World Ka-band Satellite Broadband Services Market

Frost & Sullivan, November 2002

Ka-band: The Next Big Step in Satellite Communications?

Higher throughput than Ku- or C-band and multi-spot beam capability enabling dynamic signal strength allocation promise to make Ka-band the frequency of choice for broadband satellite communications. In simpler terms, Ka-band is likely to generate demand merely because it is available, and will be increasingly employed in the future as Ku- and C-band spectrum gets depleted. This untapped resource has the potential to become as widely used and as profitable as are C- and Ku-band today.

This Frost & Sullivan research is a detailed analysis of the potential market for Ka-band satellite broadband services worldwide. It examines the drivers, restraints, and challenges that are likely to impact the market. This study provides demand analysis of the business, consumer, and government markets, as well as a comparative analysis of Ka with other frequency bands and terrestrial alternatives. It also includes a review of satellite applications best suited to Ka-band, and profiles of companies active in the Ka-band market.

Cost of Migration Will Restrain Market Development

High costs of equipment migration will prove to be a major stumbling block in getting customers to shift from Ku- to Ka-band systems, particularly since operators and service providers have shown unwillingness to subsidize the costs. Concern about the possibility of slow customer acceptance will force operators to think twice before launching a Ka-band system. With capital markets closed to them, Ka-band service providers will also face difficulty in introducing their service.

The market will develop once at least one satellite operator launches a dedicated Ka-band system and demonstrates the system's usefulness, says the analyst. Operators, service providers, and their financial backers will then begin to consider the prospects of developing more Ka-band systems.

Business Market for Ka-band Broadband Services may Prove to be More Profitable than Consumer Market

The business market for Ka-band is more promising than the consumer market, and it will continue to be more profitable for the first few years during which Ka-band service is available says the analyst. Business subscribers benefit from added value that would not be attractive to consumers. Businesses that choose Ka-band satellite systems can benefit from the operational and logistical simplicity of having voice transmission and a variety of data applications managed by a single service provider.

Operators that had built their business models around the consumer or small office/home office (SOHO) market may have to rework them to target the more viable enterprise market instead. Acceptance in the consumer or SOHO market will be restricted by the inability of satellite broadband services to compete effectively with terrestrial broadband. However, as prices of equipment and services decrease, this market will become more accessible.

1Executive Summary
A.Scope & Findings and Conclusions

1Scope of the Report

2Key Findings

3Conclusions and Recommendations

2Ka-band Market
A.Introduction

1Market Overview and Definitions

2Definition and History of Ka-band
B.Characteristics of Ka-band

1Advantages

2Disadvantages

3Ka-band versus Ku-band

4Ka-band Satellite Broadband versus Terrestrial Broadband

5Latency

6Balancing Quality of Service and Customer Base

7LEO Constellations for Ka-band Broadband

8Proposed Satellite Applications for Ka-band
C.External Forces

1Capital Markets

2Government Regulation of Ka-band
D.Market Forces

1Market Challenges

2Market Drivers

3Market Restraints

4Market Engineering Measurement Analysis

3Ka-band Demand Analysis
A.Commercial Demand

1Demand Overview

2Methodology

3North America

4Europe

5Asia Pacific
B.Government and Military Demand

1Introduction

2Military Demand

4Competitive Analysis
A.Profiles of Ka-band Service Providers

1Introduction

2Spaceway

3Astrolink

4EchoStar Communications

5WildBlue

6Miraxis

7Teledesic

8Pegasus Communications
B.Profiles of Satellite Operators with Ka-band Capacity

1Introduction

2North America

3Western Europe

4East Asia
C.Profiles of Ka-band Satellite Manufacturers

1Introduction

2Boeing

3Lockheed Martin
4Space Systems/Loral

5Alcatel

6Astrium

7Orbital Sciences

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