There is much discussion surrounding the role of 5G networks in enhancing digital transformation across industries and fuelling digital economic growth. Yet, terrestrial networks — 5G, 6G or beyond — have limitations.
“Maintaining a highly resilient terrestrial network is challenging in geographically challenged and natural disaster-prone areas such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands,” says Harsh Verma, vice president for enterprise and cloud for Asia at SES, a global content connectivity solutions provider. “For example, connecting remote areas in mountainous areas via fibre networks is not viable economically and takes a long time.”
Verma adds that subsea cables are easily prone to cuts. For instance, the West African Cable System (WACS) and the South Atlantic 3 (SAT-3) undersea cables were damaged last month due to rock falls, slowing down Internet services in southern Africa till they are fully repaired. Given those limitations, SES believes leveraging satellite connectivity is crucial in strengthening network resilience, which is the lifeblood of the digital economy. Verma shares more in a Q&A with DigitalEdge.
Harsh Verma, vice president for enterprise and cloud for Asia, SES.
Why are satellites important in extending the resiliency of terrestrial networks?
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At SES, we like to say the superpower of satellites is its global reach. Satellites can reach under-connected parts of the world more cost-efficiently and effectively than terrestrial networks. The time to market is also an advantage for satellite networks over terrestrial solutions, with the quick deployment of our terminals.
It is also equally important to note that because satellites are in space, they are hardly ever impacted by natural disasters that tend to disrupt terrestrial solutions. As such, we can help to build additional resiliency to terrestrial networks by adding another layer of satellite network as a backup in case of any primary terrestrial network failure.
For example, when we started working with Vodafone Cook Islands in 2014, the Manatua cable was the only fibre optic subsea cable connecting the Cook Islands. This raises concerns as cable outages in the Pacific are common and can disrupt the business of entire island nations. By providing 3G/4G services and high-speed Internet access to the Islands via our O3b satellite system in addition to Manatua cable service, we could load balance (a technique used to distribute network traffic across a pool of servers) to minimise the risk of network disruption. The upgraded connectivity has boosted the tourism sector by approximately 30% in the last six years.
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How open has Asia been to using satellite communications?
The connectivity landscape across Asia varies from country to country. Singapore, for instance, does not have the same challenges and needs for its network as Indonesia or the Philippines. That said, most Asian organisations know the advantages satellite communications bring to connect the under-connected, especially in countries where terrestrial networks are too expensive or unfeasible. In particular, telcos and mobile operators are starting to augment their terrestrial network deployment with satellite technologies to increase their reach and their networks’ resiliency.
In some countries or regions — including India, Indonesia, the Philippines or the Pacific Islands — satellites are sometimes perceived as a costly solution. However, with more governments increasingly realising the need to deploy connectivity to bridge the digital divide across their country and channelling more funds towards universal service obligation projects (that aim to connect the unconnected), companies also acknowledge its strengths far outweigh its costs.
How should organisations decide which satellite communications vendor to partner to enhance their network resiliency?
Aside from performance, key criteria customers should look for in satellite connectivity solutions are cost-effectiveness, reliability, ease of deployment, and maintenance. Customers in remote locations need satellite solutions that can be self-installed and require less maintenance.
The recent trial of our O3b mPOWER terminals, when our customer Vodafone Cook Islands successfully installed the equipment without our assistance on one of the most remote islands in the Pacific region, exemplifies how our satellites are designed to be easy to use. As a next step, we are working towards ensuring the equipment comes pre-configured and tested when bringing up the service in a remote location, which would result in a more efficient and quicker installation.
How big is the satellite communications market in Asia today? And what differentiates SES from the competition?
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The satellite communication market in Asia is growing faster than ever, propelled by a renewed interest in satellites, more players entering the field, and the technological prowess of the next generation of satellites. It is even estimated that the region’s satellite communication market will grow with an 8.5% CAGR over the next 10 years.
Our unique position as the only commercially successful global operator of multi-orbit satellites sets SES apart. The satellite industry has never seen such times of disruption, and I would know — having been in this industry for more than two decades.
With all the disruption and consolidation happening in the satellite industry today, it is a super exciting and vibrant time for the satellite industry. SES was the first to launch medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites 10 years ago. Since then, we have offered MEO and geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) satellite services, transforming millions of lives. This unique combination enabled us to deliver complementary global reach and high-performance connectivity to territories previously inaccessible by terrestrial networks.
Despite being headquartered in Luxembourg, we also have an office in Singapore and people working out of various countries in the Asia Pacific, enabling us and those working remotely in some Asian countries to connect. And lastly, over the years, SES has created strong partnerships with local service providers in many Asian countries who bring local knowledge and experience. This combination of leveraging global experience and local knowledge has enabled us to succeed over the last decades, and we hope it continues.
What’s next for SES?
We are starting the service of our second-generation MEO satellite system — O3b mPOWER — in the coming months. The much-awaited system promises terabit-level scale, high throughput, predictable low latency, and ultra-reliable service availability, so it is very much welcomed by plenty of customers who have enjoyed the advantage of the first O3b satellites. That, combined with rolling out the new O3b mPOWER ground equipment over the next few months, will keep us all busy!
