Satellite Broadband

Published by: IDATE

Published: Apr. 1, 2009 - 108 Pages

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Methodology

3. Satellite: a Key Technology for Providing End-user Access?

3.1. Features of two-way access

3.1.1. Ka band: how it works

3.1.2. Technical specificities

3.1.3. Economic advantages

3.1.4. Increasingly competitive commercial offers

3.1.5. Latency not a major obstacle

3.2. A technology back in the news

For each case study:

Technical infrastructure

Services offers

3.2.1. In North America

3.2.2. In Asia

3.2.3. In Europe

4. Competition for Terrestrial Technologies

4.1. Wireline technologies still dominate but wireless broadband making strides

4.1.1. Massive dominance of wireline systems:xDSL and cable modem

4.1.2. Market development

4.1.3. Wireless cellular network technologies

4.1.4. Alternative wireless technologies: Wifi and WiMAX

4.1.5. Market development

4.2. Outlook for new generation ultra-fast broadband technologies

4.2.1. Fibre optic and FTTH

4.2.2. Future of mobile solutions and 4G

5. Satellite’s Competitiveness

5.1. Technological competitiveness

5.2. An efficient solution for reducing the digital divide

5.3. Local authorities play a decisive role in the choice of solution

5.3.1. Growing number of European plans to reduce the digital divide

5.3.2. WiMAX, satellite, 3G, which will prevail?

6. Market Segmentation Criteria

6.1. Socioeconomic criteria

6.1.1. PC penetration rate

6.1.2. GDP per capita

6.1.3. Rural/urban population density

6.2. Features of a terrestrial broadband rollout

6.2.1. DSL network coverage

6.2.2. Broadband penetration

6.2.3. Internet access speeds

6.2.4. Internet access prices

6.3. Criteria shaping the development of satellite TV

6.3.1. Satellite dish equipment

6.3.2. Satellite pay-TV penetration

6.4. Main challenges and uncertainties

6.4.1. Tied to the development of wireline networks

6.4.2. Tied to the development of wireless networks

6.4.3. Tied to the TV market structure

6.4.4. Tied to government involvement

7. Target Markets with Varying Features

7.1. Characterisation of satellite target markets

7.2. Positioning scenarios by zone

7.2.1. Strategic options open to satellite operators

Reducing the digital divide

Partnership with a TV bouquet

Internet Pure player

7.2.2. Strategic options by zone

Zone 1: Widespread broadband access

Zone 2: Divide steadily closing

Zone 3: Developing slowly

Zone 4: Lasting digital divide?

7.2.3. Summary

Initial strategic positioning

Long-term strategic positioning

Market potential for satellite

Case studies:

Avanti Broadband

Eutelsat Tooway

Hughes Communications

IPSTAR

SES Astra

Telesat

ViaSat

Wildblue Communications

Tables & Figures

Table 1: Future range of speeds supplied by the Tooway offer, based on the KA-SAT

Table 2: Cable modem standard features

Table 3: Performances of 802.11 standards

Table 4: Fixed WiMAX performance

Table 5: selection of current/planned WiMAX service rollouts in Europe and North Africa at the end of 2008

Table 6: Estimated number of households not covered by fixed broadband networks

Table 7: List of satellite TV services available in Europe in 2007

Table 8: Identification and characterisation of potential target markets

Table 9: Positioning strategies for a satellite operator

Database (Excel)

Countries covered

ALGERIA

AUSTRIA

BELGIUM

BULGARIA

CZECH REPUBLIC

DENMARK

EGYPT

ESTONIA

FINLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

HUNGARY

IRELAND

ITALY

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

LIBYA

MOROCCO

NETHERLANDS

NORWAY

POLAND

PORTUGAL

ROMANIA

SLOVAKIA

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

SWEDEN

SWITZERLAND

TUNISIA

TURKEY

UNITED KINGDOM

Data analysed

GDP per capita

Population (total, urban, rural)

Density

PC penetration

DSL coverage

Broadband subscriber base

(DSL, Cable, FTTH, others)

Terrestrial broadband prices

DSL subscribers by speed

Cable subscribers by speed

Satellite equipped households

Households subscribing to satellite

Figure 1: List of countries analysed in this report

Figure 2: How two-way internet access via satellite works

Figure 3: Example of beam coverage with frequency reuse

Figure 4: Estimated cost of bandwidth for Ka-band systems (launched satellite)

Figure 5: Change in the price of a satellite broadband reception terminal

Figure 6: Typology of Internet use

Figure 7: Main uses of the internet in French households

Figure 8: Breakdown of Internet users by age, for each application

Figure 9: Growth of the WildBlue subscriber base

Figure 10: Breakdown of WildBlue subscribers by population density

Figure 11: Impact of WildBlue on Ka-band terminal shipments in the United States

Figure 12: Residential internet access services marketed by WildBlue

Figure 13: Growth of HughesNet subscriber base

Figure 14: The new service architecture with the SpaceWay 3 satellite

Figure 15: The Spaceway transmission system

Figure 16: Residential internet access services marketed by Hughes

Figure 17: ViaSat-1 development roadmap

Figure 18: Estimated capacity of the ViaSat-1 satellite in Gbps, compared to other North American satellites operating in the Ka,Ku, and C bands

Figure 19: Growth of the installed base of Ka-band terminals in Canada

Figure 20: The Thaicom 4/IPStar satellite’s coverage

Figure 21: The ISPSTAR service coverage at the end of 2008

Figure 22: Growth of IPSTAR terminal sales

Figure 23: Geographical breakdown of shipments of IPSTAR terminals (end of 2008)

Figure 24: Current coverage of the Avanti service Intelsat IS-903

Figure 25: Performance of the HylasOne satellite

Figure 26: Service coverage provided by Avanti

Figure 27: Avanti business model as it stood at the end of 2008

Figure 28: Tooway Ka and Ku-band coverage and bitrate

Figure 29: Tooway offers distributed by Sat2Way in France in January 2009

Figure 30: The Sat3Play system architecture

Figure 31: Triple play via Astra2Connect

Figure 32: Range of bitrates offered by Vivéole

Figure 33: Combined broadband/TV reception via satellite

Figure 32: DSL variants, according to downstream bitrate

Figure 33: Theoretical performance of ADSL2+, VDSL and VDSL2.

Figure 34: European broadband market structure by access technology, Q4 2008

Figure 35: North African broadband market structure by access technology, Q4 2008

Figure 36: Change in the monthly price of a basic DSL service

Figure 37: Expected use of frequency bands by geographical zone

Figure 38: Number of sites for covering the population with HSxPA and Mobile WiMAX

Figure 39: Comparison of a selection of 3G Internet flat rates in Europe, over mobile and PC data card/USB key (mid-2008)

Figure 40: Mobile Internet penetration in a selection of European countries

Figure 41: Where the mobile Internet is used in France

Figure 42: Worldwide deployment of 3GLTE

Figure 43: Evolution from GSM to 3GLTE

Figure 44: The future of mobile technologies

Figure 45: Comparison of current technologies

Figure 46: Satellite’s positioning for providing broadband access in rural zone

Figure 47: Developments enabled by faster speed access

Figure 48: Map of dead zones in Metropolitan France in 2008

Figure 49: Local authorities’ WiMAX rollout strategy

Figure 50: PC penetration rate

Figure 51: GDP per capita

Figure 52: Population density in Europe

Figure 53 Population density in North Africa

Figure 54: Total coverage of DSL networks

Figure 55: DSL network coverage of urban and suburban areas

Figure 56: DSL network coverage of rural areas

Figure 57: Broadband penetration

Figure 58: DSL subscriber bitrates in Europe and North Africa

Figure 59: Cable subscriber bitrates in Europe and North Africa

Figure 60: Average price of a broadband service (DSL & cable) (EUR) - 1 Mbps downlink

Figure 61: Average price of a broadband service (DSL & cable) (EUR) - 4 Mbps downlink

Figure 62: Percentage of households equipped with satellite TV reception antennae

Figure 63: DTH subscriber base at the end of 2007

Figure 64: Map of markets that can be targeted by a satellite Internet access offer

Figure 65: Positioning of the different strategic options for zone 1

Figure 66: Positioning of the different strategic options for zone 2

Figure 67: Positioning of the different strategic options for zone 3

Figure 68: Positioning of the different strategic options for zone 4

Abstract

• What is the actual market outlook for satellite technologies when
competing with terrestrial, wireline and wireless technologies?
• What positioning scenarios would be the most relevant for a
satellite operator, given the features of the broadband market in the different geographical zones being examined?
• What advantages does use of the Ka band bring?
• What are the market drivers and issues surrounding the offer’s
structure?
• Satellite, WiMAX, 3G: who will win the battle to reduce the
digital divide?

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