Satellite Initiative Pushes Satellite Broadband as a Digital Divide Solution

GBSI participants -- executives from Intelsat to Arabsat, Alcatel to New Skies -- said in a paper satellite technology could provide Internet access to underserved areas worldwide, were international regulatory and technical environments more receptive. The GBSI’s 2007 Internet access target is ambitious: deployment of 11- to 20-inch satellite dishes costing less than $150 with uplink speeds of at least 128 kbps and downlink speeds of at least 2 Mbps, all at about the same price as ADSL or cable modem access.

“We're urging regulators to simplify the regulatory environments and thus reduce the investment required by industry to provide broadband services where they are needed, particularly in the developing world,” said Tony Trujillo, Intelsat exec. vp-chief administrative officer. Satellite broadband is ideal for Internet access where cable or fiber doesn’t extend, but serving the developing world “still isn’t economic, it doesn’t make business sense,” said GBSI participant Joslyn Read, asst. vp- regulatory & international affairs at Hughes Network Systems: “We're trying to find ways that we can answer international needs and still comply with our stockholders. If certain regulatory barriers can be reduced, we can impact the market fairly quickly.”

GBSI wants to see a pro-competitive regulatory framework at play internationally, and is encouraging govts. to commit to the WTO process and the Doha Development Agenda to further advance regulatory liberalization. According to a Dec. 2004 Satellite Industry Assn. report to the USTR, countries like Brazil, China, the Russian Federation, S. Africa and Mexico could improve market access to satellite services by making regulatory procedures more transparent and streamlined. SIA said China and Russia haven’t defined satellite regulatory policies. Brazil requires foreign satellite operators to provide services through entities constituted under Brazilian laws and headquartered in Brazil. Mexico limits foreign ownership of space segments to 49% and levies protectionist spectrum usage fees. GBSI said it wants satellite landing rights requirements “minimized or eliminated” and similar treatment “for national and non- national satellite companies alike.”

To deliver high-speed satellite broadband to the developing world, the industry needn’t “re-invent the wheel,” said Trujillo. Existing satellite spectrum and in- orbit satellites could meet demand, he said. In a statement of purpose after they met, GBSI participants “reaffirmed their willingness to leverage the existing satellite spectrum, and in-orbit and planned spacecraft, to serve the demand for satellite broadband services in the developing world.”

But the embrace of a single open standard is key to attracting the research, development and investment needed to elevate satellite broadband to the world stage, GBIS participants said. Current standards include IPoS, different versions of DVB-RCS, DOCSIS, and others, said Read. Some, like IPoS and DVB-RCS, are open standards, but others, like DOCSIS, are proprietary, she said. The European Telecom Standards Institute and the Telecom Industry Assn. are recognizing open standards for broadband data transmission (CD April 22 p6). But adoption of a single open standard “will have an important impact” in making satellite broadband services affordable, participants said.