South Africa 2010 is less than a year away, and with only 32 slots open for competitors, a large majority of FIFA companies will only be able to experience the tournament via TV broadcasts. Another entity that looks to spend a majority of time on the sidelines could be satellite.

Germany’s Media Broadcast will repeat the role it played in Germany during the 2006 tournament, helping to oversee the broadcasting of the TV images and other services from the venues to the International Broadcast Centre in Johannesburg. The delivery will be based on high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure by Telkom SA, and Media Broadcast will build and operate an IP-based broadcast platform for all types of contribution networks and video signal distribution. The system was tested during the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa and performed perfectly, Media Broadcast officials said.
 
The disturbing news for the satellite sector is that Media Broadcast plans to rely on fiber not just for taking the signals from the stadiums to the broadcast center but also for delivering the content from Africa to Europe via an undersea cable operated by Seacom. Media Broadcast officials said the company’s distribution during the 2006 World Cup was 60 percent fiber and 40 percent satellite, but that number could skew more toward fiber in 2010, as the company said there simply is limited available satellite capacity for it to access.
 
It’s the continuation of a disturbing trend for the satellite sector, which has long heard complaints from African-based customers that satellite capacity is too scarce and too expensive. Calls from smaller customers can be dismissed, but the same statement made by a company like Media Broadcast in reference to the world’s most popular sporting event has to raise concern. If the games can be delivered to football fans in many parts of the world without a satellite contribution, has the satellite sector lost Africa?