ACCELERATING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR SATELLITE-BASED BROADBAND ACCESS BRINGS CALLS FOR ROUNDTABLE ASSEMBLY ON ‘HIGH THROUGHPUT’ SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES & MARKET APPLICATIONS

International Discussion Forum Organised by GVF-EMP Called For by Satellite Industry and End-User Markets

Monday, 30th July 2012

LONDON & WASHINGTON DC – Broadband is the hot topic all around the world and the global satellite industry is responding to accelerating demand for frequency spectrum to satisfy the requirements for increasing Internet bandwidth from a wide range of end-users. Key end-users include the Corporate, Enterprise, Government, NGO, and Internet Service Provision sectors, as well as the satellite news gathering (SNG) segment, and the consumer sector. As of November 2011, new satellites with ‘High Throughput’ capability already numbered around 30 in geosynchronous (GEO) orbit alone, and satellite operators have announced plans for additional ‘High  Throughput’  systems  that  will  see  around  40  more  satellites  in  GEO,  together  with constellations of other systems in medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO).

Already orbited ‘High Throughput’ systems use both satellite Ku band and Ka band frequency ranges to bring access to the types of communications services and solutions demanded across the private and public sectors, services that should, according to the United Nations, be comprehensively available by 2015, by which time ‘ALL countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy’.

“Providers of advanced – or ‘High Throughput’ – satellite systems have clearly been responding to the increasing demand for more-and-more spectrum, at lower-and-lower cost, in order to facilitate expanded broadband access, by developing ever more efficient, powerful, and cost- effective space and ground segments. ‘High Throughput Satellites’ employing the satellite Ku band

– and offering up to 45 Gbps of throughput – have been in service for a number of years, and now the satellite market has further responded to the demand for bandwidth by developing and deploying brand-new state-of-the-art systems using Ka band (and Ku band) to bring in excess of 1.3 Tbps of aggregate capacity to support fixed (FSS), mobile (MSS), and broadcasting (BSS) services”, noted Martin Jarrold, Chief of International Programme Development with the GVF.

“With the demand for spectrum never abating, the satellite industry is taking a concerted lead in using frequency re-use and multiple spot beam technologies to provision for more, and now, in response to a similarly high-level of demand – from both the satellite industry and satellite communications end-user markets – a dedicated satellite high throughput/Ka band forum is being organised by the GVF-EMP Conference Partnership.”

The event, entitled The Ka Roundtable Assembly 2012: Satellite Service Provision Game- Changer in Action, will take place in London on 5th & 6th December 2012.

“The title Roundtable has been chosen to reflect the organisers’ intention to hold ‘an assembly where parties meet on equal terms for discussion’, a format designed to facilitate a multi-faceted dialogue with as many perspectives represented as possible,” said Paul Stahl, Managing Partner of EMP. He added, “We intend to bring together a diversity of specialists, including end-users from key vertical markets (oil & gas, maritime, disaster management (NGOs) and broadcast), satellite operators, services and equipment providers, OEMs and hardware manufacturers, researchers and legal/regulatory specialists, together with re-sellers and value added re-sellers (VARs).”

With higher throughput having become of the utmost strategic importance to the satellite industry, and to a multitude of satellite service users, a range of key subject areas have so far been identified for inclusion in the Roundtable programme coverage, including the following:

Satellite Operator Forum

-       Global Operators & Encompassing the Global Ka Space

-       Regional Operator Ka Initiatives

-       Ka: New Opportunities from Revolution (or Evolution?)

-       Defining “HTS” (High Throughput Satellites)

-       C band, Ku band... What & Where Now?

User Verticals Focus

-       Enterprise Services

-       Government Services

-       Maritime Sector

-       Oil & Gas Sector

-       NGOs in Disaster Recovery & Development

-       Internet Service Providers

-       Satellite News Gathering

-       Airline Operators/Rail Operators

OEM Forum

-       Equipment Design & Technical Innovation

-       Equipment Manufacture & Economies of Scale

Hardware/Antennas Focus

-       Antenna Technologies

-       Application/Market Specific Antenna Design

-       Antenna Installation Training

Networking Applications Forum

-       National & Multi-National Networks

-       New Mobile Terrestrial BWA Backhaul: beyond GSM & 3G to LTE & 4G

-       Rural Telecommunications

-       PSTN infrastructure Extension/Telco Trunking

-       Broadband Internet Access

-       Utilities & M2M

-       Advanced Format TV Broadcast/IPTV/Edgecasting

Regulatory & Licensing Focus

-       Regulating for Ka band

-       The Ka band Licensing Environment

The Ka Roundtable Assembly 2012: Satellite Service Provision Game-Changer in Action will have  the  support  of  various  expert  consultants,  including  Elisabeth  Tweedie  of Definitive Direction. Further Roundtable Assembly Consultants will be announced in due course.

More information about the event, including a detailed overview and mission statement, can be obtained         on         the         event’s         dedicated         web         pages         at  www.uk- emp.co.uk/Ka.Roundtable.Ldn.2012/and  also  from  the  organisers:  Martin  Jarrold  of  GVF at martin.jarrold@gvf.org and Paul Stahl of EMP at paul.stahl@uk-emp.co.uk.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The GVF-EMP Conference Series Organisers

GVF

www.gvf.org

GVF is the single and unified voice of the global satellite industry.  Founded in 1997, it brings together organisations engaged in the delivery of advanced broadband and narrowband satellite services to consumers, and commercial and government enterprises worldwide.  Headquartered in London, GVF is an independent,  non-partisan  and  non-profit  organisation  with  200+  members  from  more  than  100 countries.  The broad-based membership represents every major world region and every sector of the satellite industry, including fixed and mobile satellite operators, satellite network operators, teleports, satellite earth station manufacturers, system integrators, value added and enhanced service providers, telecom carriers, consultants, law firms, and users.  Contact  martin.jarrold@gvf.org in the UK office, or in the US office please contact  david.hartshorn@gvf.org or liz.grimm@gvf.org.

UK EMP

 www.uk-emp.co.uk

EMP was launched in 2004 to develop and manage a niche portfolio of highly specialised conferences analysing the mission-critical communications needs of major corporate and government end-users, particularly in remote locations where connectivity is a major challenge.

EMP events are focused on rapidly developing as well as developed regional markets.  EMP works very closely with key industry and government bodies as well as commercial entities with shared interests, to ensure that all events are stakeholder driven, and that critical industry objectives are analysed in depth and from a variety of perspectives.  Contact paul.stahl@uk-emp.co.uk.

Ka Roundtable Assembly 2012 Consultants

Definitive Direction is an independent, international, strategic marketing consultancy serving the satellite and telecommunications industries.  Sectors covered include: Broadband and Ka band in particular, S band and Mobile, and wireless. Clients benefit from rigorous, impartial, customized research and analysis designed to meet their precise needs.  With over 20 years experience in the industry we understand what factors drive the different markets, know what questions to ask and most importantly how to interpret the results to produce actionable business plans. Clients include major manufacturers, operators and infrastructure providers around the world.

Web: www.definitivedirection.com; email:info@definitivedirection.com; phone: +44 (0)7768 610574 or

+1 310 292 0755.