International Discussion Forum on HTS Satellites to be Organised by GVF-EMP
Washington, D.C., August 1, 2012--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.
