by Chris Frith
President, AUSPresence
A telco PR executive once remarked to me that satellite was like a solution always looking for a problem. Given that he was looking to represent my satellite consultancy firm, I thought this was an odd way to earn my business! Dents to my ego aside, what this guy was reflecting is simply the wider telecommunications industry and a great many potential customers’ perception of satellite – VSAT communications in particular. How things have changed! Now, not only do the problems exist – let’s refer to them as needs (it’s more marketing friendly) but also customers are willing and have the means to pay for them. Today, we have broadband satellite providing internet access not just in the remote areas but right up close to population centres; innovative service providers are marketing hybrid satellite networks on the basis of their increased reliability and quick deploy systems which provide large scale connectivity to those first on the ground when disaster strikes. So let’s take a closer look at what needs are emerging and how leading VSAT service providers are rising to the challenge. Then we’ll take a look into the crystal ball to see where this is heading.
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