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VSATs
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
Very small – but still very useful Despite the growing reach of fibre and cellular, satellite systems in general – and very small aperture terminals (VSATs) in particular – can do a lot to help meet Africa’s remote and rural communications needs. Vaughan O’Grady reports.
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In areas beyond the reach of terrestrial mobile services satellite is a critical form of connectivity Also, the capabilities of VSATs are becoming more sophisticated (see vendor interviews). “VSAT manufacturers have primarily been working on ways to increase their data rates – particularly for the inbound channels – and to increase efficiency,” says Bull. However, as both mobile and fixed communications extend further, some historical markets – retail, petrol stations, car manufacturers and restaurants – are less likely than they once were to see VSATs as an option. That said, in Africa VSAT still has a strong
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VSATs play a vital role in plugging connectivity gaps.
Photo: SatADSL
VERY SMALL APERTURE terminal (VSAT) is a two-way ground station that transmits and receives data from satellites. Among its uses are for businesses in areas with limited communications infrastructure or with a wide reach that extends to such areas. That could include maritime, mining, retail, banking or oil and gas, for example. “Mobility is a big focus,” says Susan Bull, senior consultant with COMSYS, a specialised telecommunications consultancy company with a core expertise in satellite and VSAT systems. Maritime, mining and onshore oil exploration all benefit from the ease of transport and installation of VSATs. More recently, there’s been growth in the airborne business – transmission by satellite to a VSAT on a plane and then to passengers. Ka-band – plentiful but prone to fading in areas of very high rainfall – is popular here. “Once you get a plane at that height – above the clouds – you’re not getting the rain, so your reliability is greater,” says Bull. On the ground, onshore oil and gas recovery in isolated areas remains a good market for satcoms in general and VSATs in particular. “Businesses that need to move from place to place find VSATs particularly useful,” says Bull. She adds, “You have to point them in the right direction and that may need a bit of engineering help. But they are becoming much simpler to deploy.”
role in rural areas, Bull suggests. In rural Africa there’s an opportunity for local Wi-Fi-based connections – satellite to VSAT and then Wi-Fi on the ground. In addition, “The biggest business in Africa seems to be the cellular backhaul businesses – alongside government programmes.” Overall, she feels that VSATs will remain relevant in Africa but will not be as massive a global business as they once were. Also, business models will change. “VSAT will still be a manufacturing business but it will get smaller,” Bull suggests. “If you look at [major players] Hughes or Viasat, they’re just integrating the whole thing: satellite, VSAT manufacturing, VSAT installation, operations.” Thus a business model that’s a package rather than just trying to sell separate elements is what many of the big satellite operators are looking at these days. However, you don’t necessarily need to own and manage the entire infrastructure: virtual network operators (or VNOs), using somebody else’s teleport, for example, are another trend. Also, Bull says, “I am seeing several companies working towards unifying different VSAT platforms with the aim that a VSAT evolves to be like a smartphone which can operate on any network. Some, like SatADSL, have already been unifying a network management system (NMS) for different VSAT systems, but others, like Aurora Business Networks, are now working on unifying multiple different VSAT platforms. Soon we may end up with a simple platform as a service (PaaS).” There are also cost-saving initiatives.
“iDirect/Newtec Dialog is one of the world’s largest-sold efficient, high-rate VSAT platforms and its hub system has been significantly upgraded to allow many more VSATs to be connected via a single demodulator, which reduces costs significantly,” she adds. In fact the good news for end users is, Bull
VSAT manufacturers have been working on ways to increase their data rates – and to increase efficiency says, “In many instances the cost of the VSAT and the cost of the service has come down significantly. In some places Hughes charges less than $250 for a VSAT.” On the other hand, if you’re investing in high levels of speed and efficiency for missioncritical or advanced services, you might go for the Comtech Heights platform, which will cost a lot more. Either way, VSATs have something to meet both low-end and high-end requirements if remote coverage is your starting point. And technological advances are continuing. Martin Jarrold is vice president international programme development of the GVF, which brings together organizations from around the world representing the satellite ecosystem. As he says, the space segment, though high-throughput satellites (HTS) – latest generation HTS networks now being delivered to Africa-based customers – offer Continued on page 17
Communications Africa Issue 3 2020
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