World Ka-band Satellite Broadband Services Market

Higher throughput than Ku- or C-band and multi-spot beam capability enabling dynamic signal strength allocation promise to make Ka-band the frequency of choice for broadband satellite communications. In simpler terms, Ka-band is likely to generate demand merely because it is available, and will be increasingly employed in the future as Ku- and C-band spectrum gets depleted. This untapped resource has the potential to become as widely used and as profitable as are C- and Ku-band today.

This Frost & Sullivan research is a detailed analysis of the potential market for Ka-band satellite broadband services worldwide. It examines the drivers, restraints, and challenges that are likely to impact the market. This study provides demand analysis of the business, consumer, and government markets, as well as a comparative analysis of Ka with other frequency bands and terrestrial alternatives. It also includes a review of satellite applications best suited to Ka-band, and profiles of companies active in the Ka-band market.

Cost of Migration Will Restrain Market Development

High costs of equipment migration will prove to be a major stumbling block in getting customers to shift from Ku- to Ka-band systems, particularly since operators and service providers have shown unwillingness to subsidize the costs. Concern about the possibility of slow customer acceptance will force operators to think twice before launching a Ka-band system. With capital markets closed to them, Ka-band service providers will also face difficulty in introducing their service.

"The market will develop once at least one satellite operator launches a dedicated Ka-band system and demonstrates the system's usefulness," says the analyst. "Operators, service providers, and their financial backers will then begin to consider the prospects of developing more Ka-band systems."

Business Market for Ka-band Broadband Services may Prove to be More Profitable than Consumer Market

"The business market for Ka-band is more promising than the consumer market, and it will continue to be more profitable for the first few years during which Ka-band service is available" says the analyst. "Business subscribers benefit from added value that would not be attractive to consumers." Businesses that choose Ka-band satellite systems can benefit from the operational and logistical simplicity of having voice transmission and a variety of data applications managed by a single service provider.

Operators that had built their business models around the consumer or small office/home office (SOHO) market may have to rework them to target the more viable enterprise market instead. Acceptance in the consumer or SOHO market will be restricted by the inability of satellite broadband services to compete effectively with terrestrial broadband. However, as prices of equipment and services decrease, this market will become more accessible.

1 Executive Summary

A. Scope & Findings and Conclusions

1 Scope of the Report

2 Key Findings

3 Conclusions and Recommendations

2 Ka-band Market

A. Introduction

1 Market Overview and Definitions

2 Definition and History of Ka-band

B. Characteristics of Ka-band

1 Advantages

2 Disadvantages

3 Ka-band versus Ku-band

4 Ka-band Satellite Broadband versus Terrestrial Broadband

5 Latency

6 Balancing Quality of Service and Customer Base

7 LEO Constellations for Ka-band Broadband

8 Proposed Satellite Applications for Ka-band

C. External Forces

1 Capital Markets

2 Government Regulation of Ka-band

D. Market Forces

1 Market Challenges

2 Market Drivers

3 Market Restraints

4 Market Engineering Measurement Analysis

3 Ka-band Demand Analysis

A. Commercial Demand

1 Demand Overview

2 Methodology

3 North America

4 Europe

5 Asia Pacific

B. Government and Military Demand

1 Introduction

2 Military Demand

4 Competitive Analysis

A. Profiles of Ka-band Service Providers

1 Introduction

2 Spaceway

3 Astrolink

4 EchoStar Communications

5 WildBlue

6 Miraxis

7 Teledesic

8 Pegasus Communications

B. Profiles of Satellite Operators with Ka-band Capacity

1 Introduction

2 North America

3 Western Europe

4 East Asia

C. Profiles of Ka-band Satellite Manufacturers

1 Introduction

2 Boeing

3 Lockheed Martin

4 Space Systems/Loral

5 Alcatel

6 Astrium

7 Orbital Sciences