Satellite Pro Middle East

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SATCOM EMPOWERS THE GLOBAL THEATRE OF MILITARY OPERATIONS

FROM WAR TO WELFARE

FORCEMULTIPLIER

HACKERS BEWARE

TV ON THE MOVE

Invisible solutions from EIAST’s Saeed Al-Mansoori

From the Zhejiang province of China to the studios of MBC and beyond

OUTLOOK ON 2013Magne Remoy, MarlinkMartin Hughes, HermesDaniel Enns, Comtech

Roundtables on telcos and the maritime verticalsREGISTER

ISSUE 14 | JANUARY 2013

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GSat4

GSat2

Broadcast

Data Link

VOIP

Data EncryptionDisastar Recovery

Internet

Video Conference

No More Boundaries

www.gulfsat.com

In this competitive age of communication, you must be seeking to enhance your broadcasting services to reach morelives. Gulfsat provides you with complete broadcasting solutions and superior technical support, available in Arabic.With worldwide hubs, we are one of the largest satellite antenna farms in the Middle East, and have a variety of state-of-the-art features.A member of the KIPCO Group

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EDITORIAL

On HTS and Mars

“The first man on Mars has probably already been born,” suggested Sir Patrick Moore, the man my British colleagues remember as having introduced them to the fascinating world of astronomy. The amateur but distinguished astronomer chose to look ahead, beyond his past achievements. “My own research – mapping the Moon – now belongs to the past, and my role, if I have one, is to try and urge others to do things

which I could never do myself,” he is reported to have said.

“This century will be very interesting,” he added.

I have sometimes envied my parents’ generation for the excitement they experienced around the lunar landings. Those were interesting times with the likes of Sir Patrick Moore mapping the moon and straddling both sides of the Cold War without sympathiser tags hindering their creativity.

Was it a less divided world then?

It was definitely a less crowded sky back then. With the Maldives joining the long list of countries aspiring to launch satellites, the “interesting century” should not turn into a calamitous one.

The year 2013 will see a new boost to the High Throughtput Satellites’ (HTS) race with O3b and Global Xpress following on the footsteps of Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat that was launched in 2010.

However, with fibre making its way through Africa, Latin America and the Pacific, experts question the viability of the next generation, high throughput capacity argument. Newtec’s Serge Van Herck believes a multiservice approach will dominate the agenda in 2013. He adds that service providers “are asking for platforms that can handle different vertical markets and terminals to make sure they are not putting all of their eggs in one basket”.

At SatellitePro ME, we are happily ahead of the game as we approach each of the major verticals in dedicated sections within the magazine supported by the first of our roundtables for Telcos in March 2013. Hope to have you on board.

Supriya SrinivasEditor

© Copyright 2012 CPI. All rights reserved. While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this

magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Publisher Dominic De Sousa

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In this edition:

“The Satcom system must be able to support data rates of at least 10 Mbps from the aircraft to the ground via satellite.” - Koen Williams, Strategic Marketing Director, Government and IP Trunking, Newtec– page 10

“Technology does not exist in a vacuum. So the real trend of the year is understanding what a customer is looking for and how best to supply it.”- Martin JV Hughes, Services Manager, Hermes Datacommunications ME– page 20

“Looking at the future, the new methods of content delivery could reshape the broadcast vertical revenue stream.”- Mohammed Al-Haj, COO of Kuwait-based Gulfsat– page 26

“I see an opportunity in the next 12 to 24 months as mobile service providers attempt to monetise data services.”- Daniel Enns, SVP Marketing & Business Development, Comtech– page 30

www.satelliteprome.com

SatNews

The World Teleport Association published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2012.

For the second year in a row, the teleport operators reported their total spending on satellite capacity. The Top Independent Operators in 2012 spent USD 830 million

on satellite capacity, which represented 40% on average of their annual revenues.

The Independent Top TwentyThe Independent Top Twenty ranks teleport operators based on revenue from all sources. The list focuses on the independent operators at the core of the business, excluding companies whose primary business is ownership and operation of a satellite fleet or terrestrial network. The Independent Top Operators, consisting of companies that do not own and operate satellites, had combined revenues of USD 2.3 billion and grew more than 9% from USD 2.1 billion the prior year. Du was ranked eight and Jordan Media City was ranked 14th respectively with Harris CapRock topping the list.

Hughes to deploy satellite broadband to 3,000 banks

EADS team participating at the World Parachuting Championship in Dubai

Jordan Media City and du among top global teleport operators

Climate – the hot topic in Doha

ESA joined international delegates in Doha, Qatar, to discuss how satellite observations show our planet’s most sensitive areas reacting to climate change – and how this information is useful to the people living there.

Radars on Earth observation satellites are particularly suited to monitoring polar regions because they can acquire images through clouds and darkness.

Satellites can help us to monitor and understand changes in polar ice because they carry instruments that measure changes in the thickness of the ice sheets, fluctuations in the speed of the outlet glaciers and even small changes in Earth’s gravity field caused by melting ice.

Data from satellites, together with in-situ information, can also assist people living in polar regions to adapt to the changes occurring in their surroundings.

Since the launch of Meteosat-1 in 1977, ESA has kept close watch on the global climate with its Earth observation missions. It continues to play a major role in studying and monitoring climate variation with satellites dedicated to the environment.

These satellites include the ERS satellites, Envisat, the Earth Explorers and the five Sentinel missions planned within the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme.

www.worldteleport.org

www.hughes.in www.eads.com www.esa.int

Hughes Communications India, Ltd (HCIL) has won a five-year, USD 6 million contract to deploy a satellite broadband network and managed services that will link together more than 3,000 branches of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in India.

Hughes will also deploy 3,000 HN9200 VSAT terminals as part of the banking project. The company will further provide shared Network Operations Center (NOC) services such as backhaul, hosting, end-to-end IPSec management, and satellite bandwidth.

Ghassem Asrar, Director of the World Climate Research Programme, speaking at COP 18 in Doha.

Ahmed Almuhaideb, Senior Director Samacom and Terrestrial, du

4 | SatellitePro | January 2013

January 2013 | SatellitePro | 5

R.I.P. Sir Patrick Moore

www.ses.com

Eutelsat 70B satellite was successfully delivered into orbit by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea

Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in international waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Built for Eutelsat by Astrium using its E3000 platform, Eutelsat 70B is designed to optimise resources from the 70.5° East orbital slot. With a reported high

Successful launch of Eutelsat 70B satellite by Sea Launch

TRT Turk selects SES to reach audiences in sub-Saharan Africa

Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) will use capacity on SES-5 located at 5 degrees East to broadcast its free-to-air digital channel TRT Turk and its radio channel Turkiyenin Sesi Radyosu (TRS) to sub-Saharan Africa using the satellite’s Ka-band uplink capabilities, allowing for flexible operations between Europe and Africa.

SES-5 was launched in July 2012 and complements SES’ ASTRA 4A satellite at this orbital position reportedly providing additional and extended coverage over South Africa, North Africa, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean.

Norbert Hölzle, Senior Vice President Commercial Europe of SES, said: “We are happy to extend our partnership with TRT Turk and look forward to broadcasting the Turkish channel to new audiences in sub-Saharan Africa where demand for digital TV content is constantly growing. Satellite is the most ideal form of infrastructure to broadcast TV content to a wide audience across large geographical regions.”

Ibrahim Sahin, General Manager of TRT, said: “We rely on SES’ expertise and global satellite fleet to reach important audiences and markets outside of Turkey. We already rely on SES’ prime orbital position 19.2 degrees East to reach our audiences in Western Europe. The use of SES-5 will give us immediate access to sub-Saharan Africa and provide our target audience with premium news, culture and entertainment programmes made in Turkey.”

His passion for the solar system and all its mysteries enthralled viewers around the world since The Sky at Night was first broadcast, on 24 April 1957, six months before the launch of Sputnik ushered in the modern space age.

In its obituary, The Daily Telegraph reported that Moore believed he was the only person to have met the first man to fly, Orville Wright, as well as the first man in space, Russian Yuri Gagarin, and the first man on the moon, the late Neil Armstrong.

frequency reuse, four regional beams connected to 48 Ku-band transponders that are located on a single platform, the company claims that current capacity at 70.5° East for data and government services, broadband access, GSM backhauling and professional video exchanges has more than doubled.

www.eutelsat.com

Norbert Hölzle, Senior Vice President Commercial Europe of SES

SatNews

Etihad Airways has launched the “Etihad Wi-Fly” in-flight internet and mobile connectivity service,

powered by the Panasonic Avionics Global Communications Suite.

The airline’s first aircraft equipped with Panasonic’s communications technology, an Airbus A330-200, took flight for Brussels, reportedly offering high-speed broadband internet connectivity as well as data and mobile phone services. The A330-200 will be used for long-haul destinations across

Etihad Airways launches “Etihad Wi-Fly” connectivity

www.thuraya.com

www.globecommsystems.com

www.intelsat.com

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive O!cer, Etihad Airways

www.mascorp.com

www.beamcommunications.com

Beam celebrates first decade


Beam Communications Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Reach Limited celebrated its 10th anniversary. Beam was founded 2002 in Melbourne reportedly following a request by Telstra and Iridium to design and manufacture a satellite terminal for the Australian market.

“It has been 10 exciting and challenging years for Beam Communications,” said Michael Capocchi, Managing Director of Beam Communications.

KEY APPOINTMENTSShereen Hanafi heads Corporate Communications at Thuraya

In the newly created role, she reports to T. Sanford Jewett, Vice President of Marketing at Thuraya. She is responsible for the company’s global communications strategy including media relations and corporate communications.

Grant Marais is Regional Vice President of Africa Sales, Intelsat

Marais will be responsible for supporting telecommunications and wireless operators, network services providers, and DTH platform operators and broadcasters.

Brian Morris is Senior VP of Media & Entertainment Channel at Globecomm

In this newly created role, Morris will be responsible for Globecomm’s strategic direction and businesses initiatives focused on serving content providers and service providers on a global basis and leveraging Globecomm’s expertise in engineering, design, provisioning, and support of video distribution networks into adjacent market verticals.

Etihad Airways’ international network, such as Brussels, Dublin, Manchester, Munich, Frankfurt and Milan.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “’Etihad Wi-Fly’ is a result of the 10-year, USD one billion agreement we signed with Panasonic Avionics in November 2011. By the end of Q1 2013, we will have 10 ‘Etihad Wi-Fly’-equipped aircraft, and I am pleased to announce that by the end of 2014, every single Etihad Airways aircraft will be equipped for in-flight connectivity.”

The “Wi-Fly” connectivity solution is offered to guests at a cost of USD 13.95 for one hour or USD 24.95 for 24 hours. The service will be complimentary for Etihad Airways’ Diamond First Class guests. Mobile telephone usage will be charged based on the international roaming rates of guests’ mobile network providers.

New in-flight app to allow passengers to view real-time flight data on iPads

www.satcomdirect.com

The FlightDeck 360 application reportedly allows customers to access messages in flight, pre-departure clearances, oceanic clearances, flight plans and support documents before powering up the aircraft. It also integrates with in-flight weather apps such as ForeFlight and enables operators to request technical support from Satcom Direct while in flight. The only thing needed to run the app is reportedly an internet connection.

Michael Capocchi, Managing Director of Beam Communications


Arianespace’s new mobile application

NASA Suomi NPP satellite offers a nighttime look at Earth

Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM) has issued a request for proposal for launching and operating

a satellite for the Maldives as reported by Haveeru Online.

The request for proposal by the authority stated that the project is to be carried out in three phases including securing of orbital slot, manufacturing and launching of the satellite and the commercial operation of the satellite.

However, it did not provide any details of estimated amount to be spent on the project.

Maldives planning to launch and operate a satellite

www.eiast.ae

DubaiSat-1 provides first glimpse of MBR City site

CAM stated that the importance of a satellite had been increasing by the day as broadcasters had been increasing. CAM also stated that the prominence of a satellite has been increasing given the geographic location of Maldives and with the importance of surveillance in safeguarding the Maldivian territory in an effective manner.

The authority stated that spending on foreign satellite service providers is a financial burden and that the excess capacity was to be utilised commercially to bring in revenue to the country.

The organisation had observed the increasing use of satellites in the region especially in the broadcasting sector, CAM added.

CAM has informed that the closing time for the receipt of proposals is 1400Hrs on Thursday, 31 January 2013.

www.motc.gov.mv

With the release of Arianespace’s new mobile application, tablet and smartphone users around the globe can follow the company’s launch activities.

This application – called “Arianespace HD” – reportedly provides a wide range of features for its users, including the ability to follow live coverage of the company’s commercial missions, which are performed using a family of launch vehicles: the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium Soyuz and lightweight Vega.

Additional features include a countdown to the next liftoff.

www.nasa.govwww.arianespace.com

DubaiSat-1, the UAE-owned and operated earth observation satellite, has relayed an image of the area in Dubai that will be developed into the recently announced Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) City. The satellite, which was launched by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), will reportedly monitor the MBR City project and provide images every month to highlight the project’s progress.

The satellite images reportedly complement existing Geographic Information System (GIS) databases and enable more efficient monitoring of environmental changes and natural hazards in addition to identifying water quality in the Gulf.

MBR City, announced in November 2012, will feature leisure and retail facilities. The project will be located between Emirates Road, Al Khail Road and Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.

www.arabsat.com

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Military and Satcom experts analyse the current demands for bandwidth and explore the possibilities

of working together to support global mission critical operations

SatLead

CONFLICT & CALAMITY

EXPLORING THE GLOBAL BATTLEFIELD FOR BANDWIDTH


Lt. Col Holger Lüschow of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Germany, revealed at the Global Milsatcom conference

that concluded in London recently, that the first deployment of Satcom by the German forces started with a few deployable ground stations and some leased capabilities during the 1993 Somalia mission. In the 1996 Balkans mission, there was an increase in ground stations with a military anchor station in Germany and there was an advanced ability in terms of network management and control.

Talking about the current status and capabilities, the German MoD has two own military satellites with long-term leased commercial satellite capacity. Underlining the advanced state-of-the-ground segment with more than 500 deployable ground stations for C-, Ku- and X-bands, Luschow stated that the MOD has a mix of several ground stations for flexible connectivity, with dynamic, fully-meshed networks and improved network management technologies. The MoD is looking at hosted payloads in the future and the use of new and innovative technologies (e. g. Ka-band, multi-carrier modems) to prepare systems for future needs, among other areas.

Access to space dimension essentialThe concerted attempt to broaden and modernise the Satcom capabilities of the armed forces is clearly underlined in the Military Strategic Vision outlined by the Netherland’s Chief Of Defence Staff in March 2010 that stated: “The traditional dimensions of sea, land and air are extended with the dimensions of information and space. The dependency on space-based assets requires an assured access to that dimension. An ownership of space capacity is yet unaffordable, but is to be realised through partnerships. The use and access to the space dimension is essential for our operations.”

Among the emerging user requirements in the military vertical, the big takeaway is that current operations have resulted in a much higher demand for Ultra High Frequency (UHF) than anticipated. Military experts also believe there has been a

significant increase in the use of Super High Frequency (SHF). And critically despite the operation size, rich information is demanded at all levels of command with the need for information superiority agnostic to operation size.

Commercial MilSatCom meeting MoD requirementsDave Bettinger, IDirect’s CTO and senior VP of engineering, believes that advances In MilSatCom is meeting new MoD requirements.

“Satellites are an integral part of global military networks everywhere. Addressing the critical criteria of scalability, adaptability, security and mobility, satellite technology is interoperable leveraging IP-based platforms across defence and civil security forces.”

Satellite, he believes, is a key enabler matched by a vertical that strives for reduced cost. The army currently wants, “increased capability and complexity. There is a paradigm shift in terms of technology driven by the ‘iPhone, Smart Phone’ approach with wanting more for less”.

Speaking from the MSS perspective, Peter Hadinger, President, Inmarsat Government Services, states that mobile satellite values align with MilSatCom in terms of “global coverage, the use of small terminals and the elements of high security and global roaming – both enabled by satellite-based technologies”.

Industry observers believe that the global political situation reversed after 9/11. MilSatCom couldn’t keep up with surge in information demands. Commercial Satcom had bet against terrestrial (and lost) with excess supply.

“In a moment of serendipity, commercial [Satcom] became dominant,” says Hadinger of Inmarsat.

With global mobility and very few market substititues, and the potential of Ka for high-bandwidth global mobility with data-efficient spot-beam technology and small terminals, militaries, Hadinger says, should leverage the advantages of the MSS sector. Along with global mobility, the satellite industry has demonstrated fundamental long-term durability in the broadcast sector with very high economies of scale.

“Satellites are an integral part of global military networks everywhere. Addressing the critical criteria of scalability, adaptability, security and mobility, satellite technology is interoperable leveraging IP-based platforms across defence and civil security forces”

Dave Bettinger, CTO and Senior VP of Engineering, iDirect



SatLead

The upcoming Global Xpress capacity, according to Hadinger can work with a military platform without any change of hardware. The first Global Xpress satellite that uses both the civil and military Ka-bands, is scheduled for launch in the summer of 2013, with two others to follow at six-month intervals.

As reported in the trade press, Inmarsat has consulted with U.S. defence authorities from the start on Global Xpress, in terms of maximising synergy with Wideband Global Satcom (WGS).

Collaborations between MoD and commercial SatcomOne of the oft cited examples of collaboration between commercial Satcom and governments is the Skynet 5 military communications system owned and operated by Astrium Services since 2007 for the UK Ministry of Defence through a Private Finance Initiative (PFI). The seventh Ariane 5 mission of 2012 carried the British military communications satellite Skynet 5D recently. Skynet 5D will join the existing three Skynet 5 satellites.

Another prime example of collaboration between governments is the U.S. military’s Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) constellation of X- and Ka-band satellites. While four WGS satellites are in operation in geostationary orbit, aided by two international partnerships with Australia and the other with Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Luxembourg and the Netherlands — the US Air Force has reportedly ordered six more spacecraft from manufacturer, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, California.

These satellites are scheduled to be launched between 2013 and 2018.

As reported in the trade press, the five nations will benefit from a 25% reduction in the cost of their participation because the US Air Force was able to negotiate a better price from Boeing for the ninth WGS spacecraft, whose construction these nations are financing.

Technology keeping pace with ISR operationsKeeping in step with nations’ concerns to keep military budgets within limits, is

technology that makes the most of the existing capacity.

Koen Williams, Strategic Marketing Director, Government and IP Trunking, Newtec, believes technology has enabled increased efficiency for beyond line-of-sight Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations.

The current trends and challenges for airborne operations include, according to Williams, “Smaller-scale missions, a critical need for detailed information and service continuation despite the weather and other mitigating factors. Coupled with budget cuts and the need for growing bitrates, there is a need for technology that can efficiently enable ISR operations.”

Among the airborne ISR best practices, Williams includes: “Efficient throughput, optimal availability and improvements beyond DVB-S2.”

Williams elaborates on the challenges in airborne operations with missions calling for “small airframes with high data rate requirements where aircraft are data producers, not data consumers. In addition, there is small amount of rack space and weight available to accommodate electronics and antenna. The challenges are heightened with the need for a rapid deployment timeline – compressed amount of time available for development, integration, testing and certification requirements for operational use.”

According to Williams, the functional requirements of the system are rigorous.

“The Satcom system must be able to support data rates of at least 10 Mbps from the aircraft to the ground via satellite. Moreover multiple aircraft must be supported simultaneously and the system should be able to support data rates of at least 2 Mbps from the ground back to the aircraft. Importantly, all data interfaces must be compatible with Internet Protocol and all Intermediate Frequency (IF) interfaces must be commercial L-band with external hardware (antenna, radome) capable of being fitted on multiple types of aircraft. Lastly, operator interface must be simple enough to be operated by personnel who are not satellite experts.”

“Mobile satellite values align with MilSatCom in terms of global coverage, the use of small terminals and the elements of high security and global roaming – both enabled by satellite-based technologies”

Peter Hadinger, President, Inmarsat Government Services


SatLead

Alive to the growing needs of the military across the globe, commercial satellite fleet operator Intelsat is building a new brand of high-throughput Ku- and C-band satellites, called Epic, that will reportedly deliver up to three times the bandwidth of WGS.

The much touted O3b Networks, which is supported by fleet operator SES, plans to start launching its constellation of medium Earth orbit Ka-band satellites next year. Speaking to the press, O3b Chief Executive Steve Collar stated that the O3b satellites are designed to cover the globe between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south, and can offer 350 megabits per second to a given vessel or carrier group.

The potential of HTS with intelligent platformsExperts concur that High Throughput Satellites (HTS) coupled with Intelligent Platforms will open unprecedented potential for explosive growth.

Elaborating on the HTS Impact on global capacity, Bettinger of iDirect says, “Capacity will triple by 2020. HTS will cater to maritime and fixed VSAT sectors closely followed by the military, aeronautical sector and UAVs. HTS will bring higher performance, higher data rates, higher bandwidth at lower costs and ease of use with smaller terminals.”

Among the Intelligent Platform advantages, according to industry experts such as Bettinger, are scalability/ adaptability with access to X, C, Ku, Ka-bands from one platform, adaptive features that will overcome rain fade, military grade security and encryption, mobility, global connectivity with equipment optimised for size, weight and power and seamless integration into man portable, among other factors.

The mobility features include providing seamless connectivity while on the move, portable, light-weight, power-efficient terminals for fast field deployment, integrated boards for integration into customised terminal solutions, spread spectrum for support of flat panel antennas, seamless automatic beam switching and high speed COTM features like doppler compensation, blockage

mitigation, and skew angle support. Interoperability is a critical

requirement and intelligent platform advances, as per experts, include seamless integration into IP networks, support of standard protocols and integration with other HTS-band systems.

Bettinger believes that intelligent IP platforms enable adaptability and operational scalability with the rich feature set delivering a secure, high quality experience, in addition to new portability and mobility advances for SWAP and seamless connectivity and interoperability.

Initiatives by the MoDsUnderlining the undisputed importance of Satcom for modern militaries, Col Arm Christophe Debaert, Head of Syracuse III programme and Milsatcom, Direction Générale de l’Armement, Ministry of

Defence, France, stated at the Global Milsatcom conference: “Satcom is an essential component for information superiority and autonomy of French forces, and should take into account the increase in information exchanges for military operations and the need to adapt to new threats. Moreover, while implementing new systems, legacy systems should be taken into account.”

While the commercial satellite industry and governments have worked on hosted payloads and other cost-effective approaches, militaries are not shying away from cooperating with other militaries with resource pooling and development sharing, while keeping compatibility with existing user ground segments in focus.

“Global trends include the need for larger throughput, flexibility and protection, full IP and multi-support services and mobility in all dimensions (air, land, navy and UAV),” stated one military official.

The French military is currently cooperating with Italy with Athena Fidus that will launch by end of 2013 and SICRAL 2 that is slated to be launched in 2014. The SICRAL 2 space segment, with a lifetime of 15 years, will be composed

Seamless connectivity while on the move

“The Satcom system must be able to support data rates of at least 10 Mbps from the aircraft to the ground via satellite. Moreover multiple aircraft must be supported simultaneously and the system should be able to support data rates of at least 2 Mbps from the ground back to the aircraft”

SATELLITE

Koen Williams, Strategic Marketing Director, Government and IP Trunking, Newtec


of one UHF payload (15 channels), one French SHF payload, one Italian SHF payload (five transponders), including back up for NATO traffic.

The general belief among military circles is that that there is never enough Satcom, but not all perceived constraints are real constraints. It has to be carefully managed to meet the defence sector’s priorities.

When it comes to Satcom, ownership is nothing, it seems, going by the active collaborations with commercial Satcom. Capability, however, is everything.

Taking that sentiment forward is Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Smith, a UK Army Royal Signals officer with 32 years experience of military communications as both a user and provider. He stated that the Satcom service in question should deliver in terms of the required range, quantity and reliability.

“Along with assurance of availability, the question users ask is whether the service is responsive and accountable.”

To match higher user expectations, suppliers need to be flexible and responsive. While there are more requests for tactical Satcom and small scale terminal capability, suppliers should respond with improved use of UHF resources including spectrum

usage and more efficiency should be demonstrated in transponder use and equipment provision. The improved relationship and trust between the customer and supplier has driven the continued emphasis on solutions rather than on bare requirements.

While the military personnel present at the conference conceded that procurement was

far from instant, it was much quicker now than in the past when it would take more than six years to procure a Satcom terminal.

Advantages of the private finance initiative (PFI)Highlighting the impact of the Satcom PFI, Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Smith, stated: “As users, we have enjoyed flexibility with a choice of capabilities and services. The contractor is more responsive and quicker than any traditional procurement channels. More significantly, the suppliers delivers against specific real-time situations and as users, we pay for what we use. The services are managed with the commercial staff scrutinising value for money and the contractor pays ‘credits’ for poor performance. In addition a number of non-core services have been made available.”

The industry can help, according to the Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Smith, with continued engagement with the MoD. “Keep the MoD updated with potential solutions/technological advances and understanding the DCNS’ approach and how the industry can play into it. While the future landscape is fluid, there is a need to optimise use of existing networks, exploit emerging technologies, challenge traditional assumptions and engage continually with the Satcom industry.” PRO

210.0

140.0

70.0

0.0

2,500

2,000

1,500

500

02010 2011

Global COTM Ku-Band TPE

UAV COTM Ku-Band Units

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

UAV COTM Ku-Band Market, 2010-2020

COMMS ON THE PAUSE

COMMS ON THE MOVE

VESSEL

MAN PORTABILITY

AIRCRAFT

UAVsSource: iDirect

Source: NSR

UA

Vs

36

MH

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Growing Bitrates

SatVertical: Government

“Data security is critical in the field of remote sensing,” says Saeed AL-Mansoori, Assistant Research

Engineer, Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST).

Currently pursuing an M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Sharjah, he undertook, in the beginning of 2012, to explore an effective way to protect the intellectual property of images acquired through Dubai’s earth observation satellite – DubaiSat-1 – and

Saeed AL-Mansoori, Assistant Research Engineer, Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST) has developed a technique to protect the intellectual property of DubaiSat-1


the subsequent satellites. In June 2012, he published a study titled: ‘An efficient watermarking technique for satellite images using Discrete Cosine Transform’.

Giving us an overview of the background and significance of the study, Al-Mansoori states: “To deal with the important issues of rights protection and authentication of images for EIAST, the ‘watermarking’ concept was introduced. The idea of digital image watermarking is to embed the information within a signal (i.e. image,

PROTECTING SATELLITE IMAGES AGAINST ATTACKS

ENCODING

ORIGINALIMAGE

LOGOMCS PC

DUBAISAT-1


video, etc.), in a manner that cannot be easily extracted by a third party.

“The aim was to implement a robust algorithm to hide the EIAST logo within any delivered image in order to increase the data security and protect the ownership of DubaiSat-1 images. At the same time, it was necessary to provide high quality images for the end-user; and adding any information (logo) to these images will affect its quality. Therefore, a model of watermarking had to be designed that would keep the observable difference between the watermarked and original image to a minimum.”

It was important to address the twin challenges of protecting copyright while not compromising on the quality of the image for the end-user.

Al Mansoori explains: “It was crucial to ensure that the watermark should be difficult to remove or alter without the degradation of the host image. This study was based on the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) approach to provide highly robust protection in cases such as noise addition,

DECODING

WATERMARKEDIMAGE

LAW

CUSTOMER

STEALING OR HACKING

THIEF

The threats

- Noise addition attacks

- Cropping attacks

- Rotation attacks

- JPEG compression attacks

For illustration purpose only


SatVertical: Government

cropping, rotation and JPEG compression attacks.” (See box titled ‘The threats’)

Saeed Al-Mansoori and his co-author (see below) decided to adopt the invisible watermarking approach.

“Invisible watermarking is a digital process wherein the watermark is not perceptible, but may be extracted by computer software. Most of recent studies are focused on this type of watermarking.”

Watermarking requirementsIn order to have a functioning watermarking system, a number of requirements must be achieved;

(a) Security: Watermarking security means that the system is difficult to remove or change/modify without destroying the original (host) signal. The main idea of any watermarking system is to protect the information embedded without losing the content of the signal to assure secrecy of information.

(b) Imperceptibility: Ideally, there ought to be no observable difference between the watermarked and original image, and the watermark should be difficult to remove or alter without the degradation of the host signal.

(c) Capacity: The term “capacity” in watermarking performance means the maximum percentage of information that can be hidden in the host image and can be detected when required to prove ownership and authenticity. In general, capacity requirement affects two main parameters; robustness and imperceptibility, that are inversely proportional to each other. As a result, increasing any parameter will affect the other. In case robustness against attacks is required, then a huge amount of information must be embedded which will affect the image quality so that less information can be taken from the watermarked image.

(d) Robustness: The main idea of robustness is that, the hidden watermark must be robust against any attack and image processing

transformation which includes filtering, adding noise, rotation, compression and scaling.

The process of embedding“Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is a frequency linear transformation technique used in various applications correlated with a digital signal processing technology,” explains Al-Mansoori. He adds, “Due to its superior performance, it has been used for image compression and pattern recognition.”

In recent years, a significant number of studies have reportedly been done based on the DCT watermarking techniques to implement a robust and secure watermarking scheme. The main advantage is that instead of the researcher selecting the frequency band, the algorithm will randomly select the bands (optimal frequency bands coefficients) to embed the watermark into the original image.

Simulation results and analysis“The main purpose of this study was to devise a watermark that was robust against several attacks such as JPEG compression, cropping, rotation and noise attacks.

“The methods used for embedding proved their performance, achieving PSNR (Peak signal-to-noise ratio) values ranging from 43.3217 dB to 55.7113 dB. What this means is that, no observable difference emerged between the watermarked and original images.”

“The process can be time-consuming when you consider that satellite images can be as heavy as 12 gigabytes,” reveals Al Mansoori. Armed with the requisite workstation to expedite the process of watermarking, EIAST is slated to implement Al-Mansoori’s recommended method of watermarking in 2013. PRO

“The aim was to implement a robust algorithm to hide the EIAST logo within any delivered image in order to increase the data security and protect the ownership of DubaiSat-1 images. At the same time, it was necessary to provide high quality images to the end-user”

About the authors: Saeed AL-Mansoori is an assistant researcher in the Space Image Processing and Analysis department at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST). Saeed’s research interests are in the area of image processing (super-resolution, watermarking, object detection and image classification).

Alavi Kunhu Panthakkan is a postgraduate in Digital Electronics Engineering (M.Tech). Alavi works in the Khalifa University in the Electronics Engineering Department as a Lab Instructor.

MENA NETS FZEBuilding Jafza 15, Unit 15-419, Jebel Ali Free Zone, POB 261670, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Office: +971-4-887 6606, Fax: +971-4-8876605Email: [email protected]

www.menanets.com

System Integrators and Ground Operators Regional Resellers and Authorized Distributors

Installation, Maintenance, Training and TurnkeyVoice - Video - Data - Internet - GSM Backhaul - Broadcast

MENA NETS PROVIDES 4 ACTIVITIES TO THE MENA REGION:i. System integration where we design and provide solutions over satelliteii. Supply hardware as resellers and authorized distributors of many manufacturers like ASC Signal, Skyware Global, Cobham, Xicom/Comtech, Anacom, Codan/CPI, NJR, SMW, iDirect, Thomson, etc.iii. Ground operations which includes installation, technical support, maintenance repairs, etciv. Training and consulting such as the GVF HOST.

THESE 4 ACTIVITIES ARE DELIVERED THROUGH 6 PRODUCT LINES:i. Earth station antennae (3.5 meter to 9.4 meter) from ASC Signalii. VSAT antennae (75 cm to 2.4 meter) form Skyware Globaliii. Mobile satcom (on the move and on the pause) from Cobhamiv. Outdoor electronics: TWTs, BUCs, LNBs, Feeds, etc from Xicom/Comtech, NJR, Anacom, Codan/CPI, SMW, etcv. Indoor electronics: broadcast encoders, decoders, multiplexers, video servers, power supplies, combiners, splitters, routers, satellite modems, redundancy con-trollers etc from Thomson, Paradise/Teledyne, iDirect hubs/modems and others.vi. Installation, maintenance, support, logistics and training (GVF) and turnkey solutions involving system integration of all activities and prod-uct lines to provide customers with a complete end-to-end product. The objective is simple: meets customer needs with the latest technologies at the best price/quality mix delivered through experience.

MENA NETS FZEBuilding Jafza 15, Unit 15-419, Jebel Ali Free Zone, POB 261670, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Office: +971-4-887 6606, Fax: +971-4-8876605Email: [email protected]

www.menanets.com

System Integrators and Ground Operators Regional Resellers and Authorized Distributors

Installation, Maintenance, Training and TurnkeyVoice - Video - Data - Internet - GSM Backhaul - Broadcast

MENA NETS PROVIDES 4 ACTIVITIES TO THE MENA REGION:i. System integration where we design and provide solutions over satelliteii. Supply hardware as resellers and authorized distributors of many manufacturers like ASC Signal, Skyware Global, Cobham, Xicom/Comtech, Anacom, Codan/CPI, NJR, SMW, iDirect, Thomson, etc.iii. Ground operations which includes installation, technical support, maintenance repairs, etciv. Training and consulting such as the GVF HOST.

THESE 4 ACTIVITIES ARE DELIVERED THROUGH 6 PRODUCT LINES:i. Earth station antennae (3.5 meter to 9.4 meter) from ASC Signalii. VSAT antennae (75 cm to 2.4 meter) form Skyware Globaliii. Mobile satcom (on the move and on the pause) from Cobhamiv. Outdoor electronics: TWTs, BUCs, LNBs, Feeds, etc from Xicom/Comtech, NJR, Anacom, Codan/CPI, SMW, etcv. Indoor electronics: broadcast encoders, decoders, multiplexers, video servers, power supplies, combiners, splitters, routers, satellite modems, redundancy con-trollers etc from Thomson, Paradise/Teledyne, iDirect hubs/modems and others.vi. Installation, maintenance, support, logistics and training (GVF) and turnkey solutions involving system integration of all activities and prod-uct lines to provide customers with a complete end-to-end product. The objective is simple: meets customer needs with the latest technologies at the best price/quality mix delivered through experience.

SatVertical: Oil & Gas/Maritime

TALKING DELIVERING VALUEAND

IN 2013

As a buyer turned supplier or customer turned vendor (as the case may be), 2012 has been a year of rapid

information assimilation, sometimes akin to sipping from a fire hose. There is such a breadth and depth of technologies in the satellite realm that it can be hard to know where to start.

As a customer, I was lucky enough to have reasonably clear requirements, underpinned by a corporate strategy and with an existing infrastructure-supported relationship to build on. This narrowed my possible options for remote site VSAT services to a handful of vendors and often came down to the one or two who would respond to my RFQs.

I’m now amazed at the number of technological options that are available to customers, should they be clear enough to articulate their needs.

The promise of Ka-bandKa-band – it’s been on everyone’s lips over the past 12 months and the first end-user units are hitting the ground now, bringing opportunities for wide-scale deployment to customers who would have never considered satellite as an affordable option for connectivity. It’s cheaper and smaller than other band systems, but what can a customer use it for?

Are they looking to make available a welfare system for their employees’ downtime that sidesteps the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and corporate filtering requirements? Will network leads look on it as a simple way to provide a point solution belt and braces redundancy for an important remote site or will they want to avoid the management overhead of additional systems to configure, monitor and maintain?

From the promise of Ka-band and O3b, to the real challenge of fibre, Martin JV Hughes, Services Manager, Hermes Datacommunications ME, writes that the satellite industry needs to position itself as a value proposition tailoured to clients’ needs


Headlines through 2012 (more at www.satelliteprome.com)

HERMES DATACOMMS DEVELOPS A WIRELESS MOBILE VSAT SOLUTION

DUBAI-BASED SKYSTREAM AND CETEL SIGN LONG-TERM AGREEMENT

CANDID EXCHANGE OF VIEWS AT THE INAUGURALSATELLITEPRO ME OIL & GAS ROUNDTABLE

YAHSAT AND CISCO TEAM-UP TO SERVICE DIVERSE VERTICALS

IDIRECT ACHIEVES 100 MBPS WITH EVOLUTION X7 REMOTE

RIGNET TO OFFER EXPANDED SERVICES TO QATAR-BASED DRILLING SERVICES PROVIDER

C-COM TO SUPPLY FLYAWAY ANTENNAS FOR ROMANTIS’ VSAT PROJECTS

INTELLIAN INCREASES VSAT WARRANTY PERIOD TO THREE YEARS ACROSS ITS ENTIRE ANTENNA RANGE

SES-5 TO PROVIDE FRESH SATELLITE CAPACITY TO AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

DU LAUNCHES NEW VSAT SERVICE PLATFORM

INMARSAT LAUNCHES BGAN LINK

SPEEDCAST ACQUIRES CAPACITY ON ARABSAT 5C

THURAYA LAUNCHES SATELLITE AND GSM PHONE “XT-DUAL”

Is SCPC for everyone?SCPC is considered the clean solution for connecting corporate networks together, allowing full control of QoS and minimum possible VSAT latency. But, are enterprise customers looking to build out their networks in this way? How centralised is their datacentre strategy and what applications do they need at site? How sophisticated are their efforts to virtualise and web-enable their key systems? Or will everyone move to cheap internet at remote sites and trust the underlying routing of the internet to take the strain and reroute as needed, at the expense of guaranteed and predictable service levels?

Are clients prepared to outsource WAN?WAN services outsourcing is viewed as a step up the value chain for the supplier and a reduction in risk and management overheads for the buyer. Are customers willing to give up the day-to-day management of WAN and all associated

services and can suppliers step into the breach to provide the services and support that such an endeavour requires? Having a local pair of hands is essential to underpin the 24/7/365 expectations of service delivery to customers.

Service Level Agreement is popularly regarded as the beloved of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) practitioners everywhere. Have both sides made sure that their SLA is correct and complete? I know of one SLA where the corporate core router could have been down for 48 hours during a working week, affecting more than 10,000 people, but which would not have breached the target conditions. Good SLAs make for happy customers and suppliers.

Need for one-touch deploy systemsRapid Deployment Systems are critical as the land-based oil patch becomes more mobile and more dispersed. Customers want their teams in the field to be oil guys,


not communications guys. So the rise of the rig-in-a-box and one-touch-deploy systems seems set to continue apace. Letting your teams get on with doing the jobs that earn you money rather than those that don’t will always be an attractive factor in a system.

03b networks: Wait and see03b networks – the premise seems irresistible – high bandwidth and low latency. The premise has been interesting enough to get Google on board as an investor, all without getting a bird off the launchpad yet. We would need to file it under the “wait and see” section. This is indicative of the fact that whilst satellites may continue to be seen as a maturing technology market, with incremental technology improvements, there is still the potential for game-changing initiatives that could significantly alter the competitive landscape.

The challenge of fibre with last mile microwaveFibre with last mile microwave is an option increasingly available for the more remote sites, but still lacking the reliability and redundancy options that combine to provide a truly available service. Local power and infrastructure challenges in some areas are undermining the benefits of the service but they are improving all the time and the satellite market needs to position itself as a value proposition in response.

Getting the foot in the doorAnd there may be the eternal rub – how do we as vendors firstly get in the door to show customers what is available to them and, more importantly, how it can provide either reduced costs or better value? Sometimes, they don’t know themselves, so how can we preach the mantras of risk-reduction and improved service to them, if they are only concerned with Capex and Opex numbers?

The benefits of all of the above can only be demonstrated in conjunction with solving customers’ issues. Technology does not exist in a vacuum and cannot add value in and of itself. So the real trend of the year, as it should be every year, is understanding what a customer is looking for and how best to supply it. PRO

SatTechnology

NEW WAYS OF THINKING, NEW POSSIBILITIES

Our industry is entering an innovation cycle, creating new opportunities and increasing mindshare with customers, says the team at O3b that will deliver the first satellite in the first quarter of 2013


“If I had a large amount of affordable, low latency bandwidth, how would this change the way I did the business? Which operations could I perform remotely? What new customer segments could I serve? What new applications could be enabled? What new business cases could I close?- John Finney – CCO O3b

today’s world.“So in my view, mobile operators in Africa

don’t have a choice but to migrate from 3G to LTE – because the data and video traffic on their networks will not stop growing and will exceed the capabilities of today’s technologies.

More bandwidth and LTE – Africa doesn’t have a choice!

Ladi Okuneye, O3b’s Business Development Director, Africa, states:“When the concept of O3b was developed, we were trying to address the need to deliver more bandwidth to ISPs in order for them to connect end customers who were looking to access the data content on the internet through their personal computers. Today the largest ISPs in Africa are now in fact the mobile network operators who are wondering how in the world they are going to manage all the video traffic that is carried across their networks from the internet to smart phone devices! Yes, the mobile operators still need to discover how they are going to monetise the new pressure their networks feel, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is what their users want to use their mobile devices for in

BUSINESS PROCESS APPLICATIONS ARE

INCREASINGLY LATENCY SENSITIVE

EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE TO RUN PLATFORMS - DRIVES THE NEED TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY

ERP SYSTEMS FAIL WITH LATENCY >400MS - DRIVES COST AND COMPLEXITY ONTO THE PLATFORMS

HIGH QUALITY VOICE AND VIDEO

CONFERENCING TO SHORE IMPROVES

PLATFORM EFFICIENCY

REMOTE MONITORING OF DRILLING, SECURITY AND ALARMS ALLOWS

UNIFORMITY OF OPERATIONS AND LOWER

SKILL LEVEL ON BOARD

INCREASINGLY STRINGENT HEALTH

AND SAFETY FOLLOWING DWH

DISASTER

New Boundaries in Mobile 3G Voice &

Data

Creating New Opportunities in the Energy Sector

New Horizons in Energy Exploration

“In some markets like South Africa, operators already have a strong enough business case for LTE to begin deployment, but there is no doubt in my mind that other markets will follow shortly after. They must, if they are going to have satisfied customers.”

Broadcast Pro B2B GMS 270x207-E.indd 1 10/24/12 6:20 PM

Broadcast Pro B2B GMS 270x207-E.indd 1 10/24/12 6:20 PM

SatVertical: Oil & Gas/Maritime

THERE’S GOOD REASON TO STAY WITH KU

While Ka-band appears to be the darling of most industry conferences and op-eds, much still

depends on the end user’s individual coverage needs and budget. The general industry observation and debate as this year comes to a close, particularly from a service provider perspective, is that the ubiquitous Ku-band coverage in the maritime sector remains solid despite the much anticipated launch of alternative bandwidths.

Speaking to SatellitePro ME in his Dubai-based office, Magne Remoy, Marlink’s Director Middle East and Africa, states, “With the continued research and investment that’s taken place over the recent few years, satellite operators have been successful in their work to massively extend their Ku-band coverage at sea. And this is the right step forward – with the increase in fibre on land – the maritime sector offers a huge growth opportunity for satellite operators. Also, technology has enabled automatic switching between the 17 spot beams that Marlink

uses for global Ku-service.”Like most pundits, Remoy describes the

year 2012 as the year of consolidation. And interestingly his company, Marlink, was part of the story with its much-publicised acquisition by Astrium.

Key acquisitions in the maritime sector“While we have maintained our identity for our end-users, the merger has allowed us, not just access to more robust finances, but the opportunity to explore a range of synergies. From working with erstwhile Vizada (now part of Astrium Services) colleagues, to deploying the new capacity that has opened owing to the collaboration between Yahsat and Astrium – it has all been positive. Of course, when it comes to reselling in Africa or elsewhere, we are particular with our choice of agents because this agent will have access to a wider range of EADS products in future.”

Creating ripples in an otherwise staid Satcom vertical was the acquisition of ShipEquip in April 2011 by Inmarsat. Overall,

Magne Remoy, Marlink’s Director Middle East and Africa, recounts the challenges and surprises of 2012 in conversation with SatellitePro ME


ERP

Video Conferencing

Weather

GSM Network

Sharepoint/Citrix

Training

Engine Condition Monitoring

Remote IT

Regulatory Data

ECDIS Updates

the industry enjoyed a growth in maritime data revenues in the first half of 2012, owing to the rise in price of the pay-as-you-go FleetBroadband (FBB) services and the elimination of volume discounts on its existing services. As stated in the press, Inmarsat reported an increase in takers for its FleetBroadband service with 4,305 terminals added in the first half. By the end of June 2012, Inmarsat reported that it had more than 30,000 active FBB terminals.

However, there were reasons for disquiet. Industry insiders will tell you that the maritime sector was faced with price rises in the middle of the year – up to 30% – and it unsettled the conservative maritime industry – with end-users now understandably wary of future fluctuations in price.

The story of synergies and consolidation is an evolving one as Inmarsat and Astrium have reportedly signed a distribution deal for the Global Xpress Ka-band service. The ‘MOU on a Strategic Distribution Partnership Agreement for Global Xpress’ is considered

VAS and “multiband integration” becomes key

Source: Satcom trader

“Ship owners are increasingly drawn to VSAT as an always online option and it is a huge step for them to present such connectivity to their crew…owners are installing VSAT on their entire fleet as a default with FBB and Iridium as backup”

a logical step forward, by the trade press, considering that Astrium reportedly contributes to approximately 40% of Inmarsat’s maritime revenues.

Offering solutions ranging from FBB and Iridium to VSAT, Dubai-based Remoy has experienced growth with all the solutions, like the rest of the industry. While partly the growth was due to price increases by Inmarsat, there have been factors specific to the maritime industry that has also driven demand.

Recessionary pressures in shipping“It is a well known fact that the shipping industry is facing recessionary pressures. We read in the press that major operators such as Maersk are moving away from shipping to concentrate on oil, drilling rigs and ports operations that Maersk believes are more stable and will generate more profits.”

At the same time with a 16% market share in the container ships sector, the initiatives by Maersk such as the conveyer belt system between selected ports coupled with the slow steaming technique – has reduced margins and profitability for the entire sector. Caught between soaking up the extra capacity due to new vessel deliveries and reducing profits, end-users have posed a unique challenge for Satcom service providers such as Marlink and others. The providers have faced the task of equipping newbuilds without necessarily enjoying the luxury of higher margins.

VSAT is the futureA firm advocate for VSATs, Remoy believes that “ship owners are increasingly drawn to VSAT as an always online option and it is a huge step for them to present such connectivity to their crew for banking purposes and keeping in touch with their family, while at sea. Owners are installing VSAT on their entire fleet as a default with FBB and Iridium as backup. The Comsys VSAT report for 2012 stated there are 12,500 vessels globally with VSAT today and that number within the commercial sector is growing fast. ”

While security concerns have increased the need for connectivity, there is a flip side with countries such as India placing severe restrictions on the use of VSAT owing to threat perceptions.

Remoy along with the other local solutions

providers believe the situation can be remedied with the ESV-controller that is deployed on ships bound for the US, with other countries following suit with similar regulatory tools.

“Equipped with maps of the US coast, there is automatic switching to a different frequency as authorised by the US coastal authorities or an automatic switch off as the case may be. Many other countries are following the US lead.”

With a maritime industry sensitive about margins, Remoy’s biggest concern is surprisingly not price.

“My greatest concern is failing quality of service. An angry captain in the middle of the sea with equipment failure is not good. As a policy, we will never sell anything that is not 100% tested and validated. Of course, there is the price element and you have to maintain margins while keeping an eye on quality.”

Help to keep prices at a viable level for cost-sensitive customers has come from unexpected sources.

Mirroring the consolidation among satellite operators and solutions providers, the antenna suppliers have demonstrated some dramatic corporate alignments with the acquisition of Thrane and Thrane by Cobham.

“We have a range of options,” says Remoy, “and this has only helped us keep our prices competitive for the end-user while not compromising on quality. The better quality of product not only brings stability in use but also a maintenance-free run for four to five years at a time, as long as the antenna gets a yearly control and mechanical parts are checked as default.”


Creating off-the-shelf solutionsAsked about any changes in approach in 2013, Remoy reveals one strategic shift reflective of the changing dynamics among end users who are increasingly savvy about the range of Satcom options available.

“In 2013, we will concentrate on off-the-shelf solutions that we can deploy quickly because customers need solutions to be deployed urgently and they do not perceive any obstacle if the price is correct. More significantly, they fear that crew will jump from one company to another, or from one ship to another within a fleet, depending on connectivity.”

Legacy equipment is another challenge faced by solutions providers with Remoy saying that there are ships still using the Fleet 77 simply because they do not have time to dock the ship and install more updated equipment. Many companies today are finding that migration from older maritime services are having a negative impact on their rate of growth in maritime sector revenues.

Going forward, Remoy believes VSAT will be the future and the “default system used most of the time”.

Interestingly, growth in the Inmarsat Solutions division was primarily driven by the new VSAT service revenues resulting from the acquisition of ShipEquip in April 2011.

The imminent launch of Global Xpress is deemed, across-the-board, as exciting and Remoy seconds the view. He adds, “There is a great deal of market anticipation surrounding this launch and the enhanced coverage it aims to offer. There are obviously pros and cons to both Ku and Ka-band and challenges to face which will put Ka-band to the test. However modulators will no doubt help plus the fact that GX has been designed with fully integrated L-band back-up. The positive factor is that in good weather conditions, the end-user has the possibility of ample bandwidth with a smaller antenna. End-users do not really have to wait and watch. They could sign a contract with a company such as Marlink and not see any need for change for the next three to five years. At the end of the day, it’s less about Ka or Ku-band, and far more about being able to offer the best and broadest range of services.” PRO

SatComms: Telcos/Broadcast

WHERE COVERAGE IS KING

You broadcast more than 40 TV channels including MBC Group’s Al Arabiya news channel and Al Arabiya Al Hadath, among others, from Eutelsat 8 West A satellite at 8 degrees West. What do you believe are the most important factors to keep in mind when working with the broadcast vertical?We need to keep in mind the digital revolution taking place in content production, storing, protecting, delivery and distribution. Among the emerging technologies in broadcasting today, I believe network convergence plays a major role and is considered as one of the major factors that controls content delivery methods.

The second factor is providing monitoring and support services. We need to be able to broadcast a TV channel with 99.98% service availability and clarity throughout the whole year. Simply put, that is the main demand for any TV channel.

Lastly, the coverage area is a very important factor for any TV channel to maximise their viewership.

What do you believe are the general challenges catering to the broadcast vertical?The factors mentioned in the previous response pose some of the biggest challenges for us. Another challenge is understanding the demand in the marketplace and accompanying business dynamics especially given the political situation globally and across the region.

With regard to the recent political situation across the MENA region, what specific challenges have you faced when servicing the broadcast sector?We have experienced rapid turnover with some TV channels. Because of the current situation, many political and news TV

In conversation with Mohammed Al-Haj, COO of Kuwait-based Gulfsat, one of the major satellite service providers in the MENA region


channels have joined this sector addressing both sides of the political spectrum – pro-regime and anti-regime. And in the light of the current uncertainties, these new channels pose a risk in terms of continuity, to our sector.

Secondly, we have faced the issue of satellite jamming. The issue again arises from both sides of the political spectrum. Both sides try to find ways to interfere with the broadcasting frequency of the other channel and this poses a technical challenge for capacity providers.

What, in your view, are the significant technological developments that have helped you offer better services or the same services with less effort? The new video developments in terms of compression, processing and multiplexing technologies have enhanced the video quality and increased bandwidth efficiency and management. In addition, advancements in convergence technology have streamlined the transport layer between the IP network infrastructure and the satellite infrastructure. Lastly, developments in cloud computing has empowered our approach towards content storage, delivery and distribution.

Given that a number of satellite service providers are offering capacity over the region, what are your views on the

competition and how do you plan to stay ahead of the competition?The competition will continue to increase with the inclusion of new players; but by capitalising on our solid customer base, market relations and proper account management on the one side, and enhancing our competitive services and solutions towards meeting our customer requirements on the other side, we will definitely stay ahead of the competition. Most significantly, the factors that help us stay ahead are our past experience in this field and the long-term strategic alliances with our technology partners and providers.

The broadcast vertical has dominated the satellite industry in terms of revenues. Do you believe this trend will continue?As of now the broadcast and media vertical contribute a major part of revenues for any satellite operator and it will remain so, as the number of TV channels increase as well as the demand grows to move into the HDTV platform.

However, looking at the future, the new methods of content delivery could reshape the broadcast vertical revenue stream. Future TV includes the move from HDTV to 3DTV, from receiving only to interactive TV (iTV), a TV platform that also integrates internet delivery, mobile streaming, PVR storing facilities, and other over-the-top services. PRO


The number 12 will not stop you in your tracks, especially if it refers to the number of channels you can watch on

your television. What will hold your attention, however, is the fact that these channels can be watched live when you are on the move across the GCC – on road, by air or by sea.

Satellite TV conjures images of large, unwieldy antennas and complicated setup procedures. The antenna that Assistant General Manager, Katie Xiaoyan Weng and Media Consultant, Riad Abdel Hadi demonstrated when the Satellite Pro ME team visited their Dubai office, was no more than the size of an average CD.

They claim that it is the first of its kind in the world. Launched at Cabsat earlier in 2012, by View Mobile International Broadcasting Group, the Satellite Mobile TV Pad is according to Katie, “the first mobile TV set in the world which has live transmission of channels. So far, the device can receive 12 Arabic-language channels, such as the news channels Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera or CNBC

Convincing TV broadcasters and getting the automobile industry on-board, Katie Weng and Riad

Abdel Hadi at View Mobile speak to SatellitePro ME about the

spectrum of activity that has taken them from the factories in the

Zhejiang province of China to the studios of MBC and beyond


Arabia, among others.”While the idea of watching your favourite

football team in action on the beach is a compelling enough visual, Katie explained that the product could be connected to another screen up to 32”, movies could be watched on USB flash drives and the device could be connected to the car speakers. Also with a rechargeable battery that could be used for five hours and a built-in 2GB memory, the think tank in China was clearly covering all its bases.

View Mobile, headquartered in Dubai Media City, is a subsidiary of a Chinese digital equipment manufacturer from the Zhejiang province. The company targets the sale of 300,000 units of the Satellite Mobile TV Pad in the Middle East.

The service can be received via a CD-sized antenna which, the manufacturer claims, is not required to point precisely at the satellite, unlike other satellite TV services which can be received only via a stationary sizeable satellite dish with precise and fixed pointing capabilities.

ON THE MOVESatellite TV

“It was a question of education. The channels know about content streaming on mobile phones and the internet – satellite TV on the move was a new concept for the broadcasters. We overcame the copyright issue by signing on channels that own their content”

“While terrestrial TV has been deployed on the move, it is limited in range to a city or country. We are using L-band. Through our equipment that is co-located in Samacom, the Ku and C-band signals are down-converted to L-band and uplinked to Africstar that has strong coverage over the Middle East and North Africa”

“This unique feature allows the service to be deployed in mobile environments, either in a moving car, ship or airplane,” explains Katie.

Approaching broadcastersThe coming together of Dubai-resident and broadcast veteran, Riad Abdel Hadi, and the Chinese company was perhaps a story for another day, but his presence completes an important cycle in marketing the product in the region.

Having come to Dubai in 1974, he was one of the few people that established Dubai TV.

“Then onwards, I branched to post production, and I did a lot of work for Emirates Airlines, Dubai Police and others. Four years ago, I shifted to China and during my stay there, I came across the Chinese manufacturer.”

Content is key to the success of the product and Hadi played a key role in getting the 12 Arabic channels on board.

“Negotiation with channel owners was tough initially. They did not know what we were talking about. And their biggest concern was copyright. Actually, copyright should not be a problem because we are covering the same audience and moreover given the era of connected TV, channels should be happy we are ensuring the audience is watching them even on the move.

“It was a question of education. The channels know about content streaming on mobile phones and the internet – satellite TV on the move was a new concept for them. We overcame the copyright issue by signing on channels that own their content. Today the channels are excited about the concept and are approaching us to be on board.”

The choice of channelsThe choice of content is always tricky, admits Hadi.

“You cannot please everyone. We are targeting an Arab speaking family audience. So we have a bouquet that comprises of the most-watched news channels, a cartoon channel for children, sports channels and general entertainment channels.”

The next step on the anvil is appointing distributors for the region. And that is proving to be surprisingly knotty when you consider that the product is a global first. Here again, Hadi believes education is key.

“People who understand satellite technology and appreciate the cost of leasing transponder space and the cost of research and manufacture, understand our one-time retail price of Dhs 1500. Moreover, buyers can then enjoy our channels at no extra or monthly charge.”

Understanding L-band“One common misconception,” says Katie, “is the notion, among viewers, that satellite TV allows them to watch hundreds of channels. They want to know as to why only 12 channels can be watched through our system. They do not realise that for hundreds of channels, you would need an unwieldy antenna that weighs 10-30 kgs and that would hardly be portable or affordable. We have developed a portable antenna that weighs a mere 0.5 kilos. Imagine


watching live sports telecast on the beach.”Katie will also tell you that the product is a

global first on many fronts.“While terrestrial TV has been deployed

on the move, it is limited in range to a city or country. Secondly, we are using L-band. It took us more than seven years to develop this solution. L-band is akin to a GPS frequency and supports data and voice transmission.

“Our challenge was to transmit good quality video within the constraints of the bandwidth. Through our equipment that is co-located in Samacom, the Ku and C-band signals are down-converted to L-band and uplinked to Africstar that has strong coverage over the Middle East and North Africa.”

Even as the lucrative GCC markets are being targeted where the coverage is especially strong, the next generation of products are being developed and the marketing team is looking towards expanding the concept to markets in India and Europe. PRO

(Left in pic) Riad Abdel Hadi, Media Consultant, View Mobile at CABSAT 2012

(Left in pic) Katie Xiaoyan Weng, Assistant General Manager, View Mobile, explaining the product at CABSAT 2012

Creating extended value for mobile service providers

Going by a recent news report from Australia, broadband over satellite is enjoying a surge of support for

reasons that were somewhat unexpected. Residents in some areas of rural Australia where fixed wireless technology is planned have given “strange” reasons to local councils to reject plans for the necessary towers.

The reasons range from unfounded fears of radiation from the towers, to the said towers allegedly causing global warming. The take-up for satellite capacity has surged to such an extent that demand

for the interim service is already ahead of projections, and if the demand persists, there will be a gap between the capacity currently available and the 2015 launch of two satellites by Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), valued at USD 620 million.

Far removed from the relatively developed areas of rural Australia are 30 million people in the Northern territories of Pakistan that rely wholly on satellites for communication.

Having worked with mobile satellite

The satellite industry’s technology-backed value proposition makes it a primary medium for backhauling mobile cell phone traffic, says Daniel Enns, SVP Marketing & Business Development, Comtech, in conversation with SatellitePro ME



“Telcos are looking at shorter cycles for an ROI on their CAPEX investment. Going forward, I see an opportunity in the next 12 to 24 months as mobile service providers attempt to monetise data services”Daniel Enns, SVP Marketing & Business Development, Comtech

* EstimatesSource: ITU World Telecommunications/ICTIndicators database

operators across Latin America, Africa and Asia, Daniel Enns, SVP Marketing & Business Development, Comtech, believes that satellite-based backhaul is not an option of last resort.

“It is ironic that not so long ago, all our international calls were carried via satellite before the onset of fibre. Currently, there are five-plus billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide and access to mobile networks is available to 90% of the world population. But satellite backhaul remains the most practical and cost-effective platform for low density areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, that are the primary growth regions. Satellite is also a key enabler to delivering Universal Service Obligation (USO) requirements.

“ While the largest take-up of satellite capacity continues to be Direct-to-Home (DTH) services, the largest component after DTH is mobile backhaul.”

Insatiable demand for bandwidthNevertheless, the satellite solutions providers must demonstrate value to telcos and other mobile service operators, says Enns.

“Satellite is the most costly way of

doing backhaul. Solutions providers will always prefer to opt for fibre or microwave. However, the satellite option is a must have because telcos have already reached out to the commercially feasible population groups and to expand, they would need to rely on satellite-based technologies.

“The demand for bandwidth appears to be insatiable, despite pressure on service charges and hardware costs. Overall, service revenues continue to grow driven by bandwidth consumption.


“Terrestrial infrastructure is lacking in many developing countries compounded by pricing challenges and dearth of satellite capacity especially across regions such as Latin America, Middle East, Asia-Pacific.”

Has the satellite industry responded with technologies that “extend” bandwidth and reduce expenses?

“The surge in demand has required the adoption of more bandwidth efficient ground equipment,” observes Enns. He adds, “Also in response to region-specific demands, satellite fleet operators continue to replace and realign with launches (announcing substantial pre-launch contracts) including next generation and High Throughput Satellite (HTS) platforms.”

Among the Satcom infrastructure approaches that “extend” bandwidth and reduce expenses, Enns includes Carrier-in-Carrier technology, Adaptive Coding and Modulation, WAN/RAN optimisation methods, Forward Error Correction (FEC) and modulation, among other solutions.

“Through technology, we have been able to provide up to 20 to 30% additional throughput. We have been able to more than double the number of calls that can

Mobile Cellular Subscriptions by Level of Development

2000

Total 719 million

DEVELOPING

DEVELOPED

Total 2.2 billion

Total 5.3 billion

2005

2010*

DEVELOPING DEVELOPINGDEVELOPED DEVELOPED



be made through existing OPEX budgets. “For instance, by utilising bandwidth

optimisation technologies, Airtel has reduced network OPEX across 16 African countries through satellite links by as much as 50%. With attractive ARPU levels, satellite is profitable and goes beyond just fulfilling USOs.”

“Similarly with SpeedCast, a satellite telecommunications services provider, we had to offer a cellular backhaul solution for 40 plus sites on various islands across Indonesia. We deployed a combination of our CDM-625 satellite modems with DoubleTalk Carrier-in-Carrier and CX-U Series RAN optimisation that delivered significant bandwidth (OPEX) savings with no degradation in quality.”

Competing with DTH operators for satellite capacityWhile licencing of services has always posed an ongoing challenge for satellite service providers when collaborating with telcos and mobile service operators, there is a real issue with satellite capacity.

“DTH operators are willing to pay more for satellite capacity given the insatiable demand for video broadcasting. The pricing of capacity can be a challenge for some telcos though in many regions, the telcos are DTH operators as well.”

More capacity will definitely alleviate the situation, says Enns and he is particularly excited about the growing Ka-band capacity over the Middle East.

“ Ka-band capacity is in response to the industry’s need for more capacity at lower costs. It is true that Ka-band is more susceptible to rain fade than C- and Ku-bands, though solutions such as DVB-S2 and ACM can overcome the challenge.”

The promise of O3b and Intelsat EpicAlongwith Ka-band, Enns believes the next generation network combines the reach of satellite with the speed of fibre.

“The constellation of Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites will virtually eliminate high latency with round-trip data transmission taking approximately 120 milliseconds. The O3b system

is designed to support any traffic payload and traffic type with scalable solutions from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps and seamless integration to existing network architecture. And delivering global high-throughput technology without sacrificing user control of service elements and hardware is Intelsat Epic with its innovative approach to satellite and network architecture utilising C-, Ku- and Ka-bands, wide beams, spot beams, and frequency reuse technology.”

Defending the value propositionThe everyday challenge Enns and his team face when dealing with mobile service providers and telcos is to be able to effectively defend the value proposition for the satellite option.

“This is not an emotional business. If you have an identifiable value, the telcos will adopt it,” affirms Enns.

“Moreover, telcos are looking at shorter cycles for an ROI on their CAPEX investment. Going forward, I see an opportunity in the next 12 to 24 months as mobile service providers attempt to monetise data services. This is the next chapter that is currently unfolding.

“Mobile Network Operators are determining how to monetise data services, by planning network expansions and scheduling new buildouts for developing regions. We believe that leveraging market-leading SCPC technologies will enable USD 250M+ in annual savings in the space segment.”

“We all know how to monetise one minute of talk time – but there is no viable revenue model for data transmission. With mining and other sectors booming across Africa, telcos such as MTN are looking towards leveraging existing infrastructure to reach out to enterprises and we see growth in this area.”

And there are apparently no limits to potential growth with companies such as Comtech and Hughes Network Systems, among others, demonstrating cost efficient and workable 3G and LTE solutions over satellite backhaul. PRO

Insatiable demand: Mobile data growth

Mobile data consumption to grow tenfold over next five years compared to 2011. Mobile phone users in 2016 will consume:

In 2016, the average mobile user will be:


“Our industry is in (r)evolution”Much like the automobile industry, the satellite industry is looking for more miles per gallon, higher speeds, wider lanes and regulated traffic, writes Serge Van Herck, CEO Newtec, as he looks ahead at 2013

Where is the industry going? Despite having been up there for many years in the satellite

communications industry, bandwidth efficiency continues to be top priority for service providers and manufacturers. With the new DVB-S2 standard coming in 2013, it will be a major talking point in the industry over the next year.

The industry will also be talking about High Throughput Satellites (HTS), perhaps even more so than Ka-band itself. Ka-band has been a huge topic. At the forefront of everyone’s minds in the industry is the question of what to do with all that capacity.

Though still important, the topic will broaden with HTS with the mix of Ku-band, Ka-band and C-band, becoming

more important. The questions regarding the positioning of

satellites, the services they will carry and how the cells will be positioned on the ground, are becoming more important than Ka-band specifically.

The HTS discussion will lead to a lot of questions related to

multi-service and multi-technology platforms. Although many providers

launched their services initially with the consumer in mind, it is clear now that they need to diversify their service offering in order to be able to speed up their satellite fill ratio. This will enable them to speed up their return on investment.

The multiservice approach mitigates risk. People are asking for platforms that can handle different vertical markets and terminals to make sure they are not putting all of their eggs in one basket. Therefore multiservice solutions will be top of the agenda next year.

The television market is also changing, which is impacting the satellite industry. TV is not pure linear technology anymore. Satellite broadcast used to be relatively conservative in the way it handled content but this coming year will be pivotal. There will be a new open-mindedness in how broadcast networks will be implemented, from sports contribution and distribution, to news gathering and distribution of content in general.

We will see new satellite technologies in an innovative industry that is in transition.

Whichever direction you look, satellite technology though finite in nature, is taking centrestage with bandwidth efficiency and workflow technologies in demand. PRO

“The multiservice approach mitigates risk. People are asking for platforms that can handle different vertical markets and terminals to make sure they are not putting all of their eggs in one basket”Serge Van Herck, CEO Newtec


INTEGRATING TERRESTRIAL AND SATELLITE NETWORKS IN THE MENA REGION

Your mandate is to work in strategic markets, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), alongside Morocco, Sub Saharan Africa and Turkey in the wider region. The key sectors for Orange in the MEA reportedly include banking and finance, oil and gas and smart cities. Will satellite solutions be playing a role in your operations in the region?We have a fully integrated terrestrial and satellite network. Orange Business Services has a long history in the Middle East and Africa and has operated networks in the region for more than 50 years. Our regional network footprint includes 138 points of presence (PoPs), including 31 countries with terrestrial IP VPN access nodes and 23 countries with satellite IP VPN access nodes.

Our satellite solution is one of the access technologies to the IP VPN network

In conversation with recently appointed Jean-Luc Lasnier, General Manager, Middle East & Africa, Orange Business Services, on his goals for the MENA region


“We do sometimes face regulatory issues in the region and they are addressed by adopting a country-specific approach. Sometimes the solution is to work with the national operator, as we do in the UAE with Etisalat”

that Orange Business Services is using. In particular, for hard-to-reach areas, satellite solutions play a pivotal role. Typical customers in the region can be found in the oil and gas sector and at production facilities of multinationals. In addition, our government customers are using satellite for greater diversity of connectivity and for independence from local infrastructure.

VSAT still plays a big role within the region relating to both primary and secondary connectivity. We are noting customer demand to move access services to low latency terrestrial services but still have some inevitable dependency on VSAT for backup as well as to reach the remote locations.

You have stated that the Middle East business has produced very strong results over the last 18 months. What, in your view, has driven these strong results?We have been operating in the Middle East for more than 50 years with around 500 MNC customers, and 2,000 staff in the B2B operations across the MEA region. We had 10 new customers in 2011. For 2012, network connectivity and increasingly managed services, cloud-based services through our own cloud VPN, and smart cities, are key areas for us. To this, I would add the fact that we are moving even closer to our customers, illustrated by the new local company we launched in Saudi Arabia in 2012.

Where have you deployed satellite-based solutions across the region and do you face


challenges, regulations-wise, operating on a pan-Arab basis?Orange Business Services has deployed more than 1,200 satellite-based solutions now operational in MEA region. As an example, some major credit card companies are using our satellite solutions as back-up. Multinationals are using satellite to increase availability for running their mission critical applications as are humanitarian and aid organisations simply because their operations and presence tends to be in harsh environments and remote, isolated areas.

Indeed, we do sometimes face regulatory issues in the region and they are addressed adopting a country-specific approach. Sometimes the solution is to work with the national operator, as we do in the UAE with Etisalat. At other times we have to fulfill country-specific requirements and conditions that requires the use of an in-country located teleport.

Orange has worked with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Will this be an area for expansion in the region?Orange is serving multiple European-based MoFAs in the region both on terrestrial and satellite infrastructure.

It is not easy for a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to maintain stability and reliability at all times, even in very hard-to-reach locations. They have to cope with unpredictable events, political or natural disasters. They have a mixture of permanent and temporary staff and a wide variety of different applications. They also need to collaborate with many parties, both internal to the organisation and external.

Orange Business Services delivered the Belgian MoFA a fully managed IP VPN using a mix of terrestrial and satellite links, WAN optimised (voice, data, video) and converged network with secure back-up, ITIL-based 24x7 trilingual service desk whilst meeting Belgium Public Contract law and NATO/EU regulations. The deployment was very complex and involved many challenging environments and yet was completed in just six months. The single, global network delivers reduced costs and total cost of ownership and increased operational efficiency. PRO


Ten takeaways from the IRG conference

In November 2012, a number of key executives from the satellite industry descended on Dubai for three days of discussions about satellite interference at the annual Satellite Interference Reduction Group conference. There were a number of lengthy discussions around the causes and solutions of satellite interference. Here we summarise the ten main takeaways from the conference:

1. The Olympics The 2012 Olympics was a success, with barely any instances of satellite interference throughout. This is in part due to Carrier ID (it is estimated that around 50% of the Olympic Transmissions had Carrier ID – much higher than expected), but also in part due to better education of the industry and heightened awareness by users.

2. New Carrier ID technologyThe new Carrier ID technology (CID) contains the Carrier ID information within a separate spread-spectrum meta-carrier, meaning it is visible to satellite operators, without the need to interrupt the main feed. At the conference, we learnt that this technology will be a formalised DVB standard in January 2013. The industry now needs to work towards introducing this CID technology, with the aim of making it a requirement by January 2015.

3. Carrier ID databaseIt was discussed that IRG should develop a prototype Carrier ID database. This process was started for the Olympics, but now needs to be developed further to ensure the necessary information can be stored to ensure interference can be rectified quickly and efficiently.

4. Intentional interferenceIntentional interference is an area, which has not been focused on too greatly until now. A lot of time was given over to discussing

SatEvents

this issue, and there is a general consensus from most of the satellite operators that it is increasing and is certainly not easy to solve individually. However, using better technology and providing accurate evidence can then be used by those authorities that need this vital input.

5. ITUWe heard from the ITU, which stressed the fact that legislation is already in place against intentional interference and that the industry needs to feed the ITU with issues in order that it can support the resolution. It also recognised that better, more co-ordinated monitoring is required.

6. Pre-empt satellite interferenceLeading from intentional interference the conference reconsidered great tools such as Carrier ID and Geolocation but they are reactive. Thus there appears to be a need for predictive solutions and improved monitoring and control.

7. End usersIRG intends to increase its engagement with the end users to gain their full support working, in particular, with the RFI-EUI.

8. VSATThe Global VSAT Forum (GVF) has been

working with the VSAT community to help reduce the interference such systems can cause. GVF initiatives launched include VSAT Installation Training & Certification, Earth Station Testing & Approvals, VSAT Network Validation and VSAT Distributor Benchmarking. There is a real need to support these efforts! So, to that end, IRG shall look at practical technologies and “root cause” statistics, specifically for that community and feed this in the GVF mix.

9. Working groupsIRG has setup three new working groups at the conference:

a. Carrier ID (a restructure of the existing Video & Data groups),b. Deliberate Interference,c. VSAT (Statistics, analysis & “root cause”).

10. 2013 IRG annual conferenceIt was announced that the 2013 IRG annual conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro. IRG was keen to take the conference to Rio, ahead of a number of high profile events taking place there, such as 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

2012 has been a busy year for the Satellite Interference Reduction Group, but following a packed and lively conference, 2013 looks set to be even busier. PRO

Martin Coleman, Executive Director, Satellite Interference Reduction Group (IRG) summarises the event


SatEvents

Nigerian Air Force joins speaking panel at Milsatcom MEA

The SatellitePro Telco Roundtable: Where end-users meet solutions providers

CABSAT 2013 invites entries for conference speakers

Broadband MEA 2013

At a glance:Dates: 25-27 February, 2013Registration: www.milsatcom-mea.com

At a glance:Dates: 13 March, 2013Registration: www.satelliteprome.com

At a glance:Dates: 12- 14 March, 2013Venue: Dubai World Trade CentreRegistration: www.cabsat.com

At a glance:Dates: 19 - 20 March, 2013Venue: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Dubai, UAERegistration: mea.broadbandworldforum.com

Group Captain Lanre Oluwatoyin, Nigerian Air Force, has joined the expert speaker line-up and will be speaking on “Armed Forces of

Nigeria (AFN) MilSatCom: Exploring New Capabilities” at Milsatcom MEA, a new regional conference and exhibition to take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from February 25 - 27, 2013.

Key military and industry speakers include:

Emiri Signal Corps, Qatar Armed Forces

Networks, Cap C4ISR, UK MoD

Systems Development & Test Laboratory, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) Egypt

Communication Engineering Department, Khalifa University

European Defence Agency

Regional Office, Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisations (ISESCO)

Satcom experts will address key topics including: regional programmes, hosted payloads, MilSatCom solutions, international cooperation, pooling commercial and military assets, Satcom delivery and strategy, Satcom for UAVs and development of satellite technologies in the MEA region.

The event will also feature a site visit to the Sharjah Primary Gateway and Thuraya HQ, on the 27 February.

After a successful inaugural roundtable for the Oil & Gas vertical, we invite satellite solutions providers and their Telco counterparts to discuss the technical, economic and logistical dimensions of enabling Telcos to leverage satellite capacity as they seek to overcome terrestrial limitations and offer customers the flexibility to shift their service anywhere within the country or abroad.

This year, over the course of three days, the CABSAT 2013 Broadcast Conference Programme will deliver daily keynote sessions and sector specific presentations designed for purchase-driven VIP audiences. The areas covered include Next Generation Technology for Sports Broadcasting, Africa in Focus – the Transition to Digital and Connected TV- The end of TV as We Know It? The forum will also discuss topics such as Broadcasting in The Cloud – Hype or Opportunity, The Pro Audio Revolution and Media Asset Management – Protecting the Crown Jewels. Along with attending the multi-track conference,

industry authorities can also address key audience groups.

Submissions are invited until January 7, 2013 from interested parties and should be in the form of a 150-200 word outlining new techniques, trends and case studies in all of the above sectors.

Broadband MEA 2013 returns for its fifth year with

a reported 80 top level speakers including 40 operator presentations from across the region and beyond.

Broadband MEA 2013 covers both the fixed and wireless sectors. In addition, this year the exhibition is co-located with Cloud World Forum MENA.

The two-day conference programme will address all the current issues surrounding broadband with two workshops taking place on the 18 March hosted by MENOG and Etisalat. Other features of the event include:

opportunities - arrange and follow up meetings

the region.

presentations

discussions and round tables

C-Level attendees to discuss the most pressing issues surrounding broadband in the area

learning and networking


Events for 2013

Dubai International Boat Show 2013Experience the latest collection of super-yachts and boats from across the globe at the region’s annual leisure marine show!

Cabsat 2013CABSAT is the trade platform for the broadcast, digital media and satellite sectors across the Middle East, Africa and Southern Asian regions.

Broadband MEAThe two-day programme includes two pre-conference workshops and brings more than 70 speakers including more than 40 operator case studies to address the issues around broadband.

NAB 2013Every industry employs audio and video to communicate, educate and entertain. The NAB Show covers the entire content lifecycle – from creation to consumption.

IBC 2013Annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide.

VSAT 2013Conference for operators, solutions providers and integrators in the VSAT sector

Milsatcom MEARegional conference on milsatcom solutions and pooling military and commercial assets

GITEX 2013Gitex Dubai is a computer, hardware, software, networks and telecom show.

ADIPEC 2013Reportedly the largest oil and gas event within the region and the largest outside of North America

SatCom Africa 2013Africa’s satellite, telco and broadcast show

CommunicAsia 2013The international communications and information technology exhibition and conference.

At a glance:Dates: 5-9 March 2013Venue: Dubai International Marine Club, Mina SiyahiRegistration: www.boatshowdubai.com

At a glance:Dates: 6-11 April 2013Venue: Las Vegas Convention Centre, Las VegasRegistration: www.nabshow.com

At a glance:Dates: 13 – 17 September 2013Venue: RAI, AmsterdamRegistration: www.ibc.org

At a glance:Dates: 18-20 September 2013Venue: Amsterdam, NetherlandsRegistration: vsatevent.com

At a glance:Dates: 25-27 February, 2013Registration: www.milsatcom-mea.com

At a glance:Dates: 20-24 October 2013Venue: Dubai International Exhibition CentreRegistration: www.gitex.com

At a glance:Dates: 10- 13 November 2013Venue: Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre (ADNEC)Registration:www.adipec.com

At a glance:Dates: 12-14 March 2013Venue: Dubai International Convention CentreRegistration: www.cabsat.com

At a glance:Dates: 27-30 May 2013Venue: Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South AfricaRegistration: www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/satcom-africa/

At a glance:Dates: 19-20 March 2013Venue: JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, DubaiRegistration: www.broadbandmea.com

At a glance:Dates: 18-21 June 2013Venue: Marina Bay Sands, SingaporeRegistration: www.communicasia.com


SatGuest

Contrary to popular fears, Ka-band, says Rick Hodgkinson, CEO and President, Galaxy Broadband Communications,

can help you create a distinct and sustainable competitive advantage.

One of Canada’s satellite pioneers, Hodgkinson, was among the very first to introduce satellite communications technologies for voice, data, and entertainment to the oil and gas industry beginning in Northern Alberta in 1981.

At the helm of Galaxy Broadband, he has overseen a strategy that has allowed the company to leverage the cost advantages of Ka-band, into specialised, high value niche segments to create a distinct and sustainable competitive advantages.

What does Ka allow the company to do? Hodgkinson responds: “Ka allows you to deliver more bits per Mghz, use smaller antennas for difficult sites and help differentiate your services.” He added that on the Hughes HN Hub, the company achieves up to 3.6Mbps upload and up to 10 Mbps download.

“Our customers are looking for failover and redundancy,” states Hodgkinson. “In addition, they are expecting to have video from the site,

predictable service SLAs for camp services and immediate resolution of trouble tickets.” He also adds that clients are demanding fatter pipes but that, as all service providers know, can be a double edged sword.

Explaining how Galaxy made the transition from a reseller (with the two-way internet with Direcway in 2002 for HughesNet), to a service provider, Hodgkinson explains, “We listened to what our customers were saying. We deployed the best technology for the price. We delivered the service we sold, predictably.”

The dictum followed was apparently – ‘Our customers simply want it to work’.

Hodgkinson outlined the solutions deployed as: “Morale and recreational services for camps with 10 to 2500+ men; managed and monitored services to deliver on the SLA; call centre support 24/7 to end user; VoIP from 1 to 50 lines and cellular backhaul. Other solutions included camp Pay to Play (internet and voice), predictable QoS for any remote office and a Fleet VU Portal to monitor sites from anywhere.”

Catering to varied needs of the end-user, Hodgkinson’s team realised that not all internet access is the same. And underlining

the importance of communicating to the customer the quality of service and the man-hours and technology deployed to maintain the quality, Hodgkinson states: “If our customer cannot appreciate why we charge what we do, then maybe they are not a good fit. “

“Don’t be afraid to charge for your services but set sustainable margins,” advises Hodgkinson. He adds, “It is vital to ensure quality control from the point of sale to the installation, and to the cloud. Your deliverables must be set on an SLA and service providers should strive to over deliver a predictable service.”

With 20 years of delivering communications via satellite, Hodgkinson’s customer-centric approach to the VSAT market is straight forward and simplified. Availability is not just a number, Hodgkinson asserts.

“You are not selling just bandwidth or service plans; you are selling solutions.”

He however believes that “decision makers need more and more education on VSAT especially since not all satellite broadband is equal”. PRO

(With excerpts from presentation at VSAT2012)

TAPPING INTO KA-PABILITIES Ka-band need not sap your value and force you into a low margin, high volume business, says Rick Hodgkinson, Galaxy Broadband Communications, CEO and President

“Don’t be afraid to charge for your services but set sustainable margins. Your deliverables must be set on an SLA and service providers should strive to over deliver a predictable service”Rick Hodgkinson, CEO and President, Galaxy Broadband Communications

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Transcript of Satellite Pro Middle East