Really Rocket Science - Business Network

Airborne Broadband Bacchanal

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:41:11 -0700

About a week after Labor Day, ARINC introduced new Caribbean coverage for SKYLink, an in-flight broadband service for business jets:

The new Caribbean coverage area means users of the SKYLink network will be able to fly from Europe to North America, across the Caribbean, and on to Central and South America, without losing access to important e-mail or Internet applications. To encourage customers to take part in the coverage tests, ARINC Direct suspended roaming charges in the new region through July 21, 2008. Customer feedback was used to adjust satellite coverage and to map signal strength across the region.
The new coverage includes the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad-Tobago; Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, northern Peru, northern Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, and part of Surinam.
eXchange with service by SKYLink is the only communications system for business jets offering true broadband Internet speeds—as high as 3.5 Mbps to the aircraft. Customers have access to e-mail, corporate intranet (VPN), the Web, flat-rate Voice over IP (VoIP) global telephone service, and videoconferencing. eXchange also provides e-mail and data capability for personal Wi-Fi enabled smartphones in the cabin.

Really cool how Rockwell-Collins integrates it all:

Business travelers will experience real-time, two-way broadband connectivity with secure access to e-mail services, Internet browsing, access to Virtual Private Networks (VPN), and options for Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service and videoconferencing. eXchange also enables data connectivity to select Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, such as RIM's Blackberry models 8320 and 8820, providing travelers with access to e-mail and other smartphone data services.

Thanks to the AMC-21 satellite's dedicated Caribbean Ku-band beam -- and new mobile platform -- local satcom Internet companies like Caribbetech and mobile services like KVH have new opportunities to pursue.

Satellite Internet Making Inroads on the Backroads

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:24:35 -0700

It's hard to believe for some of us who think of dial-up internet as a thing of the past, but up to 10 million Americans who live in our nation's most remote places still don't have the option of DSL or cable internet.

But dial up won't suffice in today's age of YouTube and World of Warcraft, so what to do?

The answer is satellite broadband Internet.

We've written in the past about several of the players in the market, such as Wild Blue, HughesNet, and Spacenet's Starband. But today we want to focus on SkyWay USA, which touts itself as "rural America's low-cost satellite provider."

For just $49 in equipment costs (after a rebate) and a monthly basic subscription of $29.95, you can be up and running with SkyWay USA in a matter of days. Installation is so easy, according to this press release (caution if you're still on dial-up: opens in PDF) that Skyway claims they've even had a 69 year old grandmother install the system.

So how does it work?

Skyways use a hybrid or combination model, using your phone line for sending commands (upload) and satellite for content (download).

For capacity, they use Echostar Fixed Satellite Services -- at least according to MarketWatch. (On their own website, SkyWay says it is partnering with SES Americom.)

FSS is the division of EchoStar that uses DISH Network's excess capacity. Dean Olmstead, who was behind the AMERICOM2Home concept, notes that SkyWay USA will be using both the Ku- and Ka-band capacity of Echostar FSS.

Technorati Tags: networking communications echostar ses+americom broadband skyway internet satellite rural olmstead

Satphones for the Masses

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:08:17 -0700

Qualcomm is teaming up with SkyTerra’s Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) and ICO Global Communications to integrate satellite communications into mass-market cellular handsets, Wireless Week reports:

Under the agreement, Qualcomm will integrate satellite and cellular communication technology by developing a satellite protocol and including it in the firmware of select Qualcomm multimode baseband chips. Qualcomm also plans to support the L- and S-Band frequencies, in which MSV and ICO operate, in select RF processors.
In essence, the same mobile chipsets at the heart of wireless devices will let handset makers produce satellite-capable devices at comparable scale and cost.

I guess this might mean the end of the "can you hear me now?" commercials, eh?

The quality of the players in this venture (no pun intended) bode well for its ultimate outcome. Qualcomm developed its satellite-based asset-tracking service, OmniTRACS, years before GPS technology became commercially available. OmniTRACS is what's inside those little white domes you see on on Sears trucks.

Here's a video of how it works:

Qualcomm is also working on the Google Android phone, which is supported by the Android open-source operating system and intended as a major competitor to the Apple iPhone:

Qualcomm is likely to face stiff competition in the future from chipmakers who want in on the Android action.

Perhaps we'll see similar functionality as what's found in the Thuraya system, with the Android switching between GSM and satellite as required?

Time will tell.

Technorati Tags: Apple Google android iphone gadgets phones technology mobile cellular satellites qualcomm

3 Billion New Internet Users on the Way?

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:44:33 -0700

A start-up company, backed by some big names, is seeking to add 3 Billion new Internet users from poor, remote countries.

On Tuesday, O3b Networks Ltd., founded and run by 38-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur Greg Wyler, is expected to announce plans to launch as many as 16 satellites that could provide service to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America by the end of 2010.
The undertaking, expected to cost about $650 million, has initial backing of about $60 million from investors that include HSBC Holdings PLC, Allen & Company, and Liberty Global Inc., in addition to Google.

Of course, the blogs are abuzz with the news that Google is launching 16 new satellites, especially after yesterday’s post about the GeoEye-1, but Google is only anteing up $20 million for the project.

The bigger news is about O3b, whose young CEO, Greg Wyler, has pulled together an impressive list of funders to tackle a very lofty goal.

This isn’t the first time that Wyler has launched an aggressive project to bring Internet access to the developing world. He also paired up with the Rwandan government in an effort to connect schools, government institutions and homes with low-cost, high-speed Internet service. The fate of that project contains some warnings for this venture. Rwandan officials say Wyler didn’t follow through on his promises:

Wyler says he sees things differently and that he and the Rwandan officials will probably never agree on why their joint venture has been so slow to get off the ground. But Terracom's tale is more than a story about a business dispute in Rwanda. It is also emblematic of what can happen when good intentions run into the technical, political and business realities of Africa.

The technology behind the latest venture is a low-earth orbit system, built by Thales Alenia Space.

Side Note: O3b is headquartered in St. John, Jersey, Channel Islands. Never heard of it? Officially the "Bailiwick of Jersey”, it’s located in the English Channel, off the coast of France.

Technorati Tags: google hsbc leo+satellite thales thales+alenia+space 03b teledesic skybridge

Global Mobile Satcom

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:26:15 -0700

Inmarsat CEO Andrew Sukawaty said it best:

The Inmarsat-4s are the world's most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services.

Very cool mission: complete global coverage from 3 satellites, for land, air or sea. Oh, and so many spot beams:

Each I-4 can generate 19 wide beams and more than 200 narrow spot beams. These can quickly be reconfigured and focused anywhere on Earth to provide extra capacity where needed.

A spacecraft this powerful is a biggie:

Each satellite can digitally form more than 200 spot beams. More power and spectrum can be allocated to certain beams to cope with the fluctuations in traffic. An on-board digital signal processor routes the signals to the different beams, acting like a switchboard in the sky: any signal uplink can be routed to any mobile downlink beam and vice versa.
All three satellites are identical and interchangeable – their coverage is programmable and can be reconfigured in orbit. They are based on the E3000 version of Astrium's outstandly successful Eurostar satellite platform series, and equipped with electric propulsion system. Their 45m-long solar array generates 14 kW of electrical power at beginning of life and the spacecraft weighs approximately 5,950 kg at launch. The main body is 7 metres high and the unfurlable antenna reflector has a diameter of about 10 metres.

Here's the launch video:

Technorati Tags: mobile+satellite maritime bgan inmarsat+4-f3 astrium eads inmarsat proton

Satellite Broadband Gets an Upgrade

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:35:41 -0700

If thoughts of super-fast satellite link-ups from spy movies have you considering satellite broadband service, we have some news you’d like to hear.

WildBlue, one of the top satellite broadband providers in the US, is upgrading its capacity to allow for 150,000 new customers. How are they doing it? Rather than launching a new bird, they’re upgrading their transmission link hardware and software to allow 50 percent more information bits through the same existing radio link.

Some are skeptical that these upgrades will actually lead to better service. But, if you live in an area where dial-up is your only other option, most reviews say jumping to satellite is worth it.

For those of us who live in urban areas and take it for granted that we can shop around for internet service, we should count ourselves lucky:

WildBlue estimates that there are over 11 million households in areas throughout the United States where DSL or cable broadband services are not available and that over 7.5 million of these households are still accessing the Internet through a traditional dial-up connection.

With WildBlue’s latest upgrades, they seem to be beating out their other major competitor in the satellite broadband space: HughesNet. In fact, in a Consumer Reports review of ISPs, HughesNet got the lowest possible rating in all categories. This customer seems to agree.

Technorati Tags: viasat satellite+internet hughesnet spacenet hughes ka-band wildblue surfbeam

Canadian Innovation

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:31:14 -0700

Some interesting news coming out of Canada recently, some of it satcom-related, and some not. Ciel Satellite received "approvals in principle" from Industry Canada to develop a half-dozen orbital locations over North America, right in the "sweet spot" for direct-broadcast satellite TV. Using the Ka-band for BSS spectrum (17/24 GHz) represents new capacity and will probably lead to more innovation. More HDTV channels? You better believe it.

We know RIM's BlackBerry represents Canadian innovation at its finest, and the Canadarm contribution to the space program is well-known, but we couldn't help but notice the news from Sky Hook International for a new transport system -- using blimps:

A Calgary company will team up with aerospace giant Boeing to build a giant dirigible-like craft capable of lifting heavy loads for the oil and gas, mining and forestry sectors.
SkyHook International Inc. president Peter Jess said the companies plan to build two prototypes of the JHL-40 rotorcraft -- a combination helicopter and blimp -- before proceeding with a production run of 50 to 60 units.
According to company officials, there isn't anything quite like it in existence and the prototypes will mark the commercial development of a whole new breed of aircraft.
"The list of customers waiting for SkyHook's services is extensive and they enthusiastically support the development of the JHL-40."
The patented craft will be capable of hauling 40-tonne loads up to 320 kilometres in areas without basic infrastructure such as roads.
Jess said the first two initial craft would be deployed in the Arctic.
Formerly with Dome Petroleum, Jess said he came up with the idea decades ago while working in the Far North.
Boeing will build the prototypes at its manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania while SkyHook will own, maintain and operate the aircraft on a worldwide basis.
The JHL-40 has yet to be certified by aviation authorities in Canada or the United States and won't come into service until 2012.

Innovation leads economic development in any business -- especially satcom.

Technorati Tags: boeing skyhook industry+canada telesat ciel ka-band

Satcom in Uganda

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:20:57 -0700

We've written extensively about efforts to connect Africa with the digital world (see Com in Africa: A Changing Marketplace, A Pan-African E-Network, With India's Technology, and Which Satellites Aid Oil Exploration in Africa?, for examples).

Now, East and Southern Africa are about to be connected to the global internet pipeline by undersea cable, and terrestrial networks are rapidly expanding in major towns.

But what about the more remote nations of Africa, such as Uganda, home of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

Like Nigeria, Uganda relies upon satellite for its principle mode of digital communications:

Satellite transmission remains the most apt mode of digital communication in Uganda and much of Africa where spotty infrastructure and geographical isolation still pose a formidable challenge to the deployment of fibre optic cables, according to an official from Afsat Communications ltd.

Afsat is Africa’s largest provider of Very Small Aperture Terminal, (VSAT) based internet services. At a June 19th media presentation in Kampala on the potential of satellite technology in bringing internet access, Afsat’s General Manager Job Ndege said VSATs were still the best and cost efficient means of bringing the Ugandan masses access to internet.

Currently Afsat is marketing its services in Uganda under the brand name iWay Africa and connects its clients to: “fast, reliable, efficient and cost effective broadband intenrt” and “Tailor designed and highly available intra-corporate connectivity solutions.”

The company is present in 28 sub-Saharan African countries and has installed about 5200 VSATs on both the broadband and intra-corporate platforms. Lately there has been a lively debate among the ICT industry analysts, policy makers and academics on the relevance of VSATs in the wake of efforts, now in advanced stages, to connect East and Southern Africa to the word’s fibre optic network.

Monitor Online has a good interview with Afsat’s Job Ndege, who notes that VSAT is immune to the problems of poor infrastructure "because it is possible to have a VSAT system that completely bypasses the local infrastructure.
This is a key advantage of VSAT as compared to other technologies."

For delivery of the digital connection, Afsat's iWay Broadband utilizes the Intelsat 10 (IS-10) and NSS-7 satellites.

Technorati Tags: africa technology satcom communications broadband development internet uganda parks vsat afsat satellites SES intelsat

Sirius-XM Deal Moves

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:07:33 -0700

The proposed merger between satellite radio giants XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio seems closer to becoming a reality, following Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin statement yesterday that "with the voluntary commitments [the companies have] offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest." Martin asked for a total of eight concessions, including lifting restrictions on the hardware that is able to transmit the enlarged company's broadcasts, and opening some channels to noncommercial and minority-owned broadcasters.

BusinessWeek has some analysis on how the FCC-imposed concessions may actually help Sirius and XM, and expand the reach of satellite radio:

Some merger conditions may even help the combined company achieve its goal of reviving growth, which has slowed in recent months. Take the seemingly major requirement that the companies allow any hardware manufacturer to make and sell satellite radio receivers. This would appear to make it easier for consumers to choose between satellite radio, HD radio, music players, and other rival formats. Yet looked at another way, with satellite radio no longer limited to stand-alone devices, it might find its way into more gadgets, such as phones and music players. That, in turn, could widen satellite radio's distribution. What's more, Sirius and XM may be able to save money by no longer having to subsidize satellite radio players, as they do now.

Consider the requirement that Sirius-XM make 24 channels available for noncommercial and minority programming. "That can create demand for these users to sign up for the service," says James Goss, an analyst at Barrington Research. Yes, the condition means the two companies must get rid of about 8% of their current programming—but analysts estimate there's as much as a 50% overlap between the XM and Sirius program lineups anyway. What's more, by giving away 24 channels, Sirius-XM also may save on programming fees. "If anything, it should save Sirius-XM money," says April Horace, an analyst at Janco Partners.

Martin's statement doesn't mean the deal is done, however; "Martin needs at least two other commissioners to vote for the deal, and FCC sources tell BusinessWeek.com he hasn't yet been assured he'll get those votes." And as a letter writer to the Wall Street Journal observes, there's plenty of precedent for long delays from the FCC:

[B]y FCC standards, the 400-plus days that the XM-Sirius matter has been languishing before the agency is not very long. Delay has been a serious problem at the FCC for as long as the agency has been in existence....

Just this month the FCC acted to affirm an action by its staff that was taken six years ago denying an extension of time for construction of a radio station that had originally been authorized in the early 1980s but had never been built. The six-year delay in taking action that the FCC, expert agency that it is supposed to be, should have [taken] six days, or at most six weeks.

And the LA Times reports that Martin's conditions haven't satisfied the merger's fiercest critics:

Two leading consumer advocates blasted the proposed conditions as failing to ensure that satellite radio prices won't eventually rise. And Martin, a Republican, may have trouble pushing his proposal through the FCC....

Despite intense opposition from the National Assn. of Broadcasters, which represents traditional radio stations, the Justice Department approved the merger in March. Antitrust regulators agreed with Sirius and XM executives that their combination would not create a monopoly because iPods and other devices give people growing options for listening to music in their cars and elsewhere.

But Martin had said the merger faced a high hurdle at the FCC, which, to ensure competition, barred any future merger when creating satellite radio in 1997. Martin has pushed Sirius and XM to formalize some pricing promises made to lawmakers and agree to other conditions.

The companies first announced their intended merger, now valued at about $3.85 billion, in February 2007.

Technorati Tags: sirius xm satellite+radio FCC satcom broadcasting radio business mergers

Shake, Shake, Shake

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:54:32 -0700

Mobile Satellite Ventures is proposing a system to help predict earthquakes in the U.S. Naturally, it's a satellite-based system:

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) today announced that it has joined with the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) to form a new satellite mutual aid radio talkgroup (SMART) dedicated to the preparation for and response to earthquakes throughout the central United States.
CUSEC is a partnership of the federal government and eight states most affected by earthquakes in the central U.S. including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The organization serves as the coordinating hub for the multi-state region and as a partnership of organizations to mediate disasters and save lives caused by earthquakes in the central U.S.

MSV is expected to shake things up with their new satellite, MSV-1, expected to launch in 2009 and based on Boeing's GeoMobile platform (like Thuraya, but bigger). Wait a minute: where's California? They have their own earthquake people. But central U.S.? There was an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale in the Wabash Valley on 18 April 2008, via The Southern Illinoisan:

An earthquake centered in southern Illinois rocked people awake across the Midwest early Friday, surprising residents unaccustomed to such seismic activity.
The quake just before 4:37 a.m. was centered 6 miles from West Salem, Ill., and 66 miles west of Evansville, Ind.
Initially pegged as a 5.4 earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey revised its estimate to give it a value of 5.2.
West Salem is in Edwards County, and dispatcher Lucas Griswold says the sheriff's department received several calls about the earthquake but only reports of minor damage and no injuries.
``Oh, yeah, I felt it. It was interesting,'' Griswold said. ``A lot of shaking.''

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Australian Broadcasting is reporting a new satellite system for predicting earthquakes using ionospheric dimpling:

The theory suggests that much of earth's rock has soaked up water, which has later been exposed to extreme heat and pressure inside the earth. Those conditions break apart the water and create the electrically conductive crystals that exist inside most rocks, as well as byproducts such as oxygen.
As pressure builds before an earthquake, the oxygen molecules inside the rocks undergo chemical reactions, creating a positive electrical charge that radiates out toward the earth's surface.
"It's similar to how an electrical charge radiates through a battery," says Freund.
The charge creates a subtle fluorescent, infrared glow and a magnetic field one to two weeks before a major earthquake.
That light shines into space, the theory goes, where satellites can register the change.
Low-resolution thermal cameras aboard the proposed satellites would scan the earth to detect earthquake precursors, says Eves.
The positively charged magnet creates a dimple, up to 20 kilometres deep, in the earth's atmosphere by attracting negatively charged ions from as far away as 600 kilometres above the surface of the Earth.
To detect this ionospheric dimpling, the satellites would monitor the existing Global Positioning Satellite System with three small GPS antennas on its side. As each GPS satellite comes up over the horizon, its signal would pass through the ionosphere. Any dimpling would change that signal.
The theory is not without skeptics.
"As far as I know, there is no published research to suggest that this will work," says Dr Mike Blanpied, who is with the United States Geologic Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program.

This early-warning system was reported by the Wall Street Journal last month:

Early in May, NASA earth scientists monitoring infrared images of the earth noticed unusual patterns in southwestern China. One sent an email to colleagues, noting: Something is happening in Sichuan province.
For Friedemann Freund, a chemist-turned-NASA geophysics researcher, it was more support for his simple, though hotly contested theory: Earthquakes are the culmination of drawn-out physical processes that can be tracked sometimes more than a week ahead of the main event.

The main idea: Rocks put under enough pressure -- for example, when tectonic plates shift -- turn into batteries. The resulting electrical currents can travel miles into the earth, Dr. Freund says. The infrared images observed by NASA, for example, were concentrated several hundred miles from the epicenter of the roughly 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on May 12, killing at least 34,000 people.
Dr. Freund describes his discovery as simple, made at 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in early 2005 just before he and his graduate students finished packing up a temporary laboratory they had been using. For experiment No. 167, one for the road, they decided to use a copper contact to test whether a squeezed rock emitted a current. It did.
"This is something that should have been discovered 50 years ago," he said.
Certainly, people have tried. For more than a century, researchers have debated the pursuit of the "holy grail" of earthquake prediction. There is still no widespread support for linking electromagnetic signals, infrared emissions or atmospheric changes to an approaching quake.

Satellites are used to communicate seismic data, and transmitting videos, of course. The prospect of being able to predict such events many days in advance seems like a real possibility. Count on the Smithsonian to present it, probably based on a published piece by Dr. Ouzounov of George Mason University.

Technorati Tags: mobile+satellite skyterra msv usgs ouzounov richter+scale earthquake sichuan mss

Alaskan Business

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:38:51 -0700

Out in the bush, you need an airplane to get around effectively. You can get by with a snowmoble in the winter, but how much can you cover in a day? Alaska is a big state, spanning 663,267 square miles (that's 367 million acres, cowboy). Since the early 1970s, Alaska's telephone system has been using satellite, primary using AT&T Alascom's Aurora satellites (currently Aurora III; co-named AMC-8). Pretty extensive network, highlighted by the Alyeska Pipeline:

When Galaxy 18 launched in May, we didn't think they'd be cutting over some of the services from the Galaxy 10R spacecraft so quickly. End-of-life for G10R was originally projected to be 2015, but after a XIPS problem, it was cut short. One of the big customers on that bird, GCI, moved nine transponders of traffic yesterday:

GCI announced today that it successfully transitioned all of its rural telecommunication services last night to the Galaxy 18 satellite. This satellite will provide long-distance, Internet, distance education and telehealth services throughout rural Alaska for the next 14 years.
“The success of last night means rural Alaskans will stay connected to the most advanced network in Alaska,” said Ron Duncan, GCI president and CEO. “It also provides major businesses in Alaska and carriers in the lower 48 states the ability to directly touch customers virtually anywhere in Alaska.”
GCI owns nine transponders on Galaxy 18 and will take possession of a tenth transponder in approximately two weeks. GCI will lease the transponder capacity from Intelsat. However, GCI will be required to account for this arrangement as a capital lease. This will result in a capital lease obligation, and corresponding long-term asset, in the approximate amount of $98 million.

Hmm. At that price, it seems to work out to approximately $58,000 per month per transponder, and that ain't a bad price. I suppose if the oil keeps pumping, there will always be money to pay for satcom services. Keep us rocket scientists busy for years.

Here's where the oil ends up, in Valdez:

Technorati Tags: alascom gci alaskan+oil alaska+pipeline alyeska+pipeline intelsat galaxy+18

Unfurling a Big Antenna in Space

Wed, 28 May 2008 08:23:35 -0700

The ICO G1, launched last month, is referred to as the "world's largest" by manufacturer Space Systems/Loral:

ICO G1 is a Loral-designed spacecraft that incorporates a 12-meter antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corporation. The reflector utilizes a gold-plated mesh reflective surface and a unique new Harris design that allows a very large antenna reflector to stow safely and easily on the Loral 1300 satellite platform. The reflector size enables the increased performance typically required for mobile interactive media services.
ICO G1 is the largest commercial satellite launched to date, weighing nearly 15,000 pounds at liftoff, and measuring more than 27 feet high and over 100 feet wide, following solar array deployment.

Here's the animation simulating deployment:

Technorati Tags: ico+mim harris palo+alto loral ico

A Billion More Satellite Internet Users

Thu, 15 May 2008 21:05:46 -0700

Q: How do you connect 1 billion more Africans to the Internet by 2012?

A: By Satellite, of course.

According to a story by Efem Nkanga in This Day (Nigeria), that will call for launching 20 satellites to do the job:

One billion Africans located in under-served rural and urban areas across the continent are set to benefit from an initiative powered by a non profit association of the international satellite industry called Global VSAT Forum to double the number of earth station terminals operating in Africa by 2012.
The worldwide Global body of firms involved in the business of delivering advanced digital fixed satellite unveiled these plans to newsmen at the ongoing Telecoms Africa forum in Cairo. Mr. Jeremy Rose, Chairman, International Development Initiatives, Global VSAT Forum, who disclosed this initiative said that more than 20 satellites will be brought into service to connect Africa during the next five years to support this initiative. Rose added that to facilitate the industry's offering, complimentary capacity building will be delivered to governments in Africa by the GVF. These initiatives according to him are being unveiled to support ongoing plans by the International Telecoms Federation to meet Africa's connectivity goals set during Connect Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in October, 2007.
The GSM Association had announced that its industry members planned to invest $50 billion between 2008 and 2012 in networks in Africa, covering 90 per cent of the population.
The Association announced today that the number of mobile connections in Africa has risen 70 million in the past 12 months to 282 million.
Mobile operators have ramped up investment in the region, extending GSM coverage to reach an additional 550,000 square kilometers occupied by 46 million people.
This broadening coverage along with the falling cost of mobile communications has enabled millions of Africans to get connected.He added that the company's goal was to provide enhanced opportunities in connecting the next billion people.Earlier, stakeholders had made calls for Africa to have Broadband connectivity at affordable prices that would drive growth in the continent.One of the ways of driving this uptake of broadband was the call for optic fiber deployment across the length and breadth of the continent.A highlight of the formal opening was the Press launch of ITU's regional report, "African Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008: At a Crossroads". Following booming growth in the mobile telephony sector - which saw 65 million new subscribers in 2007- and an encouraging investment climate spurring economic development in the region, Africa is a continent on the move: the theme for ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008.

That's quite a challenge from the GVF. If I'm still around in 2012, I'll do a follow-up post.

Look, I remember a forecast in June of 2001, by a market research company, that an addtional 500 geosynchronous satellites will be needed to satisfy demand. Nearly 7 years later, I don't see expansion of that magnitude.

Technorati Tags: gvf vsat+forum vsat africa satcom african+internet satellite+internet internet

Swedish Antenna for Norwegian Oil

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:25:25 -0700

One of the better stabilized VSAT antennas built today is being picked up by the oil & gas guys in Norway:

C2SAT has reported a significant sale to the Norwegian Oil and Gas offshore industry. The order refers to C2SAT's Stabilised VSAT model C2SAT 1.2m Ku.
C2SAT and Trac Networks, in co-operation, have delivered the first stabilised VSAT satellite communication solution in a larger tender. Trac provides the TracSAT service which offers global satellite coverage and functionality.
The strong growth in the off-shore industry originates from a high demand for asymmetric high bandwidth satellite services, which enable transmission of large volumes of data in ship-to-shore applications.

More about the new TracSat bundle, per Per:

"Trac Networks participates in several offshore transmission requests and we are very pleased to proceed to the next level in this business case", says Mr. Per Christiansen, Senior Vice President, Trac Networks.
"The Norwegian Oil & Gas industry is operating in many geographical regions and the need for well performing satellite communication systems, in different kinds of environments, is rapidly growing. This particular system is tailor made according to the customer's demand. The key features making TracSAT the preferred solution were high reliability and attractive price", says Per Christiansen.

With the price of oil hitting new highs every other day, we know someone's willing to pay for satcom bandwidth. Whether maritime broadband becomes the norm, as we blogged before, remains to be seen.

Technorati Tags: marine+broadband maritime+broadband satcom sweden norway tracsat c2sat statoil crude+prices oil norwegian+oil

A (Wireless) Cloud Looms Over South Carolina

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:23:01 -0700

The coming switch from analog to digital broadcasting has states scrambling to submit plans to the FCC that outline how they will digitalize and use their current broadcasting licenses.

The state of South Carolina, for example, owns 67 wireless licenses, which are administered by the state agency, SCETV. Those licenses could be used to help deliver broadband to rural residents if a unique bill currently before the South Carolina General Assembly becomes law.

The Times and Democrat explains:

[State Senator John] Matthews has sponsored legislation that would require the licenses, owned by the state agency, SCETV, to be used to provide a “wireless cloud” over a 10 mile radius of every public school in the state.

The aim is to provide the same accessible, affordable Internet access currently available to urban areas to the less tech-savvy rural communities, Matthews said.

While Matthews views it as an unique opportunity to bridge the economic gap, other legislators see it as a chance to boost state revenues by leasing signals to private companies such as AT&T.

Last year, the House voted to establish the S.C. Wireless Technology and Communications Commission to determine the viability of creating a statewide “wireless cloud.”

The Senate is currently mulling over whether or not that committee will have any legislators on it. Meanwhile, state Rep. Dwight Loftis, R-Greenville, says time is of the essence.

The state has until January 2009 to submit a plan to the FCC on how it will digitalize and use the licenses. The federal government has required that all signals be converted from analog to digital by February 2009.

If the legislature does not move quickly enough, it could lose the licenses and what Loftis hails as an opportunity to be a national leader in broadband technology.

A copy of the bill can be read here; it's no surprise that one of the chief sponsors of the bill is a retired elementary school principal, given its focus on education.

If South Carolina enacts the ban, it will be a major victory for those seeking to make high-speed access to the Internet as universal as access to electricity or water. In Connecticut, a similar discussion about the "right to broadband" is turning contentious, as it already has in other states.

Whether closing the broadband gap comes through the deliberate repurposing of FCC licenses as part of public policy, as in South Carolina, or through broader private access to WiMAX and satellite broadband, there seems little doubt that the gap will close. Wal-Mart, as we've blogged recently, is at least one company that is betting that the demand for faster access is rural areas is sure to burgeon in the coming years.

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