SM
Why did your Company enter this market? How long has your Company been involved in this segment?
Dr. Matt Perkins, SSTL
SSTL operates in a variety of market segments but finds that its approach is most relevant for commercial activities where the customer is highly focused on value for money. Consequently, SSTL is determined to carve out a significant role in satellite communications as this is the most commercial area of space activities.
Romain Bausch, President + CEO, SES
Simply the fact that close to 80 percent of Europeans didn’t have access to multichannel TV... Cable was far less developed at the time than in the U.S., for example. Satellite provided a tremendous alternative to cable. Satellite systems were much easier and faster to roll out. We didn’t have to dig up roads. We provided a compelling channel lineup in the respective European languages and made it simple for consumers to install satellite dishes for direct-to-home (DTH) reception of new programming choices.
Dimitrios Papaharalabos, Europe Media Port
EMP was established in 2007, with a registered office in Cyprus. Since then, and with a long term partnership with OTE S.A., the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, we are working together to develop EMP as a leading service provider of satellite uplink services globally. EMP’s strategy, professional attitude and unique partnerships with other teleports and satellite operators were the main reasons of success for the past two years (2009 and 2010) to rank as the world’s fastest growing teleport according to the World Teleport Association (WTA).
Gil Ilany, Spacecom
In creating Spacecom, management conducted market research, and on the basis of insights gained, targeted the fast growing Central-Eastern Europe markets. Since 1994, the company has been active in the satellite services landscape. In 2003, Spacecom launched the AMOS-2 satellite to the 4 degrees W orbital position co-located with AMOS-1. In 2008, we launched AMOS-3 to the same position expanding our service portfolio with additional capacity and enlarged coverage areas. The CEE markets are still providing great opportunities for the company and we are planning a new satellite, AMOS 6 for launch in 2014 to enhance our services to the region.
Dr. Harald Stange, Romantis
Our company and our key team have a rich experience and long-track history in satellite communications industry, which began in the early 90s. In 2005 the company adopted a new strategy, which significantly expanded our vertical integration, by launching our own R&D and production; we also began an active expansion outside Europe. We’re creating a business with new and up-to-date paradigm — vertically integrated satellite company.
Jesse van Straaten, Vizada
Vizada was formed in 2007 as a merger of Telenor Satellite Services and France Telecom Satellite Communications, two of the major players in the European and world satellite communications field. Today we are the largest independent satellite communications provider. More than three decades of service in this market has given us extensive experience and allowed us to build long term relationships with our indirect network of providers. Vizada was very recently acquired by EADS’s Astrium Services, a global division and leader in commercial and secure SATCOM services. We are pleased to become a partner of a global leader in the aerospace industry, and positive that this change will help us to continuously pursue our global satellite-based mobility services strategy.
Peter Guggenbach, RUAG Space
RUAG Space has been a major player in European space programs from their very beginnings in the 1960s. The company was involved in the development, manufacturing and testing of the very first European satellite ESRO-1 and has been an important partner in the Ariane launcher program since it was founded in the 1970s.
Kai Koppenburg, WORK Microwave
WORK Microwave was established in 1986 and the first products developed were signal sources, and the first- and second-generation frequency converters (analog RF solutions). These products, developed and marketed between the years of 1986 and 2001, were representative of our core competency: The ability to build highly stable and clean RF sources. It was also during this period of time that the RF know-how became the basis for successfully approaching the microwave sensor market.
After 2001, WORK Microwave responded to market demands by tracing the digital pathway and by broadening the company’s product offerings to include digital RF solutions by developing a comprehensive range of video and network devices. The company initially started with the introduction of modulators and gradually added demodulators and modems to its offerings. Also, post-2001, the defence electronics market became a further stronghold for the company with the design and production of fast-hopping synthesizers for military radar applications. Between 2001 and 2006 the third- and fourth-generation frequency converters were also developed. In 2006, as a spinoff from the digital efforts, the expertise gained through the development of modulators was used to design the Multi-GNSS Laboratory RF Navigation Constellation Simulator (NCS). Most recently, in 2010, the range of IP-based SATCOM equipment was introduced.
Howard Hausman, MITEQ
MITEQ has been in the satellite communications market since the beginning of satellite communications. We worked with Intelsat and NASA when the industry was in its infancy developing the hardware and techniques that are the basis for current industry techniques. Europe is a significant market sector for us, with satellite systems that are innovative and demanding — it’s the kind of market that uses our highly reliable, high technology equipment.
Gabriel Racah, ORBIT
ORBIT has been an active player in the supply of advanced tracking antennas to commercial and defense establishments for decades, with thousands of systems currently deployed on vessels and aircraft. In recent years, we decided to focus our efforts on several satellite applications, mainly in the areas of mobile satellite communications for the maritime industry and tracking antennas for LEO satellites.
Joerg Schmidt, DEV Systemtechnik
DEV has been a player in this market since 1995. As I saw the satellite communication market growing, I decided to become part of it and pursued the aim to design, develop, and manufacture innovative high performance products that meet customer challenges, and also contribute the “Made in Germany” quality.
Jesse van Straaten, Vizada
Vizada was formed in 2007 as a merger of Telenor Satellite Services and France Telecom Satellite Communications, two of the major players in the European and world satellite communications field. Today we are the largest independent satellite communications provider. More than three decades of service in this market has given us extensive experience and allowed us to build long term relationships with our indirect network of providers.
Hisdesat was born in 2001 as an operator of satellite government services to act, primarily, in the areas of defense, security, intelligence and foreign affairs. Since 2005, we have provided secure satellite communications services to government agencies of different countries and we are currently developing new constellations of satellites to observe the Earth and maritime traffic information by satellite (AIS). Hisdesat is the world’s first provider of satellite communications services in Ka- and X- military bands, but also serves civilian needs. We are offering those aforementioned last generation services and dual character in a very specialized market that has great development potential especially in supplying governments with these services.
Doron Elinav, Gilat
We entered the European market early in our history. Our European strategy is to work closely with service providers, who cater to consumers, SMEs, corporate and government agencies. For organizations requiring either very reliable communications or complementing terrestrial networks, Gilat’s VSAT solutions are the prime candidates.
Catherine De Peuter, Futron
Space is global — and Europeans are recognized leaders in the aerospace industry. In order to fully support this global community, Futron worked with its European clients for over a decade. While the company does not have a European office, Futron has been heavily involved in the European satellite communications markets since 2000, and have subsequently expanded our original customer segment to include the manufacturing, launch and financial community. Our European clients continue to value our services, and we look forward to continuously support their activities.
Ahsun Murad, Optimal SATCOM
We first got involved with the European market back in 1998 with the spin-off of New Skies Satellites (now part of SES World Skies) from Intelsat. At that time, we were part of COMSAT Laboratories, and we worked with Intelsat and New Skies to transition all the data for the six satellites being transitioned to New Skies, and set up their own enterprise capacity management systems and databases at The Hague in The Netherlands. We have since expanded to provide enterprise capacity management systems to other European satellite operators, the larger satellite service providers, and key MILSATCOM programs.
Steffano Vittor, Vizada Networks
Vizada Networks has, through its Telenor heritage, roots back to the early seventies where commercial VSAT solutions were deployed to the oil installations in the North Sea. Later on, our company was among the major service providers during the early stages of rebuilding the infrastructure for the emerging market countries in Central and Eastern Europe; operating hundreds of VSAT stations for Government organizations and private companies.
Svend Lykke Larsen, KVH
We entered the SATCOM market in the early 1990s when we began manufacturing satellite antennas for American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC) and other SATCOM pioneers. Over the next few years, KVH began designing its own satellite antennas and also added Inmarsat service to our offerings. The results of these early endeavors are clearly visible in today’s highly successful line of TracPhone® and TracVision® systems. We expanded our reach significantly with the introduction of the TracPhone V7 and our exclusive mini-VSAT Broadband satellite communications network in 2007. The mini-VSAT Broadband product line continues to grow, most recently with the additions of the ultra-compact TracPhone V3 and the CommBox Ship/Shore Network Manager in 2011.
Phillippe Manzano, Globecast
Our roots are in Europe, being a France Telecom-Orange company. As such, the European satellite video market is GlobeCast’s traditional market, in which we have been a leader for more than a decade.
Bruno Dupas, Integral Systems Europe
Originally, we entered the market to provide European satellite operators our EPOCH IPS Fleet Management solution. European operators like SES, Hellas Sat, European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and others currently rely on EPOCH IPS to manage their diverse fleet of satellites. As the demand for bandwidth has increased throughout the region, we have expanded our offerings to ensure that our customers meet ever-increasing Quality of Service (QoS) contracts and Service Level Agreements (SLA). Our complete ground segment solutions lower costs, increase efficiencies, provide higher-levels of control and enhance security.
Steve Beaumont, Skyware Global
Skyware Global was formed in 2009 through the amalgamation of several long-term companies from within the satellite communications field. In particular, Raven in the UK which has a long heritage and strong in-market reputation. The markets throughout Europe, whilst all different, share many similar solution needs. Europe therefore represents a significant customer base with a multitude of consumer needs from DTH (Direct To Home) for TV and Broadband through to enterprise needs for in-market lottery providers, banks, garages and many other sectors using VSAT solutions.
Building on one of our core competencies Skyware Global is able to offer cost effective solutions to every market demand harnessing our high volume manufacturing capability to deliver competitive solutions across the satellite spectrum.
Mary Cotton, iDirect
iDirect initially expanded into Europe in a technical capacity in 2002-03. It effectively started with just one person, soon became a few people, and eventually formed into a regional headquarters office in EMEA in 2003-04. In 2006-07, we opened an office in Dubai to cover the Middle East and Africsa region. We experienced very rapid growth in the European market due to the popularity of our Intelligent Platform and the innovative opportunity it brought to service providers and operators. iDirect pioneered an IP-based system that mirrored the quality and reliability of terrestrial communications. This changed the very nature of what satellite was capable of achieving and gave service providers a significant new market to capture, which was quite healthy in Europe.
We delivered our solution through a hub-and-line card system that made it affordable for operators to enter the market and grow in a measured way. This was the cornerstone of our Intelligent Platform, which also includes our versatile series of remotes and our fully-integrated operating and management software. Everything works in parallel to form a single, unified IP-based satellite communications architecture, giving service providers the functionality they need to efficiently establish a reliable, shared satellite service able to deploy the widest range of applications.
We quickly built a solid partner base and local sales and support presence throughout the region. In February 2010, we moved to our new office in Eton, UK. The new location replaced our Slough, UK office and offers better facilities for training, sales and engineering. The Eton office hosts a variety of support-related courses designed to offer service providers with the highest possible return from their investment in iDirect hardware and software. Currently, we run our European operations out of this office, but maintain customer service personnel. Furthermore, through the acquisition of Parallel at the end of 2009, we have a software engineering office in Milton Keynes for our SatManage product that is an extension of our Engineering and development group in Herndon, Virginia.
David Hochner, SatLink
SatLink is based at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Basin, in perfect position to be the gateway to and from Europe for all your communications needs. The European market is strategic for us and has been so from day one. With a ground station literally at the connection of three continents — Europe, Asia and Africa, we parlay the advantages of our location into an excellent business solution for the communications industry wishing to reach Europe, Asia, Africa or the Middle East. With our global satellite and fiber network and agreements with leading satellite operators we are able to bring your content anywhere and at anytime you request. SatLink has close to 20 years of experience meeting the needs of the European and international satellite markets.
Originally as Andrew Corporation and since 2008 as ASC Signal, we have been in the Earth station antenna market for more than 40 years. The company entered the market because we saw our developing technology capability fitting well in the satellite sector. We predicted that this would become a significant and dynamic market, and wanted to be in from the start. As the satellite communications market developed, Andrew Corporation was able to grow its activities within the sector and quickly became a “household name” for customers looking for reliable ground equipment from a proven manufacturer. The company’s key advantage has been technical know-how, which has enabled us to adapt and develop our designs (feeds, mounts, control systems) as the market has changed and different frequency bands have come on stream.
Arnold Friedman, SS/L
We have been building satellites for more than 50 years and some of our earliest projects in the 1970s were for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence.
John Restivo, Teledyne Paradise Datacom
More than 60 percent of U.K. exports are into the EU, so as the company grew in the early 90’s, it was a natural progression to address the markets of the EU, that were open and addressable by a U.K. business. Teledyne Paradise Datacom has been involved in this segment for more than 15 years
Mark Dankberg, ViaSat
We identified a good potential for business in Europe due to the deregulation of VSAT networks and services in the mid 90s. Many private teleports started their operations and ViaSat technology was many times their choice in a marketplace that became extremely competitive. From a government sector perspective, the many European NATO nations are a natural geographical extension of our U.S.-based government technology business. But one of the phenomena we have noted is that the opportunities for satellite broadband services tend to be greatest in those markets that have the highest penetration of terrestrial broadband services. We believe that Europe’s high adoption of broadband services in general creates a favorable environment for growth in that market.
SM
Are you focused on any particular segments, due to their growth potential? (i.e., launch, manufacturing, teleport, security, MILSATCOM, imagery, satellite broadcast, and others.) What market segments in Europe do you believe are the most promising for your Company?
Dimitrios Papaharalabos, Europe Media Port
EMP is focused on providing global distribution of Video, Internet & Data connectivity solutions to the Media, ISP & Governmental markets. We are active in supporting the business operations of our clients — whether in the telecommunications, secure communications, broadcasting or enterprise markets. EMP’s value proposition is based upon competitive pricing, high service flexibility and passion of our people to deliver solutions to the most demanding markets. We are excited by the recent development of Ka-band high speed data communications market and its vast growth potential in the years to come. In addition, we are already providing iDirect VNO services from Nemea teleport for large enterprises and satellite operators.
Bruno Dupas, Integral Systems Europe
As mentioned previously, we work with European-based satellite operators, satellite manufacturers, space agencies, broadcasters, service providers, government agencies and the military. While all of our offerings provide significant value and we project increases across the board, the area we are seeing the most interest in is RF mitigation.
The growing problem of satellite and signal interference will continue to plague the industry on a global scale. The number of satellites and ground transmitters are growing rapidly increasing the number of interference events and the effects of interference. Euroconsult recently reported that roughly 1,185 satellites will be built and launched from 2009 to 2018, a roughly 50 percent increase from the previous decade. Another leading industry group estimates that satellite operators with small-to-large fleets of geostationary satellites positioned in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean regions incur costs from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars per year due to satellite interference. These losses are two-fold. First is the revenue impact from the actual outage time. Second, is the man-hour costs spent locating the source of the interference and mitigating the issue.
To combat interference issues, vendors are providing products that automatically detect interference and geolocate the source. Integral Systems has been at the forefront of developing and offering innovative signal interference detection and Geolocation products. In fact, our Monics RF Signal Monitoring and satID Signal Geolocation Systems are the most widely used products in the industry, providing accurate detection within minutes and the ability to locate the source of interference within a few kilometers.
Mark Dankberg, ViaSat
We focus on markets with large growth potential and with opportunities to create meaningful competitive advantage through technology innovation. Satellite broadband is probably the single largest example of such a market. In Europe, we believe Eutelsat KA-SAT coupled with our SurfBeam® 2 creates a strong foundation for consumer, enterprise, defense, and mobility applications. We believe mobility is a growing market that we will continue to support both directly and through partners such as Eutelsat, and with KVH Industries for maritime. ViaSat is recognized as a leader in the MILSATCOM markeplace in the U.S., so we are leveraging that extensive experience in Europe within specific opportunities, both as an equipment supplier and as a service provider — also with emphasis on broadband and mobility.
Ahsun Murad, Optimal SATCOM
Satellite capacity management for enterprise communications networks and off-shore connectivity services (and their MILSATCOM counterparts) are the most complex to plan, deploy, and operate efficiently, and they continue to be the most important market for us. In addition, our broadcast and wide-area planning capabilities, along with the unique ability to analyze complex adjacent-satellite interference scenarios are directly applicable to the design and operation of DTH satellite TV and other such services.
We are very excited about the broadband market and believe there will be significant demand for broadband by satellite expansion in Europe. SS/L has built two of the world’s highest capacity satellites for broadband, which will provide more than 100 GB/sec capacity and we are also building many multi-mission satellites that include broadband payloads. THOR 7 is one example of that and we have put broadband payloads on satellites for Hispasat in Spain and for SES in Luxembourg among others.
Svend Lykke Larsen, KVH
We are seeing great success with the TracPhone V7 in the commercial maritime market in Europe and around the world, and we are very excited about the potential for leisure boaters and yacht owners to adopt the compact TracPhone V3. At just 14.5” in diameter, it is the world’s smallest maritime VSAT antenna, and will fit on just about any vessel. Both systems are successful because of KVH’s proven manufacturing process — our antennas are tested to military specifications, ensuring that they are nearly bulletproof — and because of the reliability, affordability, and global reach of our mini-VSAT Broadband network. No other solution offers best-of-breed hardware and service from the same provider, and busy mariners tell us time and again that having just one point of contact for their satellite communications is an important benefit. They’ve all experienced challenges with other solutions where they had different providers for the antenna, the modem, the airtime service, etc., but KVH has done away with that problem completely. When you combine all that with a variety of airtime packages and rates one-tenth the cost of Inmarsat, the choice becomes easy.
Jani Lyrintzis, EB
Worldwide, satellite usage has become more accessible and mainstream within enterprise and consumer markets. The availability of mobile satellite services (MSS) coupled with new devices, integrated with both satellite and cellular capabilities, at a reasonable price — have led to a paradigm shift within these two markets — giving rise to a new form of mobile communications options. But how does the MSS opportunity compare globally, especially when spectrum layouts in Europe are denser than those in North America? Is there an opportunity for MSS in Europe, where the infamous ‘cellular dead zone’ is not as prevalent, as compared to other regions? The answer is yes, but the value proposition is different. The MSS opportunity in Europe is less for about providing emergency back-up capabilities and more for business and entertainment purposes.
Specific to the enterprise, newer MSS technologies including a connectivity module, a device EB, Elektrobit, defines as a mobile satellite-terrestrial connectivity concept, allows satellite and traditional cellular coverage to converge to spawn increased communication for machine-to-machine (M2M) operations. Examples include; allowing more accurate weather data checks, remote monitoring, medical monitoring, home security, safety and several other capabilities. With the increased reliability of satellite communication, M2M achieved via MSS can, and should, work more closely together as seen in the following examples:
Maritime Applications — Businesses that primarily operate in maritime environments, whether fishing companies, trading or otherwise, have increased productivity and decreased costs thanks to reliable satellite communication in the field, yet they lack the basic cellular communications options such as Internet access, phone reception and texting capabilities. With integrated MSS capabilities, off-shore men/women can gain immediate access to effectively communicate via mobile-satellite technologies, regardless of maritime location.
Military — The European military is a major user of satellite services as it offers Continuity of Operations and Continuity of Government (COOP/COG) solutions to keep deployed troops and military personnel connected and reachable. However if ground based infrastructures fail, the value presented by the redundant connectivity and on-demand communications services of MSS technologies, especially during peak-usage, ensures information assurance, situational awareness and back-up communications through the highly resilient, uninterrupted, and interoperable communications of new MSS technologies.
Opportunities outside enterprise markets also exist. In fact, from a business-to-consumer viewpoint, the desire to deploy MSS technologies to keep consumers connected and accessible is tremendous. For example:
Entertainment — One of the most significant growth areas within the European MSS market exists in the vehicular-entertainment space. European auto manufacturers are seeking inclusion of MSS-based radio and television broadcasts within backseats of future vehicles, and are coupling this technology with other advanced broadcast services. Incorporating MSS and broadcast services into European vehicles, provides the ubiquitous broadband connectivity to offer exciting new front- and rear-seat infotainment applications and services.
Gabriel Racah, ORBIT
Within the satellite and space industry ORBIT focuses on ground, maritime and airborne tracking terminals for satellite communications and telemetry. In recent years the shipping industry has begun to adopt broadband satellite communications for operational needs as well as crew welfare. This is creating a strong demand for robust SATCOM solutions which we believe will continue to accelerate in the coming years. Another important satellite market experiencing growth is Earth observation, with more and more companies tapping directly into LEO satellites’ data streams for commercial applications. When we decided to enter the maritime satellite communications domain, Europe was the natural choice as our initial target market as it is the home of some of the largest and most advanced shipping companies in the world. European companies were also among the first to understand the advantages of broadband at sea and adopt VSAT solutions.
John Suranyi, Sencore
Sencore is focused on developing and marketing a range of innovative products for the delivery of compressed video services via satellite for contribution, mobile news gathering, and distribution applications. Our target markets cover the gamut of the professional video broadcast industry worldwide and include the direct broadcast satellite, terrestrial broadcast, IPTV, and cable TV segments.
Dr. Harald Stange, Romantis
We are strong in development and production of satellite communications equipment. Romantis is the only European company that may help its customers with complete solution comprising appropriate packages for ground and space segments including satellite capacity for “occasional use” via our automated booking system and able to resolve telecommunication tasks of any complexity. We have specialized solutions for different categories of our customers: Broadcasting, News Gathering, Managed Networks, Broadband access, Cellular Backhaul, etc.
Gil Ilany, Spacecom
An industry leader in high quality broadcasting and communications services in Europe and the Middle East, Spacecom is focused on DTH (Direct-to-Home) platforms, TV broadcasters and programmers, corporate and government organizations, ISPs, network integrators, VSAT service providers and telephony operators. We believe that growth in these sectors remains strong both from a geographic and a services point of view. Our co-located satellites — AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 — provide us with an advantage in these markets and enable us to provide excellent and strong broadcast neighborhoods. We intend to continue pursuing broadcast and emerging broadband opportunities in the region and see the Ukraine as a strong growth market as well as the Balkan region. Spacecom is also planning to expand Western Europe with AMOS-6.
Catherine De Peuter, Futron
Futron views space broadly, starting through the manufacturing supply chain through satellites and launch, in-orbit operators, and back down to ground. While Europe has emerged as the location of choice for major operators, there are also promising developments led by pan-European institutions and specific national space agencies. We see increased and significant initiatives by individual European counties and agencies (outside of the long standing cooperation under the ESA or European Union umbrellas). France and Italy cooperate on several joint satellites programs focusing on military and consumer applications. In the U.K., Avanti communications plans to launch the continent’s first all Ka-band satellites for consumer broadband in 2012, and country has set up a new space agency. As more Central and Eastern European countries ramp up space activity, e.g., Poland, Lithuania, et al, the size and scope of opportunities will continue to grow. We particularly see interest in satellite navigations applications tied to GMES and Galileo, supported in part by ESA and the European Satellite Navigation Competition. Applications is the driver of growth in the space industry, and Europe is positioned to capture many of these new innovations.
We see Europe particularly strong in terms of Human Capital. Based on our research on space competitiveness, Europe now comfortably leads the world in terms of space-oriented university programs, well ahead of the United States and other space-faring nations. This bodes well for the quality of the workforce in the next decades and for European space competitiveness as a whole.
Peter Guggenbach, RUAG Space
RUAG Space is active within the institutional and commercial space markets. We believe the commercial market will be the main driver of growth in the years to come. Thus, our strategy focuses on products and technologies that are attractive for commercial (telecom) customers. However, the institutional business will not loose any of its importance in the future. The programs of the ESA will remain the base of our business. Through our participation in those programs we acquire technologies, which we can commercialize on telecom and/or export markets outside Europe.
Kai Koppenburg, WORK Microwave
WORK Microwave is specifically interested in continuing to expand its business in the teleport market as well as in providing high-quality products for satellite broadcasters. The company has a solid background in serving the teleport, broadcasting, and MILSATCOM markets. We are also extremely customer focused and committed to learn from the feedback provided by the end-users of our technology within these markets. We continually invest in expanding the feature sets of our devices in line with the feedback received, and we have even introduced new product lines that we identified together with the end users. Our ultimate goal is to provide technology solutions that increase service quality and reduce operating costs. Keeping in mind our close relationship with our customers and our deep understanding of the market needs, we see teleport and satellite broadcast as the most promising markets for us.
Dr. Matt Perkins, SSTL
SSTL is primarily a satellite manufacturer. In the telecom sector SSTL’s GMP-T is a generic platform capable of carrying a variety of payloads such as those targeted at direct broadcast TV, fixed communications links and broadband services. SSTL’s other major business line is in Earth observation, particularly imaging systems at a variety of resolutions including very high resolution (pixel size of 1 metre or less). The technology that SSTL can deploy in this field is advancing at a phenomenal rate and allows the company to offer extremely high performance systems at costs that would have been absolutely impossible a few years ago.
Paul Weldon, ASC Signal
We are focused to varying degrees on all market segments that require satellite uplinks and downlinks. Our key focus in Europe is to support building out the emerging Ka-band systems, a market segment where we have an outstanding track record (mainly in other regions) based on our unique patented sub-reflector tracking (SRT) technology. Our SRT technology has been proven to give superior performance in challenging climatic conditions, for example, from the IP Star network in the humid heat and typhoon conditions of South East Asia, to the Wildblue network with its extremes of hot and cold temperature in continental North America. ASC Signal has worked closely with the world’s four largest Ka-band providers to date to build them solid gateway hub Earth stations based on our Ka-band technology.
Howard Hausman, MITEQ
MITEQ is a microwave equipment manufacturer, we focus on Earth station ground equipment between (not including) the modem and the antenna. At first glance the user applications are transparent to the microwave subsystem, but in reality they have a profound effect. We support launch services with low phase noise converters used in Telemetry, Tracking and Control Earth stations. We support military SATCOM systems with ruggedized equipment that operates over a wide temperature range, and other applications, such as multiple or very wideband carriers that required superior performance and very low Bit Error Rates (BER). Europe is a high technology market demanding this superior performance on their commercial and military applications.
Joerg Schmidt, DEV Systemtechnik
Our focus is to transmit and distribute RF signals. The requirements within the market segments you mention are very similar which means that we will participate in the growth of any of these market segments. We also believe that reasonably priced customized solutions will be required more and more. Customers increasingly want a “one-stop source” for RF transmission. I am convinced that the market for RF over fiber is a promising segment for DEV, as well.
Doron Elinav, Gilat
Gilat is focused on the SATCOM market, for the Commercial and, more recently, the Military and Defense markets. We believe that two of the most promising segments in the European market are Internet services to be provided by the new Ka- satellites and the MILSATCOM markets. Ka-band satellites, especially those with spot-beam technology, reuse the frequency band across the coverage area, and when combined with advanced VSAT transmission technology results in 10-100 times the capacity than available on traditional Ku-band satellites. This will enable satellite operators to provide more throughput to more customers, and at more competitive prices. The main target market is the consumer segment, where some analysts estimate that there are millions of under-served homes in Europe alone. This is probably the highest growing segment in the SATCOM market today. We believe that these advances will also drive market growth to the SATCOM industry in general for enterprise and government applications, as well.
For reference, according to the latest NSR market research, Broadband Satellite Service Revenues is forecast to rise from $3.7 billion in 2010 to $8.1 billion by 2020. Of this, Ka-band represents the biggest growth engine — from $1.1 billion in 2010 to $4.6 billion in 2020. Western Europe is expected to show the biggest growth of all regions, growing from $100 million today to $3 billion in 2020. The second promising market is the Defense sector, which includes military, homeland security and emergency response applications. We think that the need for broadband communications for forces, regardless of their location, will be a big opportunity for the satellite industry. This will be, in many cases, SOTM applications or quick deploy-solutions. We think that our solutions for SOTM, which include antenna, power amplifier and modem are very attractive for this segment.
Jesse van Straaten, Vizada
We are excited to be a driving force in the maritime satellite communications field. The maritime segment is expected to double in size over the next decade and we definitely make it a priority in our European development and sales. Within the maritime segment, we cater to a wide variety of specialized niches such as cruise, ferries, offshore and merchant vessels.
We are currently working with our partners to develop business in the aeronautical markets — for business, passenger and government, large growth is expected in terms of satellite communications usage over the next few years. For land-based communications, the government segment has proved to have great potential as well. We have established a specialized European sales force to tend to the specific requirements of these government, military and NGO segments.
Steve Beaumont, Skyware Global
Whether the need is for steel antenna, composite solutions, electronic products, unique or multi location solutions, Skyware has the answer. The significant level of investment made by Skyware in its engineering base has enabled us to develop products that are at the ‘cutting edge’ and yet are truly affordable. Quality, high volume production, exquisite customer service and outstanding products across a broad church enables Skyware Global to be a true partner to our extended customer family. The digital broadcast arena has and continues to explode across Europe and requires easy to install, robust and efficient products at cost effective prices — Skyware Global is well positioned and experienced to be able to answer this requirement.
Steffano Vittor, Vizada Networks
Vizada Networks focuses on all segments that have remote communication needs including military applications. We are today present in all major NATO theaters as well as in Africa. We also have strong business in the government, humanitarian and business sectors.
David Hochner, SatLink
Europe is a key region for SatLink. This includes Eastern Europe for which we are building dedicated solutions for its growing markets. We provide DTH and contribution solutions for international broadcasters to reach the continent. A prime example is our collaboration with Viacom in bringing their channels to Europe as well as taking them to Africa. Also, we are the sole satellite distributors of UK-based Thomson Reuters’ video feed from Europe to five continents.
Mary Cotton, iDirect
The initial approach to the European market was very enterprise-oriented, which was consistent with the market trend for SATCOM at that time. That’s where we got our start in Europe with the likes of BT and France Telecom with our equipment being used by major global operators for traditional network-extension business as well as IP access. Since its inception, it has become significantly focused on industry verticals as our market has matured. This is happening primarily around a number of key verticals including maritime, defense and government, oil and gas, and more recently, utilities and SCADA. Around 50 percent of the global maritime market is driven out of Europe. Over time, we’ve developed our position in that market so that we have about 48 percent of that market share.
From a defense vertical perspective, of the 27 countries within the European market, 18 are using iDirect in some formal military capacity. Out of the 28 NATO members, 16 are similarly using iDirect in some capacity, be it for tactical COTM applications or morale and welfare.
We also have key players in the broadcast community and within IP-SNG (IP Satellite News Gathering) that use our technology for IP access and also for video contribution. These include SIS, Arqiva, and Mediaset in Italy.
The most promising segments would certainly include cellular, particularly the Russian and the CIS region. iDirect has a proven technological advantage in providing the most efficient transport architecture for the backhaul of voice and data traffic for cellular networks. In terms of emerging verticals, we’ve had some significant wins in the SCADA and utilities markets. These include the network digital switchover with Arqiva, Wales and West Utility (WWU), and Eon, a large utility in Sweden. Our products are aligning well with market demands and also with future products coming downstream like the Evolution X1.
Romain Bausch, SES
SES has long enabled a broad range of markets — from enterprise and maritime to telecom and government services. But about 70 percent of our business is video centric. We have been a leader in video distribution for decades. Our video customers stick with us and sign long-term contracts with us. Since the introduction of digital transmissions, the ramp up of niche programming, and new, exciting developments in HD and 3D TV, offers tremendous opportunities for SES and for our customers. We’re ahead of schedule, delivering 220 HD channels over Europe alone. And we anticipate virtually everything will be HD sooner than later. We already have regular 3D TV offerings in the UK, Spain, France and Germany.
We continue to innovate and advance in other segments, such as mobile connectivity in places like Africa, but there’s an insatiable appetite out there for great video content and we will continue to lead the way to quenching the demand. Our three-year satellite launch plan is the most ambitious ever — with a dozen satellites headed for orbit between now and 2014.
Roberto López, Hisdesat
MILSATCOM and images segments have experienced significant growth in recent years and despite the unfavourable economic situation, the demand of this type of services will be maintained and enhanced in the future. In the field of AIS by satellite information, we are working on a new generation of satellites that will allow us to deliver for the first time, worldwide real-time information about the global maritime traffic situation, regardless of the ship’s position. This new system will result in the development of new applications for a larger number of users that will improve the safety conditions and the environmental control of our seas. It is in this field with a new system like this where we see a significant demand.
Our company is basically a service provider for broadcasters, so we are focused on this particular market segment and to offer the best-in-class services to our present and future broadcast customers. The market in Europe is a mature yet vibrant one – with growth areas in Eastern Europe especially, where many of our clients are looking to expand coverage.
SM
What have been among your most successful projects for this market? Why?
Romain Bausch, SES
One of SES’ biggest achievements in Europe is the successful introduction and full transition to digital transmissions. We launched the first digital deliveries across France and the UK in 1996 with Canal Plus and BSkyB. In April of next year, analog transmissions will come to an end across Europe when Germany goes fully digital. It is certainly a major accomplishment that opens the door to big, exciting channel lineups and new developments in HD and 3D TV. Special interest and dedicated niche channels simply wouldn’t be possible without digital. Think of all the multicultural programming that is so important in emerging markets, places like India where it’s critical to offer content tailored to hundreds of different groups. One doesn’t have to look any further than Eastern Europe to see the true power of digitization. We’re convinced digital satellite television has contributed significantly toward opening these countries up to the global community.
Bruno Dupas, Integral Systems Europe
We have many successes we can point to. For Cyta, the dominant telecommunications operator in Cyprus, we installed our SAT-DSA Digital Spectrum Analyzer product with customized RF elements in the main Cyta teleport facility. The system monitors carrier signals from more than 30 antennas in C- and Ku-bands and provides interference detection and analysis capabilities. In cooperation with Mediacom Digital Evolution s.r.l., we provided a SAT-DSA Digital Spectrum Analyzer system for Elettronica Industriale (Mediaset Group) (E.I.), one of the largest network operators in Italy, at its main teleport in Milan, Italy. The system provides automated Digital Television (DTV) monitoring and problem reporting. Due to the systems’ unique signal characterization capabilities, E.I. is able to better maintain traffic quality and identify RF interference that can disrupt broadcast quality. In the Ukraine, we work closely with their national spectrum regulator. Using our GeoMon solution to monitor and geolocate RF interference, the government is able to effectively police the satellite spectrum.
Phillippe Manzano, Globecast
A long term project for GlobeCast has been helping Orange launch their TV offer in France on every possible platform: first on DSL (IPTV) and Mobile, and then over satellite as a complement, with VOD and other innovative services included as well. This made Orange a real pioneer within the telco market segment over Europe. We’ve also been involved in DTT contribution over satellite in France and Italy, which we’re really proud of. Currently, we’re involved in end-to-end projects including satellite distribution but also terrestrial backhaul and additional services, such as play-out for major broadcasters. All of these have been key successes for the company; such turnkey offers are a great value for our customers.
Kai Koppenburg, WORK Microwave
WORK Microwave has experienced continued success as a preferred supplier to several global players. Our technology provides extensive time and cost benefits to our users, as apparent in the many installations by teleport operators. Our high-quality and reliable equipment reduce their need for investment and resource allocation on maintenance, cutting down overall operational costs.
Jesse van Straaten, Vizada
In the maritime segment, along with our service provider partner, Marlink, we had a very important opportunity to provide a comprehensive maritime broadband package for the major shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk. We were able to establish high speed Internet connections onboard to provide crew communications for personal and business uses.
Additionally in the maritime market, we have recently launched Vizada XChange, the new all-in-one platform that helps turn vessels into virtual mobile offices at sea. Though the service is still new, it has generated great interest and we expect it will be one of the major highlights of the year for us. One of our signature solutions is SkyFile® Mail, the most widely used messaging system in the maritime world. It is part of our in-house developed value added solutions portfolio and is a free messaging and compression tool for onboard users of email, fax and SMS messaging. We are also happy to see the success that our all-in-one prepaid communications card, Universal Card™, has had with maritime crews.
Through our partner Orange business services, we have won a significant number of MoFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) networks. Another recent success has been the significant operating software upgrade of NewWave and ShipEquip — one of the largest upgrades in our history, and one that was managed seamlessly around the world. Recently, there has also been an enablement in Paradigm Services satellite gateways (SGS) to support military SATCOM operations.
When a historic flood struck Hungary in 2010, the nation’s new emergency response strategy was put to the test, and iDirect’s platform supported the satellite network in revolutionary ways. With communications networks unavailable in damaged areas, Hungarian telecom provider Pro-M leveraged satellite-based connectivity to help more than 23,000 first responders coordinate rescue efforts. The satellite network, managed by Hungaro DigiTel and built on the iDirect platform, provided a critical lifeline during this crisis.
Steffano Vittor, Vizada Networks
In regard to military applications, there are several projects worth mentioning, but I believe our key success has been in developing in-theater or in-field operation and support, resuming full responsibility for the operation of remote end installations as an integrated arm of our customers own ITC infrastructure. In other areas we support the major NGOs and well-known global businesses for their communication needs in Africa, Europe and internationally.
John Restivo, Teledyne Paradise Datacom
Teledyne Paradise Datacom satellite modems are key to the operation of a variety of European defence communications networks such as Skynet 5, Syracuse, SATCOM BW and Secomsat to name but a few. The rich feature set, versatility and ease of use of our products has made Teledyne Paradise Datacom an easy choice as a supplier to Armed Forces across Europe Through our European operation we provide products and support for leading GSM operators such as Vodacom and MTN. We are also a key provider of modems and RF for the data dissemination network of the pan European Galileo satellite system.
There are significant technical, legal and cultural differences that leading satellite ground segment manufacturers, such as Teledyne Paradise Datacom, must overcome to succeed in Europe. These differences need to be understood and exploited, for example, providing satellite products with multi-lingual user interfaces. We also require capable local staff and a comprehensive distribution network capable of addressing the disparate European markets. This represents a significant financial resources and commitment to the market which only companies the size of Teledyne are able to provide. The current, well documented financial difficulties within the euro zone are a significant challenge, particularly as their impact is far reaching across the continent. However, we feel the European market is strategically important to our company with the potential to yield further significant returns for our investors over time.