients will be honored during SSPI‘s 6th annual Future Leaders Dinner on
October 12 at The Princeton Club in midtown Manhattan. The Future Leaders
Dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. (ET) with a cocktail reception. A portion of the pro-
ceeds from the banquet and awards ceremony goes to SSPI‘s educational fund for
scholarship and intern grants for students seeking careers in the satellite industry.
In addition to the four honorees, SSPI makes honorable mention of four additional
young professionals: Adam Mayer, Mechanical Systems Engineer, Spacecraft Systems Engineering, Space Systems/Loral; Tyler Moeller, Senior Engineer,
Level 2 Support, Intelsat Video Operations Center; Ben Ramos, Senior Director,
Field Operations, FOX News; and Richard Roithner, Senior Consultant, Eurocon-
sult.
October 2011 26 Satellite Executive Briefing
MarketMarketMarketBriefsBriefsBriefs
Key industry trends and opportunities.
How Service Providers May Gain or Lose from the
Interactive TV Revolution
Laurent, Quebec, Canada, September 26, 2011--Global
telecom services revenue reached US$1.9 trillion in 2010,
representing a 4.5% increase, an improvement compared
with 2009, when revenue growth had declined to 3.8%, ac-
cording to a new report by Hot Telecom. Growth is expected to decline again starting in 2011 up to 2016 and telecom
service revenue growth is therefore projected to slow to a
five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5%
and revenue is expected to reach US$2.1 trillion in 2015,
having surpassed the US$2.0 trillion mark in 2013.
By year-end 2010, the global aggregate number of fixed, mobile and Internet subscribers grew by 10.8% to over 7.2
billion. Nevertheless, for the first time in 2011, the growth
in total telecom subscribers should drop into the single digits
to 7.7%. This is mainly due to the fact that many regions are
nearing saturation in each of these sectors. The growth in the
number of total telecom subscribers should continue to slow
over the forecasted period with a forecasted CAGR of 5.1%
over the next 5 years to nearly 9.2 billion at the end of 2015.
The growth in number of subscribers will continue to mainly
be driven by new broadband and mobile connections.
This 83-page report, which includes 48 detailed exhibits on
the global market, confirms fixed broadband will continue to
be the fastest growing telecom sector, after mobile broad-
band, with a forecasted global CAGR of 6.7% over the next
5 years. The bulk of the broadband percentage growth will
continue to come from low broadband penetration regions
such as MEA, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe.
With the proliferation of 3G phones, WiMax and LTE in the
coming years, broadband mobile is expected to be the fastest
growing segment over the next 5 years.
When analysing the global telecom market on a regional
basis, Asia is the largest region by far and now represents
47.4%, 49.0%, 37.3% and 37.5% of the world‘s fixed, mo-
bile, Internet and broadband subscribers respectively. MEA
will continue to suffer from the lowest penetration rate in all
segments, with penetration rates as low as 7.5%, 61.5%, 3.3% and 1.4% in the fixed, mobile, Internet and broadband
sectors respectively in 2010.
New York, NY, September 30, 2011-
Few can argue that the traditional busi-
ness of linear television is morphing.
Services are changing – from HDTV to
3DTV – while platforms are multiply-ing to encompass Internet delivery to
the computer or tablet, streaming to the
handheld device, download to PVRs,
and over-the-top services that embed a
Web browser and Internet-delivered
content into the familiar TV set. This is
the subject of a new report by the World
Teleport Association, Future TV and
the Teleport.
The report seeks to highlight the aspects
of today‘s TV revolution most likely to
affect teleport operators and other ser-
vice providers, to explore the threats
and potential opportunities it will create
and to offer advice on what service pro-
viders can do today to defend against
the downside and seize the upside.
The report explores how the global tele-
vision industry may change as a result, and how demand for content manage-
ment and delivery services will change
along with it.
WTA Executive Director Robert Bell
notes, ―The business of broadband de-
livery is going to become massively more important to content distribution
companies of every stripe. It is likely to
become an increasingly competitive
business at the same time that the
"walled garden" approach to delivering
exclusive content comes under increas-
ing pressure. Most of the service pro-
viders surveyed for this report saw a
silver lining in
the rising
c om p l e x i t y
and uncer-
tainty about the future of
TV. They
expect it to be
a net positive
for the com-
panies that
host, manage
and distribute video.‖
Future TV and the Teleport is available
free to WTA members from the WTA
website at www.worldteleport.org.
Non-members may purchase a copy of
the report from the site as well.
Global Telecom Revenues to Reach
US$ 2.1 Trillion by 2016
October 2011 28 Satellite Executive Briefing
Mobile Internet will Overtake Fixed Users
A new report by IDATE entitled
“World Internet Usage and
Markets” forecasts that mobile
internet users will overtake
fixed users by 2016.
Globally, the number of users
of fixed Internet will continue
to grow at a steady pace,
reaching 2.3 billion in 2015”,
comments Sophie Lubrano,
Project Leader and IDATE’s
Director of Studies. “Users of
mobile Internet services will
progress even more rapidly,
however, and should reach 2.6
billion in 2015. This growth is
fuelled by emerging markets,
particularly China.”
Source: IDATE.
Satellite Executive Briefing 29 October 2011
Amos Spacecom…………………………..……….24
www.amos-spacecom.com
AVCOM of Virginia…………………….…….…...5
www.avcomofva.com
AVL Technologies…………………..….…….…...31
www.avltech.com
ATCi………………………………….….…....…...24
www.atci.com
CommunicAsia 2012...............................................21
www.communicasia.com
Comtech Xicom.........................................................8
www.xicomtech.com/
Dev America............................................................12
www.dev-america.com
Globecomm Systems……………………....……...32
www.globecommsystems.com
Hispamar Satélites…………………..…....……...11
www.hispamar.com.br
Milcom 2011…………………………...…...….....23
www.milcom.org
The SpaceConnection………….............cover and 2
www.thespaceconnection.com
Walton De-Ice........................................................19
www.de-ice.com
Wavestream.............................................................7
www.wavestream.com
Work Microwave...................................................27
www.work-microwave.de
ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
October 12-13, 2011 SATCON 2011, Javits Convention
Center, New York City, USA, Tel: +1 (203) 371-6322 E-
mail: [email protected] web: www.satconexpo.com/
October 13-15, 2011, SCAT India 2011, World Trade
Center, Mumbai, India, Tel: +91-22-2494 8280
E-mail: [email protected]
web: www.scatmag.com/scatindia
October 31-November 3, 2011, CASBAA Convention
2011, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Hong Kong, Tel. +852-2854 9913
E-mail: [email protected] web: http://events.casbaa.com/
convention2011/
November 7-10, 2011 MILCOM 2011: “Networks...
Attaining the Value‖, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Contact
person: AFCEA Plans Department,
Email: [email protected] Tel: +1.703.631.6170 web: www.milcom.org
November 22-23, 2011, GVF Oil & Gas Communications
South East Asia 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Tel: +44 (0)20 8342 8159
Email: [email protected] & [email protected]
web: www.uk-emp.co.uk/13th.O&GSEA.2011/
December 13-15, 2011 DoD Commercial SATCOM
Users' Workshop, Crystal Gateway Marriot, Arlington,
Virginia, USA, web: www.dodsatcom.com
Calendar of Events
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October 2011 30 Satellite Executive Briefing
The Satellite Markets 25 IndexTM is a composite of 25 publicly-traded satellite companies worldwide with five compa-nies representing each major market segment of the industry: satellite operators; satellite and component manufactur-ers; ground equipment manufacturers; satellite service providers and consumer satellite services. The base data for the Satellite Markets IndexTM is January 2, 2008--the first day of operation for Satellite Market and Research. The Index equals 1,000. The Satellite Markets IndexTM provides a benchmark to gauge the overall health of the satellite industry.
© 2011 Satellite Markets and Research, Satellite Executive Briefing and the Satellite Markets IndexTM are trademarks of Synthesis Publications LLC. Synthesis Publica-tions LLC is the owner of the trademark, service marks and copyrights related to the Index. This newsletter does not constitute an offer of an investment product. Satel-
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