Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) Satellite Special 2018 | Page 3

HTS a hit in Asia-Pacific
Hitting the sweet spots
amidst disruptions in APAC's
satellite marketplace
B
roadcasters today are demanding
satellite capacity that is more
flexible and can morph to meet
the demand for ‘anywhere,
anytime’ viewing. This, in turn, is creating
a decline in fixed global geostationary
earth orbit (GEO) satellite distribution of
TV programming, observed Karl Rossiter,
contributing editor (technology), APB.
He added: “The global trend and
customer demand for HDTV and 4K/
Ultra HD (UHD) TV are increasing
distribution costs, as well as taxing
satellite capacity and compression limits.
“The demand for satellite data
throughout continues to double each year,
putting enormous pressure on satellite
designers and manufacturers who often
have to work 10 years ahead.”
Like its terrestrial broadcast counterpart, the satellite broadcast industry is experiencing a
wave of disruptive changes brought forth by emerging technologies, new entrants in the
video marketplace, and the way content is being consumed today. While HTS, provisioned
over Ka- and Ku-band, can potentially offer more options to deliver specific content to
specific viewers, fixed-satellite services offered over C-band will continue to retain its
importance in Asia-Pacific. Shawn Liew reports.
HTS take centre stage in
disruptive and changing
landscape
With the introduction of smart TVs, voice
activation, digital assistants, smartphones,
mobility and the now familiar names like
Netflix and Amazon, it is clear that the
landscape has changed irrevocably.
Rossiter believes that medium earth
orbit satellites are increasingly becoming
economic, sustainable and fashionable,
and are supporting the growth of
broadband competition and cloud
delivery. He predicted: “2018 will see the
introduction of more ‘hybrid’ services
where strands of different technologies are
combined to meet audience demands and
expectations.”
High throughput satellite (HTS) is
the major trend for communications/
broadcast satellite in Asia-Pacific, and will
remain so in the near future, suggested
Hiromasa Nakaguro, general manager,
Space Systems Division, Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation.
“HTS has enabled operators to cope
with the competition from terrestrial
networks on the “cost per bit” race, by
supplying large communication capacity,
he continues. “Although the majority of
the satellite service revenues in APAC
are generated by broadcast services, we
Satellite remains one of the key platforms to reach out to large population segments in Asia-Pacific. While HTS is offering more options
to deliver more options to deliver specific content to specific viewers, fixed-satellite services offered over C-band is likely to retain its
importance in Asia-Pacific
believe that there will be a steady growth
for video, cellular backhaul, and airline
connectivity demands supported by HTS,
as the middle-income population in the
region increases.”
Based on the company’s heritage
DS2000 platform, Mitsubishi Electric is
currently developing an enhanced satellite
platform called New DS2000, which will
double the spacecraft capacity up to 25kW
to meet HTS payload needs.
New DS2000, according to Nakaguro,
will enable Mitsubishi Electric to
provide customers with multi-beam
HTS payload of over 100 beams and a
digital channeliser capable of bandwidth
and power flexibility, as well as digital
beamforming.
“This enhancement will give more
power and capacity for 4K/UHD
payloads, and enable our customers
to cope with ever-changing market
demands,” said Nakaguro.
Equally optimistic about what
HTS can bring is Newtec, who sees the
continued growth of HTS opening up
new opportunities and capabilities in
numerous verticals across Asia-Pacific.
Sjoerd De Clerck, vice-president, sales,
Asia-Pacific, Newtec, shared: “Asia’s
vast land mass, which includes many
rural and isolated areas, means terrestrial
broadband is not always an option when
deploying high-speed services. This
makes HTS ideal for service providers
looking to offer competitive broadband
packages.
“Furthermore, HTS’ wide beam
feature allows service providers to
deliver connectivity to a specific area or
location, enabling them to tailor their data
services.”
Newtec believes that for HTS to
succeed, the innovation in space must
be matched on the ground. Last year,
the company unveiled HTS-optimised
DVB-S2X wideband products as part of its
Newtec Dialog multi-service platform.
Designed to support the “massive
scalability” required by HTS networks,
this hub architecture provides higher
throughput and density in a robust,
carrier-grade package, and is already
being used in several HTS projects.
Tussle for C-band spectrum
re-emerges
For direct-to-home (DTH) operators, HTS
offers the opportunity to deliver niche
TV content to specific audiences in target
locations.
The downside, particularly in Asia-
Pacific, is the requirement of costly
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