AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson, a key figure in the Asian satellite industry since the early 1970s, will retire in July from his position as leader of the satellite operator. William Wade will become AsiaSat’s CEO, while Jackson will serve as the company’s executive chairman for a year.

Jackson reflects on nearly two decades of service as CEO as well as AsiaSat’s opportunities in 2010 and the satellite market as a whole. 

VIA SATELLITE: Can you put into context your decision to step down as CEO and move to the chairman’s role?

Jackson: I have been with AsiaSat for 17 years, and every company needs a succession plan when the incumbent is nearing retirement age. The AsiaSat board felt they would like to find a suitable successor but keep me on so I can give guidance to the new CEO and the company without actually running the company. I will stay on as executive chairman for a period to be the face of the board rather than be the face of the company. 

VIA SATELLITE: Do you expect your successor to changes AsiaSat’s strategy?

Jackson: I think you may see some operational changes. Any CEO wants to come in and put their stamp on things, so I am sure even though Bill has been in the company for many years he will want to run things his way. In terms of the overall strategy, satellite companies have to think and execute their plans 18 years ahead, so it is difficult to dramatically change the short-term direction of the ship halfway into the voyage of the latest satellite. Bill and I see eye to eye with the board in terms of future growth, applications and investments, so I don’t think the strategy will move considerably, but as a satellite operator you look at this all the time and are always planning your next satellite. 

VIA SATELLITE: What are the growth prospects in Asia and beyond?

Jackson: If you look at the Asian market, specifically countries such as China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, when you consider their population density and their geography, you would logically think they should be very large users of satellites, but they are not. The reason is probably their economic position. As their economic situation improves — and it is improving — they will increasingly use satellites to provide the communication services that the terrestrial service finds uneconomic or impossible. Even with the considerable expansion of the cable network in some parts of these countries satellite still has real role to play in multipoint distribution and, of course, reaching the areas where the cable network has not reached. The Asian satellite market has lots of room for growth, but it will grow as the countries’ economic situation improves or as governments realize they must have some form of universal service provision or their rural areas will continue to be severely disadvantaged. 

VIA SATELLITE: Why is AsiaSat not looking to Africa and Europe for growth as other Asian-based operators are doing?

Jackson: The predominant reason is that the footprints of our existing satellites don’t cover Africa very well, but that is not to say that if the right opportunity developed we would ignore that continent. Today, the satellite usage growth in Africa is predominantly a backbone market for developing cellular and Internet services. That is not a long-term market for satellite, but it will last some time and the applications that utilize the distribution and geographic capabilities of satellite will develop. However, China and India will develop considerably faster than Africa.

VIA SATELLITE: How would you compare AsiaSat’s strategy to other operators?

Jackson: I don’t think we would make investments into inclined orbit satellites. We are always looking for other satellite companies to develop with or looking for orbital slots to develop. 

VIA SATELLITE: Where is AsiaSat placing its bets?

Jackson: We are really focused on Asia. I am sure even international operators look at Asia as their growth market as the use of satellite in the United States and Europe tends to totally migrate to DTH. As I have said, we would look at developing into Africa and the Middle East if the right orbital slot becomes available. 

VIA SATELLITE: Do you see compelling growth for satellite broadband in Asia?

Jackson: The total quantity of users will dictate whether the service would be provided on a dedicated satellite or just part of the payload. The next iteration of that model will be the linking of a femtocell to the service, as often these areas also have very poor cellular service. A large dedicated satellite can bring down the price per bit to very reasonable levels, but it needs a lot of users distributed evenly over the beams. Even using a dedicated satellite, the price of the terrestrial broadband service should always be lower, and this will be exaggerated as users demand more and more bits for their video applications and downloads. In Asia, the people that can afford the satellite service predominately live in the city suburbs and generally have good terrestrial services. Thus it will only be where the service is not available or the quality is poor where satellites will be a compelling story, and when I talk about poor quality that does not just mean reliability but also the speed of service. 

VIA SATELLITE: What has been the biggest surprise in your time as CEO?

Jackson: The biggest surprise for me was when ProtoStar launched two satellites in two slots, which were not coordinated. How did they ever raise the money to do that? That really did shock me and perhaps the whole industry. 

VIA SATELLITE: What have been the major changes in the satellite communications business over the last two decades?

Jackson: The biggest impact has been the radiated power and the ability to reduce the size of the dish or the antennas on the ground. This has been the major factor in allowing new applications. It will be interesting to see what satellites will be used for in the future. Will they still be used for the same things going forward? I doubt it. I think there will be a strong development of specialist applications using satellites as either the primary or backup communications channel, but the main application will still be the broadcast of broadband data streams to small receiving dishes.

VIA SATELLITE: What are your greatest achievements as CEO of AsiaSat?

Jackson: We diversified and started up new associate companies that used our capacity. We are not the cheapest satellite operator out there, but our customers have always been prepared to pay for our quality service. When AsiaSat 3 failed, the fact that we had launched a replacement early and were able to launch AsiaSat 3S well before AsiaSat 1 ran out of fuel provided our customers with the continuity of service that they required. The decision to launch early theoretically reduced the effective in-orbit life of AsiaSat 1 by 22 percent — not an insignificant decision. AsiaSat has always been good at looking ahead and planning for the very long term, I think that is something of which we should be proud, but thinking back, it is probably our single-minded dedication to customer service is what I am most proud of.