by Peter J. Brown

The satellite broadband sector is poised for a burst of new energy as the launch looms for Ka-band projects in North America like CO-based Wildblue Communications, along with new services elsewhere such as IPStar in Asia. To date, satellite broadband services aimed at consumers have run a poor third to DSL and cable modems. Passing the one millionth customer mark for this sector remains an elusive objective at best. As new terrestrial wireless options emerge, satellite industry players see no sign of competitive pressures abating.

Complicating the situation is the emergence of three competing standards -Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel via Satellite (DVB-RCS), the satellite version of the Data Over Cable System Interface Standard (DOCSIS) and IP over Satellite (IPoS)-which are evolving absent any concerted talk of the benefits or advantages of interoperability.

Many would assert that the satellite mode of DOCSIS which has been selected by Wildblue, is an unproven technology and that IPoS comes with its own sticky business model because it is perhaps much too closely associated with MD-based Hughes Network Systems, Inc. (HNS), the VSAT provider that has held a commanding lead in the two-way market in North America via its Direcway system. As far as DVB-RCS is concerned, it has limited traction. Described throughout the years in this publication and elsewhere as more challenging than it needs to be in terms of its implementation, DVB-RCS has extended its reach, albeit very slowly.

Impact Of A Single Global Standard Would Be Significant

As the demand for broadband explodes, exceeding 50 percent annual growth in some countries, the main barrier to the adoption of rural broadband over satellite in particular is price, according to Arunas Slekys, HNS vice president, corporate marketing, and general manager for the Russia/NIS Region. Price is heavily dependent on the costs of space segment and the bandwidth utilization per customer.

"Lower space segment prices and improved space segment utilization will help make broadband over satellite more competitive to terrestrial alternatives. Most importantly, by adopting one global standard, namely IPoS, which is the first to be ratified by both TIA and ETSI, the industry overall could significantly increase economies of scale and drive costs down faster," says Slekys. "Collectively we need economies of scale that can only be realized if all industry players adopt one standard, just like the cellular industry agreed on one GSM standard."

He readily admits that the satellite industry overall has been skeptical about adopting IPoS as a single standard for three main reasons. "The industry has evolved using proprietary standards and it is always difficult to break out of the ‘mine is better than yours’ syndrome. All industry players need to buy into the notion that competing for a much bigger pie is more advantageous than each trying to control a smaller one," says Slekys.

Just this year, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) ratified the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) 1008 IPoS air interface specification, thus making it the first truly global standard. This spec (ETSI TS 102 354 V1.1.1) is now available to all from both the TIA and the ETSI.

Slekys does not see DOCSIS as a viable satellite air interface standard because it was developed for a terrestrial cable infrastructure and does not take into account the unique characteristics of a satellite channel, such as the variable link attenuation due to atmospheric conditions and long round-trip delay.

"As a result, the modulation specified in DOCSIS (QAM) is not viable for satellite links, and the DOCSIS commissioning protocol and bandwidth allocation algorithm may be inefficient over satellite," he says. "No amendments have been made to DOCSIS to address these satellite specific issues."

Many Assert That DVB-RCS Needs More Work

A common theme is the description of DVB-RCS as a protocol that defines the physical layer (that is, the hardware) and that there is still a need for a software layer that drives efficiencies in space segment utilization.

"Using DVB-RCS without a software protocol that allows for efficient space segment utilization will never succeed as a consumer model given the impact on recurring costs. We believe the best DVB-RCS solution today is at best half as efficient as the Gilat solution powering the Starband service. That translates into a meaningful cost difference," says Howard Lossing, vice president of sales and marketing at VA-based Starband Communications, Inc. that provides consumer broadband via satellite services in the United States.

Spacenet Inc., a subsidiary of Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks, Ltd., acquired all remaining shares of Starband in early March, and plans to merge the operations of Starband into Spacenet were announced at the same time.

According to Raz Korn, director, product line and technical marketing at Gilat Satellite Networks, market research as well as Gilat’s experience shows that the DVB-RCS standard is not widely accepted.

"DVB-RCS carries a promise that is yet to be fulfilled. Gilat as a VSAT systems vendor believes that there is substance in the promise and this is the reason Gilat has taken a proactive approach in making it happen and is taking part in all relevant DVB-RCS forums," says Korn.

The biggest challenges for the DVB-RCS standard to succeed are interoperability, cost reduction and performance parity at least similar to the proprietary systems, according to Korn. As for TCP spoofing and http acceleration, which is compulsory in order to provide commercial grade service and acceptable user experience, it is not defined in the standard as of yet.

"Here, Gilat has an advantage over other DVB-RCS vendors where Gilat can provide field proven, TCP and HTTP acceleration that is embedded in the product. The Skyedge Enhanced DVB-RCS platform is trying to address these main challenges. The Skyedge DVB-RCS VSAT is available today and the Satlabs approval process for it will be performed with all other DVB-RCS VSAT vendors as soon as Satlabs will be ready for the certification process," says Korn.

As far as Gilat’s recent announcement involving the granting of a worldwide license for France Telecom’s turbo code technology, Korn describes this as part of the ordinary development process from Gilat’s perspective.

"It is a component like many other components that construct Gilat’s Skyedge DVB-RCS system," says Korn.

Dachas With Dishes Help Drive DVB-RCS in Russia

DVB-RCS has been making significant inroads in Russia since its introduction in 2002, according to Stephane Germain, sales and marketing vice president at the satellite networks division of Quebec-based EMS Technologies, Inc., which recently contracted with Inmarsat signatory Morsviazsputnik to install a DVB-RCS hub in Moscow for two-way broadband access in support of everything from Web surfing to virtual private networks (VPNs). Both wireless networking and voice-over-IP are part of the mix as well. And with the recent decision by the Russian Satellite Communication Company (RSCC), the Russian space agency, that open standard systems must be used for any government-related satcom project, one can detect even more momentum behind DVB-RCS in that region.

The overall satcom market climate has been much improved too by the Russian Communications Ministry that has streamlined licensing procedures for any ventures involving Russian satellite systems Express, LMI and Gascom-owned Yamal. Did the new elite of Russia with their satellite dish-equipped dachas ringing Moscow exert considerable pressure in this instance? While they may not represent a huge market, the significance and influence of this same elite cannot go unmentioned.

The Ministry of Extraordinary Affairs and Moscow telecom system operator AFK Sistema are just two of many Russian organizations and companies that have embraced DVB-RCS. A DVB-RCS hub installed for Crosna, for example, is linked to Pentamedia terminals.

"Not everybody can afford this broadband solution. The big issue is the cost of satellite capacity, but monthly service access fees are dropping, and subscriptions which once cost upwards of $300 per month are now in the $150 to $200 range with reports of fees at $50 coupled to a surcharge for monthly downloads in excess of 3 Mbs." says EMS Technologies Russian Sales Director, Andrei Ivanov.

Besides Russia, India is outpacing China in terms of VSAT deregulation, while at the same time mandating DVB-RCS for its vast new Edusat distance learning network as well as for its planned telemedicine system, according to Germain, who adds that South America is also tilting heavily in the direction of DVB-RCS.

With the start of the ESA/Satlabs-sponsored formal certification process for DVB-RCS interoperability at the Verisat-built hub emulator installed at Germany-based Cetecom expected this summer, an important milestone will be reached in the early stage of the establishment of DVB-RCS.

Germain sees every major vendor lining up to embrace DVB-S2 throughout the next two years as well given the significant outbound performance advantage a la 8-PSK modulation. Toss in the spot beam edge provided by several new and existing Ka-band satellites, and what will unfold quickly is a formidable winning combination.

"CO-based Echostar Communications has short-listed DVB-RCS and DOCSIS as its two possible technical solutions for its planned consumer broadband offering, and EMS and others have been intimately involved in validating and demonstrating how DVB-RCS could be used to offer a cost-effective consumer solution on this scale of deployment," says Germain.

"No vendor has been successful to date in deploying any consumer two-way system over satellite. I believe several conditions have to be in place for a successful deployment to happen, including the availability of Ka-band spot beam capacity on a satellite such as Anik F2 and the backing and equipment volume commitment of a major DTH player such as Echostar. Given these and other conditions, I believe a competitive consumer DVB-RCS solution is possible, and that vendors can be successful with a consumer offering," Germain adds.

When we went knocking on Echostar’s door to try to get a fix on whether or not Echostar prefers DVB-RCS over DOCSIS for a consumer satellite broadband solution, the reply we received was brief and to the point.

"Unfortunately, this is not the kind of information that we would release to the public. But thanks for your inquiry," says an Echostar spokesman.

Momentum Builds For DVB-RCS Offshore

The M.Y. Lady Marina recently departed the dry docks in Barcelona where this luxurious super yacht had undergone a complete satellite communications makeover. Granted while super yachts constitute a very high-end niche market, it is a market that both Norway-based Nera Satcom AS, a subsidiary of Nera ASA, and NSSL watch closely, and this particular superyacht is NSSL’s first Cruise-IP customer fitted out with Nera’s new DVB-RCS-based Nera Satlink Marine system for use with telephony, file transfer, radio, daily news delivery and broadcast services. Nera Satlink Marine requires only a 1.25 meter radome.

NSSL oversaw systems integration involving the Satlink Marine and the onboard LAN, which included wired servers and PCs along with wireless access points for laptops. Included is a VoIP router with dual phone lines linked to the yacht’s PBX.

Captain Malcolm Jacotine has reported that, among other things, streamed Internet radio performed without a hitch in adverse conditions with winds up to 40 knots with 3-meter seas. Because the DVB-RCS standard incorporates adaptive coding, the Nera Satlink Marine can easily maintain a broadband connection and provide consistent performance even during the roughest sea conditions.

"This is clearly an attractive solution for private yacht owners who demand the same service offshore that they have available at their office at home. The above-mentioned customer is an example, and we have other installations on yachts in the Caribbean. At present, we have more than 25 yachts to be installed in the next few months," says Ottar Bjastad, vice president and business manager for the maritime market at Nera Satcom.

Even with the challenges facing a robust rollout of DVB-RCS continue, some equipment manufacturers have been succeeding with business using this platform. Canadian-based Spacebridge, for example, has been delivering DVB-RCS broadband enterprise satellite terminal technology to the market for sever years. Armiska, for example, uses more than 3,500 terminals for small- and medium-businesses in the United Kingdom and Europe, with an average of 10 PC users for each terminal representing more than 30,000 users on a single broadband network based on the company’s solution.

DOCSIS Over Satellite: The Curtain Opens

With beta testing in full swing, according to Wildblue CEO Tom Moore, Wildblue’s plans for offering affordable broadband Internet access are shifting into high gear. In fact, by May Wildblue expects to have its first customer and first two gateways offering its DOCSIS over satellite-driven services in select areas. Downstream speeds up to 1.5 Mbps, and prices as low as $49.95 per month lie at the heart of this venture. Ka-band capacity on Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite, and later Wildblue-1 (construction is slated for completion this quarter) will require the support of 5 regional gateways in the US.

"As we have said many times in the past, we will not go to commercial launch until we are completely satisfied that we are ready for commercial launch. We are entering beta testing right now, and things are going very well. We are very focused on meeting early expectations, and meeting them superbly," says Moore.

"The demand for broadband over satellite is extremely robust where access is most restricted. One of our distribution channels is via the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) made up of 1,000+ rural telephone and electric companies," adds Moore. "NRTC has made a significant investment in Wildblue, and several hundred of their members have put up real money to get non-exclusive distribution rights. They cover eight to 10 million homes, and these are the exact homes that Wildblue is interested in."

When Wildblue started, it was one of 22 Ka-band licensed providers in North America. Moore emphasizes that Wildblue was one of the few who pursued an approach of bent-pipe, spot beam architectures.

"We were the only service provider that sought to utilize off-the-shelf terrestrial standards technology," says Moore. "The biggest challenge facing Wildblue is overall operational execution. Our DOCSIS architecture allows us to use off-the-shelf back office and network management software which many folks are already very familiar with–we’re not inventing anything new. This approach makes our job a bit easier."

Wildblue is not the only DOCSIS-based service, and at California-based Viasat, Inc., Jorge Vestoli, vice president of global sales and marketing, points to others who are embracing DOCSIS, as well.

"Intelsat, Telesat and Pegaso in Mexico and Latin America. Eutelsat has it, and intends it for consumer use, but has run only limited trials with it," says Vestoli. "ViaSat which is technology agnostic has agreements to provide our Surfbeam DOCSIS platform to more than 10 different satellite service providers operating on four different continents, and we are in discussions with a number of others. These service providers offer a range of broadband access via satellite to their consumer, SOHO and SME customers."

Viasat’s Surfbeam platform is based primarily on DOCSIS 1.1 that provides quality of service (QoS) controls that allow deployment of tiered services, value-added services such as VoIP, security features and other configurations for broadband networks. According to Vestoli, the primary additions in DOCSIS 2.0, such as CDMA return channel waveforms, have not been incorporated since Surfbeam uses enhanced forward and return channel waveforms designed to operate efficiently over satellite.

"Widespread consumer acceptance of broadband access via satellite will require a user experience similar to cable or DSL at an affordable price. The capacity and speeds available with Ka-band spot beam satellites such as Telesat’s Anik F2 offer the potential to match the performance of terrestrial service in terms of raw throughput, but successful service rollout will depend on many other factors. Ease of CPE installation and provisioning, network stability, and customer support, to mention a few," says Vestoli. "Although it remains to be seen whether the IPoS standard will be anything more than an unveiling of the HNS-proprietary VSAT protocol, a convergence of industry trends is creating opportunities to apply technologies developed in the terrestrial space to satellite and, in the process, improve the user experience."

Vestoli points to Firefox and other browsers which have incorporated more advanced HTTP protocols, such as pipelining, which can be exploited in the satellite environment to speed up delivery of Web objects.

"The drive to push gigabit and terabit speeds on terrestrial networks is exposing the same bandwidth delay problem that satellite experiences with smaller pipes and longer delays. As protocols are standardized to solve these problems for terrestrial networks, the technology will be ported (?) to the satellite environment, removing the need for satellite-unique processing," says Vestoli.

For its DVB-RCS-based Linkstar platform, Viasat is continually improving the suite of return channel bandwidth allocation algorithms to support expanding customer applications, but in fact, few Linkstar customers are taking advantage of DVB-RCS at this time.

"DVB-S2 brings the latest modulation and coding to the outbound leg of hub-spoke networks. As soon as silicon is available, we will incorporate it into our Linkstar platform. Another feature of S2 is its ability to support multiple code rates in a single outbound data stream, the so-called multi-rate PHY, a capability which is highly desirable for large networks, and already implemented in our Surfbeam DOCSIS platform," says Vestoli. "Surfbeam, and not Linkstar, is what we would recommend for any venture offering consumer services to 10,000s of customers at this point."

According to Robert Feierbach, executive director and board member at Torino, Italy-based Skylogic, a Eutelsat company, Skylogic is currently using and managing 14 Viasat hubs over 10 satellites from Europe, from which it can provide broadband satellite services for 80 percent of the world’s population.

"All of our current hubs use the Viasat field-upgradeable software, which has implemented the MPEG profile of DVB-RCS. Our hub’s DVB-RCS compliance was demonstrated using a Viasat and Eutelsat co-authored test plan during June of 2004, and will be submitted for formal certification once a third-party DVB-RCS authority is in place," says Feierbach. "During the coming months, Viasat will continue to deliver more enhancements to the modules of the DVB-RCS specification, such as the ATM profile implementation and others."

"Our company’s market for two-way broadband services is almost exclusively in the corporate sector, through a network of worldwide integrators and distributors, who provide off-the-shelf broadband solutions, dedicated bandwidth solutions for corporate applications and VPNs, and worldwide networks," he adds. "We will consider a consumer market service in the future, if and when the user equipment costs reach impulse-buy consumer electronic levels, be they with DVB-RCS systems or other technologies."

The Price Must Be Right

Satellite broadband service providers who target consumers face well-entrenched competitors. In Silicon Valley, for example, bundled broadband offerings from Comcast and SBC are extremely popular, according to Steve Serafin, president of Silicon Valley Satellite in San Jose, CA. Price is definitely an issue. The aggressive posture adopted by cable and the Baby Bells " rolling out fiber backbones and launching their triple plays (voice-data-video services) " will not make life any easier for satellite service providers going forward. Offering video only could be a very risky proposition indeed.

"My Direcway or Starband plan starts at $59.99 to $99.99 per month. While I still get several calls a day, but when the caller is told about the monthly fee, and the $500 terminal cost, we do not get a lot of takers. We still manage to get lucky a couple times a month though," says Serafin. "Wildblue would allow us to broaden our lineup with a more reasonable offering, but that will not happen until 3rd quarter, that is, if it works. Certainly, 1 to 3 Mbps download speeds will give us the edge on DSL and/or cable modems for speed, but at what price? Anything over $49.95 is a dead duck."

So, is the broadband via satellite technology ready, will Ka-band turn the tide, and do the consumer business models finally make sense? We will know better in the coming months. One thing is certain, there is no turning back.

Peter Brown is Via Satellite’s Senior Multimedia & Homeland Security Editor. He also volunteers as a satellite technology and communications advisor to the Maine Emergency Management Agency.