Page 63 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2022

CONNECTIVITY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

SATELLITE NEWS

Satellite Services to Reach US$141 Billion by 2030

The deployment of satellite constellations have shown that satellite services of the key drivers impacting the growth
in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for low-latency and like Internet of Things (IoT), backhaul, of these services over the next decade.
high throughput network applications and commercial broadband and Mobile Satellite For the enterprise segment, global supply
extending terrestrial network (TN) coverage Services (MSS) could meet carrier-grade chains are evolving in the aftermath of
have become significant drivers in the performance requirements and enhance Covid-19 and conflict in Europe and are
adoption of satellite services in the global the telecom arsenal of any terrestrial CSP. keen to build more resilient and efficient
telecommunications sector. According With over 70 satellite service providers networks. To reflect these developments,
to global technology intelligence firm ABI currently providing services worldwide, ABI Research anticipates that these
Research, this adoption would culminate some of the most influential players in the essential satellite services, in aggregate,
in $141 billion worth of annual service growing satellite communications services would reach over 53 million subscribers
revenues from satellites by 2030. "Satellite space include OneWeb, SpaceX, Hughes by 2030. "The market is evolving quickly,
communications services have seen a Network Systems and Globalstar. There and many services are finding enhanced
new wave of enthusiasm and convergence is an increased focus on deployments in deployment through strategic alliances
with terrestrial networks looking to extend LEO for key satellite services in broadband, and increased bandwidth supply in LEO,"
past their zones of coverage and bridge backhaul, IoT and MSS mobile applications. comments Jake Saunders, vice president
the digital divide," said Andrew Cavalier, For the consumer segment, the competition of Asia Pacific and research director for
Satellite Communications industry analyst over rural and remote market share would ABI Research's satellite communications
at ABI Research. Market developments become a central battleground and one service. Leaders are beginning to offer
several solutions focusing on satellite-to-
mobile device connectivity in partnership
with telcos and smartphone manufacturers.
Major partnerships include T-Mobile and
SpaceX, Telstra and OneWeb, Vodafone
and AST SpaceMobile, and Huawei and
BeiDou. "While these services are still in
their early stages, there is evidence that
they would find momentum as smartphone
technology begins to peak, sales taper off,
and new revenue streams grow in demand.
To this end, the market is revealing new
development paths that would influence
the market and shape partnerships and
opportunities for enterprises throughout
the telecommunications value chain,"
Saunders said.

SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for Sat-to-Phone Birds

SpaceX is seeking to clear regulatory hur- technologies onboard. SpaceX CEO Elon browsing with theoretical top speeds of 3
dles with the US Federal Communications Musk announced the service with T-Mo- Mb/s or 7 Mb/s on the uplink and either
Commission (FCC) for its satellite-to-phone bile US CEO Mike Sievert in August with a 4.4 Mb/s or 18.3 Mb/s on the downlink. It
service with T-Mobile US ahead of an ex- scheme that included a beta test in the lat- also noted the service would work on un-
pected launch in 2023. On 6 December ter half of 2023. The two executives touted modified off-the-shelf mobile phones, and
SpaceX filed an application with the FCC to the service’s capability to reduce cellular that it would be available across the con-
orbit more than 2,016 second-generation, dead zones across the US. The FCC filing tiguous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico
low-earth birds for a direct-to-cellular sys- stated the plan includes using the opera- and areas of Alaska. There isn’t a timeline
tem that would feature advanced phased tor’s nationwide mid-band PCS spectrum for when SpaceX and the operator might be
array beam-forming and digital processing to provide voice, messaging and basic web granted approvals by the FCC.

63 NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2022