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VSATs: Linking the Last 1,000 Miles |
| Magazine: Sustainable Development International |
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VSATs: Linking the Last 1,000 Miles The sustainable-development sector is undergoing a revolution. Satellite-based Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) are being seized upon to interconnect developing economies, creating a host of new growth opportunities. Now, reports the Global VSAT Forum, state-of-the-art technology and sensible regulatory policy are being combined to further facilitate the introduction of such solutions. By David Hartshorn, General Secretary, Global VSAT Forum and Anina Selve, Supervisor, Marketing Projects, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. Deep in the mountains of northern Malaysia – far from any telephone wireline - a forestry facility advises its head office in Kuala Lumpur of current harvest yields, enabling close coordination with the international timber market. In the hinterlands of Nigeria, a villager steps up to an automatic teller machine and withdraws money from his savings account to purchase a petrol-powered tiller that will more than double the efficiency of his crop production. On the outskirts of Budapest, a Hungarian entrepreneur maintains an Internet link through which she sells indigenously-produced red wine, driving up hard-currency earnings and promoting the country’s business. Just a few years ago, such scenarios were largely relegated to academic papers and theoretical discussions on the future of telecommunications. Yet today, such real-life examples of sustainable development increasingly abound, thanks to the availability of satellite-based very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks. More than 500,000 VSAT terminals are in use today in more than 120 countries, providing a full range of cost-effective services to a host of end-user profiles - from voice, video and data for multi-national corporate networks, to single-channel on-demand voice, fax and data for public call offices in rural regions. Toll-Quality Talk is Cheap Cost-effective VSAT-based solutions have become available to every sector due to the convergence of critical technology trends and cost refinements. Space segment is more abundant and affordable today, and satellites are generally more powerful, enabling the use of smaller – and more inexpensive - antennas on the ground. Meanwhile, voice calls are now being digitized using digital signal processing (DSP). In the past, a telephone conversation coded in PCM required the equivalent of 64kbps; today with state-of-the-art coding algorithms designed to recognize and mimic human voice, toll-quality voice can be achieved with as little as 4.8 kbps. The end result: More than 2,000 telephone conversations can be carried on a single 36 MHz transponder, translating into very low space segment cost per line. Additional space-segment savings have been realized through new modulation schemes and efficient coding techniques, which permit the digital information to be recovered more efficiently from the satellite. Hardware gains also have been made. Silicon prices continue to drop and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) that perform the majority of the VSAT functions are economically feasible. They also bring the added benefit of reducing component count, reducing costs and increasing reliability. This, in turn, has fueled higher adoption rates, which has led to greater economies of scale. These savings are also passed through to the end user in the form of lower terminal prices. The end result is a cost-effective, rapidly-deployable solution flexible enough to address a wide range of applications that are self sustaining and, indeed, that help create new sources of capital. Delivering the Dream Despite the public and private sectors’ best efforts to provide connectivity via land lines, the telephone remains an elusive dream for 3 billion people – roughly half the world’s population. These 3 billion potential end users represent a vast untapped base of human resources, waiting to be provided access to the simple tools needed to unleash their potential productivity. This fact, long since recognized by the United Nations and International Telecommunication Union - has been borne out in many countries where the provision of telecom connectivity served as a catalyst in developing the local economy. Most governments recognize this. The problem is that copper, microwave and other forms of terrestrial infrastructure are not a cost-effective means of linking a remote community of 100 people or a field office consisting of a few people. That’s why remote public telephony, whether delivered to private homes, payphones in Public Call Offices (PCOs), or commercial offices, is increasingly being provided via VSAT. Among the nations implementing or operating VSAT networks to extend their national telephone infrastructure are South Africa, Botswana, Indonesia, Chile, Peru, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, and Ethiopia. These VSAT networks interface transparently into the existing (usually analog) telephone network – even using the same numbering system – to provide seamless continuity with the country’s PSTN. VSATs are now providing one to three voice, fax and data channels on demand in villages where there has never been a telephone. Subscribers can be seen lining up in the evening to use the telephones in their PCO for toll-quality voice service. But VSAT-based rural telephony is much more than a convenience. Such systems are being used by villagers to deal directly with the marketplaces that traditionally resell their produce and products. Establishing this communication link has led to greater efficiencies and higher margins through more closely coordinating what is in demand and what is produced. Further, experience has shown that, as a community’s prosperity increases, not only does it foster new sources of productivity, but it also increases the demand for billable long-distance telephony traffic. Similar benefits have accrued to more populated villages and semi-urban areas, where telephones sometimes exist but tend to be unreliable, expensive or both. VSATs are a cost-effective means of introducing 8-16 highly reliable and robust lines. These connections carry high-rate data with toll-quality voice, enabling operators to deliver first-class telephone and fax services to local hospitals, post offices and government ministries, as well as private users, many of whom are shop owners or ranchers. Corporations operating in remote or rural areas have long relied on private VSAT networks. VSATs have been providing full-mesh telephony and fax connection as well as data and video for utility companies, banks, oil & gas concerns, mining and forestry companies, and a host of other commercial organizations operating in both industrialized and developing nations. Once installed, a VSAT telephony network can be leveraged to provide other value-added applications. Government agencies can implement a distance learning application over the network to provide teacher training across the country. Or they can offer telemedicine services. Or disaster recovery. Or all of the above. Operators can leverage their networks to provide Internet-access. Since Internet Protocol (IP) is already integrated into the VSAT remote unit, operators can offer Internet services such as email as well as Internet access with telephony and fax. The demand for such services already exists, and in some very remote locations. As VSAT technology continues to prove its worth in a multitude of sustainable-development applications, government regulators are moving to match industry’s gains with those of their own. VSAT Regulation Revamped The single most important obstacle slowing the provision of VSAT-based solutions is outdated regulation. High licensing fees, extortionate customs duties, and monopolistic practices unfortunately remain in some countries, including those most in need of communications. However, most governments now recognize that facilitating VSAT system and service provision by minimizing fees and duties and introducing competition is a boon to local economies, creating jobs, attracting foreign investment, and providing a boost to the domestic and international business community. Evidence of the trend can be seen throughout the world:
More than 50 administrations have signed the GMPCS-MoU, an international agreement designed to facilitate circulation of mobile satellite-based terminals, mutual recognition of type approvals, and class licensing of fixed VSAT terminals. The incentive to implement such policies is nothing less than a strengthened economy. And now that numerous examples exist of the benefits that await deregulated economies, the forward momentum is building rapidly, promising a more rapid build-out of telecoms infrastructure, introduction of more robust and lower-priced services, and stimulated economies throughout the world. Editor’s Note: The Global VSAT Forum is the London-based international non-profit association of the VSAT industry, serving as its unified voice throughout the world. Its Members include Andrew, Asiasat, Belgacom, BT, Cable & Wireless/Vitacom, Channel Master, COMSAT, COMSYS, ESYS, Eutelsat, Gilat Satellite Networks, Groupe SNEF, Gulfsat, HOT Telecommunications, Hughes Network Systems, Hutchison Corporate Access, IBM Global Network, Intelsat, IWL Communications, Lockheed Martin Intersputnik, Loral Orion Inc., MCI-Worldcom, MTN, NEC, Norsat International, Nortel DASA, PacAmTel, PanAmSat, Paradigm, PBI, Via Satellite magazine, Prodelin, Scientific-Atlanta, SES Astra, Signal Processors Ltd., Singapore Telecom, Spaceline, Spacenet Inc., Stanford Telecom, STM Wireless, TeleDanmark, Telenor, Telespazio, Telstra V-Comm, Transcom, Transtel, Vertex, Viasat, and the VSAT Service Providers Association of India. For more information regarding
the Global VSAT Forum and its activities, |
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