 | Issue: | Global-ICT 2008 |
| Article no.: | 10 | |
| Topic: | Global coverage for ICT | |
| Author: | Chris Russell | |
| Title: | Chairman | |
| Organisation: | World Teleport Association (WTA) | |
| PDF size: | 203KB |
About author
Chris Russell is Chairman of the World Teleport Association (WTA), the only trade association focusing on the business of satellite communications from the ground up. Mr Russell has a distinguished background in broadcasting production then commercial development in the satellite communications field. Mr Russell was the founding General Manager of Teleport London International, which is now part of Arqiva Communications. He has since been providing project start-up and management services through his own company Henley Partners International. Chris Russell has an MA from Pembroke College, Cambridge in modern languages, and an MBA from Open University, London.
Article abstract
The technical and commercial innovation inherent in teleports, ground-stations facilities linking satellites to terrestrial networks, has been a driver in the development of the satellite industry. High bandwidth prices have restricted widespread use of satellite for ICTs in developing countries, but public sector funding from supranational agencies – and new satellites optimised for broadband – can change that. The cost of failure to provide these services is often ignored. ICT services are essential to education, communications and commerce in the global economy
Full Article
Teleports and satellites Teleports lie at the centre of the world’s satellite communications infrastructure, linking the unique flexibility offered by satellite communication with terrestrial and mobile technologies, to complete the passage of TV and telecoms signals. These are not obscure, complicated, switching centres, they are the very basis of a commercial network which on the one hand delivers TV and video to millions of viewers around the world, and on the other is being called on increasingly to provide the sort of service. Broadband access and ICT programmes depend on them – including many programmes that will allow providers and governments to meet WSIS goals. With some 140 member companies worldwide, the World Teleport Association (WTA) brings together the ground segment component of the satellite community with those partners and suppliers who make teleport businesses work. On the ground are sophisticated networks of antennas and data processing facilities – the teleports that originate the signals for millions of users around the world. The advances in technology such as digital compression and many other IT processes common in the broadcasting and telecommunications environments, have helped teleports provide a series of additional services to their customers – allowing the broadcasters to concentrate on the business of creating TV and radio programmes. This third-party outsourcing model is at the heart of how teleports add value to their customer base. In the old days of national communications infrastructures, broadcast TV programme-makers and other users of communications services had no choice but to go to the expensive and bureaucratic state-owned companies. In the western world at least, that all changed in the 90s and spurred the growth of the ‘third-party’ teleport model. In this, specialists in the provision of ground segment facilities offer a variety of off-the-shelf and tailored services to communications companies of all kinds. I was the first General Manager of just such a groundbreaking facility in the 1990s. We called it Teleport London International (TLI), to attract international satellite business, much of it originating in the USA where the idea of the independent teleport was well understood. Our first clients were broadcasters wanting an alternative to the high charges and poor client service of the incumbent operators. Later came a very different sort of traffic – revolutionary in its way and astounding to those users benefiting from it. It was based on providing Internet connectivity to consumers all over the world. TLI specialised in providing service to companies needing Internet access in Africa, India and South America. Satellites are well suited to provide this ‘backhaul’ service. Users in remote areas needed to get access to the Internet backbone, and TLI was one of the first to do that commercially. Now, ten years later, many satellite service companies sell their offerings based on the infrastructure provided by the teleports themselves. Others buy their space and ground segment services as they need them and continue to provide unique services. Satellite broadband – no complicated and costly infrastructure The challenge faced by governmental agencies in meeting demand from poor countries around the world – bridging the so-called digital divide – has never been greater. Teleports make available the necessary hub infrastructure to offer two and three-way bundled offerings (voice, broadband even video) to service providers and their users around the world. The solutions provided by satellite-based teleports can be divided into remote broadband solutions, sometimes using hybrid technology, backhaul for phone and Internet connections, delivering information communication technology (ICT) applications and disaster recovery solutions. Internet service in a tiny remote village in Africa or Asia offers a window on the world to people who would otherwise be deprived of it. It is an important marker to policy makers keen to bridge the digital divide. The extent of this divide has been well described elsewhere, but it continues to grow, challenging the commercial and technical capabilities of service providers, and challenges governments to stick to their official policy of deregulating the market. Speeds of over 1mbps are routinely available and considerably higher speeds are also on the market. When the new generation of Ka-band satellites are launched within the next few years, much higher data rates can be expected, bringing about something of a renaissance in satellite services. Satellite technology compete best where there is little fibre infrastructure, or where satellite’s other characteristics can come to the fore. Speed of deployment and the ability to ‘multi-cast’ large quantities of data are often essential for certain types of situation. There are other technical solutions for larger networks where low-cost broadcast-based networking is important and there are low-bandwidth return channel requirements. One example of this is in distance learning networks. Satellite is also powerful when combined with encryption to deliver secure networking to military and government organizations. GSM backhaul In many developing countries, mobile services are growing much faster than fixed services because they are quicker and cheaper to deploy and can provide a host of applications such as advanced communication, banking and medical services. Mobile is also leapfrogging fixed networks and speed of rollout is critical. In some countries with poor or non-existent communications infrastructure, a wireless solution for the backbone itself is essential. Often this is best provided by microwave backhaul, but there are regions this will not reach, and only satellite will do. Disaster recovery Responding quickly to disasters requires a robust, flexible, architecture that can be quickly set up anywhere. These services help emergency providers to operate at maximum efficiency, however challenging the situation. Satellites systems are quickly and easily deployed – and are easy to interface with whatever legacy systems, if any, are functioning in the region. When these services are backed up by the 24/7 operational cover provided by most teleports the reliability of this type of service is exceptional. WSIS goals and satellites As we have seen, satellite has an important role to play in bridging the divide, particularly in specialist, niche applications, but it does have drawbacks. One is the relatively high cost of capacity. This is a commercial issue which has much to do with the way the satellite industry developed and has been financed. Designing, launching and operating satellites is expensive, and space-borne technology cannot be updated as readily as ground-based equipment. The second drawback has to do with governments and regulations, and the extreme poverty of many countries in the world. Governments have been slow to deregulate-transmit and receive services in their countries, even though they recognize that access to low-cost communication services is an imperative for improving the quality of life. Of the world’s 50 least developed countries (LDCs), two-thirds are in Africa. Access to the Internet and other telecom services has been held back by an antiquated infrastructure, low investment and by the diversity of languages and cultures. At a recent forum of the Commonwealth Telecoms Organisation Forum in Cameroon – attended by the author – individual countries reported on their steps to separate the government from the regulatory infrastructure and of their efforts to reform regulation. It is clear that some progress is being made, but it is very slow. The picture in India, though, is much more advanced. Telecoms and broadcast companies are doing well. One way to alleviate poverty and the digital divide and the inequalities caused by uneven access to broadband services, is by employing a special Universal Service Fund – something it has in common with 30 other countries around the world. Companies are obliged to donate a percentage of their income to the government’s Universal Services Fund which is earmarked for rural Internet and phone projects. With these donations, larger companies are helping the efforts to meet the WSIS goals. According to WTA Board member M.N.Vyas, sustaining an all-satellite offering is a challenge. In India, broadband access may cost as little as US$10 a month – although at that price, encryption can be poor or non-existent. The cost of satellite capacity is greater than that for normal terrestrial coverage – but it easily reaches regions where the cost of terrestrial networks, either wired or wireless, would be prohibitive. In India, satellite capacity costs have remained static, but terrestrial costs have plummeted, leaving little room to deploy satellite in the traditional markets. One of satellite’s strengths, though, lies in its multicast abilities; it is a very cost-effective way to rapidly and simultaneously send data to multiple corporate sites. The big challenge for builders of fixed infrastructure networks is the US$5 per month mobile telephony user. To keep costs down for these users, satellite usage will be limited to those niche markets where it has proven value. Satellite fights back One of the most exciting developments for teleports and the satellite community is the launch of new satellites optimized for Internet broadband delivery, rather than the staple TV and point-to-point telecoms services in which satellites have specialized until recently. For example, the American company ViaSat, a specialist in ground equipment, has recently announced that it is going into the space business to build a satellite that it claims will be the world’s highest capacity broadband satellite. The Jersey-based O3b (referring to the world’s ‘Other three billion’ citizens not yet connected to the Internet) recently announced its system deployment scheduled for late 2010, using medium earth-orbiting satellites, rather than the geostationary satellites used by traditional telecoms providers. The stated objective for this company is to bridge the digital divide by building a global Internet backbone for telcos and ISPs in emerging markets. With investment and operational support from Google, Liberty Media and HSBC bank, O3b Networks is now building a distribution network to serve a population of several billion consumers and businesses in more than 150 countries. Together with other announcements in Europe, it seems that satellite is rapidly improving its chances of becoming a mainstream telecommunications service contender.
