The satellite industry is delving deeper into rural areas even as it prepares for increased competition from terrestrial networks.
“When we went from Jupiter 1 to Jupiter 2 [satellites], we halved the cost per bit,” Mark Wymer, senior vice president for North America at satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems (HNS), a subsidiary of EchoStar (NASDAQ: SATS), said at the Connect (X) 2022 conference last week. “We look to do that again with Jupiter 3.”
The Jupiter 3 satellite will launch in Q1 2023, Wymer told Connectivity Business News. Built by Maxar (NYSE: MAXR) and ordered in 2017, the satellite will deliver 500 gigabits per second (Gbps) total throughput, according to the HNS website. The price point of the more powerful ground equipment will remain in line with current pricing, $400 or $450 including installation, Wymer said. The ground terminals cost “less than the phone that you’re probably carrying in your pocket.”
HNS’ satellite service will be available in areas that are designated to receive broadband but which may not actually receive it under the government’s $48 billion broadband plan, Wymer added.
Satellite communications are perceived as unattractive but those willing to do their research will find value for money, Richard Swardh, senior vice president for premium enterprise and mobile operators at communications systems maker Comtech Satellite Network Technologies, a division of Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ: CMTL), said during the session.
“If you choose any of the modern, innovative satellite solutions available today, from me or my colleagues here, you will get tremendous throughput at very affordable rates” that can deliver 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download / 3 Mbps upload, which is the U.S. government’s definition of broadband, Swardh said.
Satellite companies deliver more than residential broadband in the U.S., said Slava Frayter, regional vice president for North America at equipment maker Gilat Satellite Networks (NASDAQ: GILT). Enterprise cellular backhaul over satellite is a large market and there is strong demand in mobility, aviation and government, he said.
Connectivity demand driven by fundamental needs
Internet demand is universal, David Meltzer, secretary general at trade association GVF and moderator of the session, told Connectivity Business News. In fact, the American Red Cross developed a satellite-connected heat detector for one of the poorest communities in Kenya where residents lacked property rights to their homes, said Meltzer, who was previously general counsel and chief information officer at the American Red Cross. Residents requested the addition of internet connectivity to the fire detector. “The poorest neighborhood you can image, and they wanted internet.”
Voice communications solve a more basic need, particularly after a disaster, he added. In Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince after the 2010 earthquake, “We had Iridium (NASDAQ: IRDM) phones,” Meltzer said. “We were able to say, here’s a phone, call your relative, tell them you’re alive.”
In the U.S., satellite is backhauling some telephone networks, HNS’ Wymer told Connectivity Business News. Terrestrial phone companies have carrier of last resort obligations that require them to deliver phone service to all customers within that service territory. In some areas of the U.S., that phone service now travels partially via satellite, he said.
