Thursday, Jul 02, 2015

Dubai: The importance of satellite in connecting the world today is undisputable. People who are living in underserved areas are often connected via satellite as it is the only infrastructure in spite of geographical challenges and quickly.

“Satellite broadcasting is also the most economical way to reach the largest population,” Hussein Oteifa, General Manager of satellite operator SES Middle East, told Gulf News.

The company, with a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites, provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.

“Fast forward to the next 20 years, we believe that satellite will continue to play a key role in the architecture of future networks and the acceleration of digitisation,” he said.

Today’s population are no longer satisfied with simply being connected and watching TV. They want faster broadband, mobile data access and better quality HD TV content constantly.

Terrestrial infrastructure “will not be able to meet these exponential demands of anytime and anywhere. Surfing the internet on the plane or cruising on a superyacht, for example, will require satellite connectivity. Watching a live football match on Ultra HD will be another that requires satellite broadcasting. Likewise, satellite alone will not be optimise to meet connectivity needs,” he said.

The ability to utilise both “terrestrial and space infrastructure” and to leverage on their strengths will be the best way to meet “high demand for bandwidth” in various applications.

For instance, he said that people can rely on satellite connectivity through smartphones to watch a live sports channel while simultaneously using 3G or 4G connectivity to surf the internet through the same device.

As current bandwidth capacity, he said that it is simply not enough to meet demand, and this is where satellites come in. Satellites are being used to “enhance connectivity” and SES will be launching two satellites across the Middle East region by 2017 to help meet these needs.

He said that satellites are already playing an important role in connecting the world, and will continue to do so with the growing smartphone penetration, demands on broadband and the increasing importance of HD TV.

People want to be “connected at all times “ whether on land, at sea, or in the sky, and therefore demand will only continue to rise — and satellites are able to provide solutions for this.

“It is essential that both cellular and satellite infrastructure are integrated in order to cut cost and increase efficiency of connectivity. Currently the satellite industry is working with telcos to provide total coverage, and compliment other means of connectivity’s by providing mobile backhauling for example to ensure full coverage, but more needs to be done as demand for data connectivity continues to surge,” he said.

The growth in video traffic is not just coming through Ultra HD technology, he said, but also through the demand for higher quality HD TV contents across other platforms.

Having said that, “we see the growth of Ultra HD technology as an opportunity, rather than a risk. Just as we are currently seeing HD technology replacing SD technology, we expect Ultra HD to become the platform of choice over the next decade. However this is just in its infancy and has not been commercially rolled out to date, as the 4K ecosystem is not yet fully developed,” he said.

SES is working with industry partners to ensure tests are carried out and industry standards are established for Ultra HD technology.

In terms of how Ultra HD is being used with satellites, he said that SES was the first to broadcast a live concert in Ultra HD, when we streamed a live Linkin Park concert from Berlin in November 2014.

“We have also launched an Ultra HD demo channel, the first of its kind, that interested parties can use to test the technology,” he said.

Increasing connectivity and bandwidth have a direct causal impact on economic growth also.

If we increase connectivity, he said that information can be accessed more quickly, more often, and this will essentially transform lives.

“Recent studies into the impact of broadband on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have shown that for every 10 per cent increase in the number people online, a nation’s GDP rises by one per cent. Doubling average broadband speeds in a country has been shown to increase GDP by 0.3 per cent,” he said.

By Naushad K Cherrayil Staff Reporter

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