FEATURE | SES BROADBAND SERVICES


Where Satellite Fills the Gap H


ow satellite technology brings high-speed internet in under- served rural regions in Europe and beyond.


Anybody who lives outside an urban


area in Europe or the emerging markets is familiar with the problem: Internet connectivity is insufficient or even non-existent – a problem which shuts millions of people off from the eco- nomic and social benefits of high-speed broadband internet. Political and economic obstacles often


prevent the expansion of terrestrial net- works, although several countries have set themselves ambitious broadband targets. The European Union, for example, wants to realize high-speed internet of at least 30 Mbit/s for all of its citizens by the end of 2020. Yet these targets will not be achieved without a mix of broadband technologies – including cable, fibre, wireless and satellite. Today’s developments in Germany


exemplify this need very well: The Ger- man government announced that it has achieved nationwide high-speed internet coverage, providing 98.7 per cent of all households with speeds of more than 1 Mbit/s. However, this rate can hardly be considered high-speed given today’s data transfer rates. Most experts agree that 2 Mbit/s or more have to be classified as high-speed internet, which changes the picture significantly: According to a study by TÜV Rheinland, more than 6.5 million citizens in underserved regions in Germany do not have access to speeds of 2 Mbit/s. Most live in rural areas and do not have a realistic chance of being connected to high-speed internet any time soon. But what about LTE, isn’t that going


to fill the white spots in rural areas? The answer is simply, no. LTE is – as with the expansion of fibre networks – based on economic feasibility. According to the German Federal Network Agency, the expansion conditions in all federal states have been met and a further expansion of the LTE network in rural areas is not like-


08 THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER 2012


ly since LTE technology is generally more profitable in urban areas. This means that the small communities which need high-speed internet the most will still be waiting for it after the LTE network has been established.” This is where SES Broadband Services


comes into play. Our solutions provide high-speed broadband internet con- nectivity via satellite which enables our customers to deliver highly reliable and cost-efficient broadband internet access services to consumers and businesses – wherever they are located. Our innova- tive and diverse broadband network services have been contributing to broadband internet provision in remote areas since 2007 – which means that we have the necessary experience to tackle the important challenge of bridging the Digital Divide. Additionally, we have further expand-


ed our service to support entire groups of users with broadband via one single satellite antenna – SES Broadband for communities. This is our groundbreaking solution for providing broadband access to entire villages or neighbourhoods in areas not served by terrestrial broadband. The technology combines our successful satellite broadband service with other “last-mile” technologies. We provide one central broadband connection to an ag- gregation point and then bring internet connection to the end users via exist- ing last mile infrastructure (DSLAM or Cable) or WiFi. With a fast and reliable satellite internet backbone and speeds of up to 8 Mbit/s for all end customers with- in the network as well as up to 16 Mbit/s for SMEs, SES Broadband for communi- ties is the next step toward reaching full broadband provision.


INTERVIEW WITH ARMIN


NEUMAIER, VICE PRESIDENT SALES AT SES BROADBAND SERVICES What kind of resonance are you seeing for the SES Broadband for communities solution? We see a high demand for our broad-


band solutions in Europe. Above all, small communities are still lacking a sufficient internet connection and we have registered a great interest in our solution: We are currently in negotia- tions for this service roll-out with more than 100 communities all over Germany. However, Germany is not the only country in Europe where citizens living in rural areas are in dire need of Internet connectivity.


Have you also expanded your offering to other regions? We are expanding our offer on a continu- ous basis and are now operational in over 20 key markets in Europe. In 2011, we developed our SES Broadband for com- munities solution and started the service in Germany. The strong demand encour- aged us to expand our services to cover the Middle East and Africa as well. In the close future, we are planning to launch services outside the EMEA region.


Do you have a different business approach in these regions than in your traditional markets? The Middle East and Africa are two emerging markets where we are seeing a very high demand for internet con- nectivity. Moreover, the projects often have a social aspect: For example, we are involved in an eLearning project in South Africa and offer online learning platforms and free internet terminals in post offices throughout Benin in collaboration with our local partners.


What speeds do you offer with your various satellite broadband solutions? Our customers in the residential market today benefit from download speeds of up to 10 Mbit/s. Soon we will be expanding the service speeds to up to 20 Mbit/s in download via our new Ka-band solution powered by our latest satellite, ASTRA 2F. With three more satellites be- ing readied for launch over the next two years and carrying the Ka-band capacity for our broadband service, we will further


increase and expand our offer to meet the needs of our individual, communal and corporate customers.


Can you tell more about your solutions for SCADA networks and what other specialized services you have in the SES Broadband portfolio? We provide a dedicated satellite commu- nication solution for SCADA applications – centralised systems which remotely manage, monitor and control assets or processes and transfer data to a group of widespread recipients. Our SCADA customers are typically in the energy, oil and gas, transportation and security sectors. In order to guarantee a constant data flow, these industries have to rely on a solid communication system but often operate in distant or inaccessible areas. This is one of our core strengths: Our bi- directional satellite broadband platform provides a cost-effective and highly reli- able communication alternative, enabling the setup of SCADA networks in remote and hard-to-reach locations. It is easily deployable and operated, and meets the demands of SMART grids and SMART metering projects. In addition, we can provide the benefits


of SES Broadband to maritime custom- ers. Our maritime service provides fast and reliable broadband to customers on European and Middle Eastern waters even while their vessel is underway, ma- noeuvring, rolling or pitching.


To find out more about SES Broadband Services and its offers, please join Armin Neumaier, Vice President Sales, at Broad- band World Forum conference session:


Thursday, 18 October 2012, Wireless Broadband Summit 5:25pm – Panel Discussion: Is Satellite the Only Technology that can Monetise Rural Broadband?


For more information on the panel visit: www.broadbandworldforum.com/ agenda-day3/


BROADBAND WORLD FORUM DAILY 2012 I http://www.broadbandworldforum.com/


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20