With fewer and fewer customers seeking satellite-only solutions, operators, network providers and content distributors are improving their terrestrial infrastructure to better meet the end-to-end needs of users and improve revenue streams.

Intelsat touts itself as “the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services,” but the operator, which controls the largest commercial satellite communications fleet, chose the opening day of one of the globe’s largest broadcasting conferences, NAB, to introduce its new terrestrial network, IntelsatOne. And Intelsat is not the only satellite-related company touting new or improved terrestrial options. Globecomm Systems, which brands itself as a “provider of satellite-based communications infrastructure solutions and services,” launched its Tempo Enterprise Media Platform, a hosted terrestrial service that provides a single platform for interactive training, communications and digital display to global audiences. GlobeCast is another player that is looking to beef up its terrestrial offering, and GlobeCast America CEO David Justin credits the 2008 acquisition of Netia for transforming GlobeCast from capacity seller to media management company and spurring growth. 

Upgrading Technology

IntelsatOne replaces the operator’s GlobalConnex network, a hybrid satellite-terrestrial service launched in the first part of the decade to provide customers integrated solutions. IntelsatOne, created in conjunction with Cisco, consists of an IP/MPLS-based network, fiber, teleports and points of presence around the world and is designed to work seamlessly with Intelsat’s satellite fleet and help provide all services a customer would need, including enhanced security features and increased visibility and control of services operating across the network. “We launched the service because we see the need for an advanced, hybrid, terrestrial network,” says Peter Ostapiuk, Intelsat’s regional vice president, North America media solutions. “The need for business continuity is higher, and IntelsatOne allows us to do not just fiber but integrates all assets into one IP network with the ability to secure and encrypt content.”

The upgrades of the terrestrial offering were made possible by Intelsat’s partnership with Cisco that dates back to Intelsat’s work with Scientific Atlanta, says Ostapiuk. Cisco provided its IP NGN technology components, including multiple units of the Carrier Routing System (CRS) family, 7600 series routers with Ethernet services plus line cards (ES+) and ASR 1000 routers. The Cisco video network components and network management platforms include the digital content manager (DCM), D9857 IP encoders, D9887 professional modular receivers and the video assurance management solution for monitoring and troubleshooting. The network management technology is designed to allow customers to monitor and troubleshoot their own services and schedule occasional use feeds using a Web-based interface. “The move to an all-IP network is an important step for our customers like Intelsat who are looking to expand capacity and meet the growing bandwidth requirements to deliver satellite communications and entertainment services around the globe,” says Bart Spriester, vice president and general manager of digital media networks for Cisco’s service provider video technology group. “The launch of the IntelsatOne network marks a significant milestone for both Cisco and Intelsat, as we accomplished the successful replacement of legacy ATM technology with an entirely new network core.”

Intelsat says growing demand from customer segments such as media, network services and government clients all drove the need to develop IntelsatOne. The network will allow media customers, such as ESPN, which now operates studios on both the East and West coasts of the United States, to work more efficiently and reduce the cost of moving content between sites, Ostapiuk says. IntelsatOne is designed to allows customers to perform multiple applications, such as HD, 3-D, SD, streaming video, store and forward, confidence return links, data and voice, over a single circuit as well as offer optimized support of MPEG-4 HD transmissions on satellite MCPC platforms, incorporating DVB-S2 8PSK modulation that offers higher throughput, reducing the cost per megabit and lowering the barrier for entry for users, he says. For network services and government customers, IntelsatOne enables the use of IPv6 next-generation IP services, DVB-S2 trunking and MPLS VPN; VNO capabilities for broadband applications; and near-global access to any of Intelsat’s regional broadband networking platforms, creating a global wide area network, the satellite operator says.

“The main target is customers that need us to operate the system for them,” Ostapiuk says. “The trend with media companies is that they are beginning to segment their business. It has to be a standalone operation, and our mission is to serve the large customer to launch new content to any device they want.” 

Non-Operators Making Moves

While Intelsat improves its overall offerings, companies that provide content management and distribution services are upgrading their offerings as well. Globecomm has unveiled its Tempo service, a terrestrial platform that provides a secure platform to publish content, conduct interactive live events and manage each viewer’s access to programming, the company says. The platform, hosted at Globecomm’s network operations center in Hauppauge, N.Y., also offers interactive, video broadcasts with polling and chat features that also captures analytics on viewing behavior and testing results. “The launch of Tempo uniquely positions Globecomm as a single source provider for both terrestrial and satellite-based enterprisemedia networks,” says Andy Silberstein, Globecomm vice president and general manager of services. “We believe the coupling of a versatile software platform, with 24/7 network monitoring and global field services creates a total solution for the enterprise market.”

On Call Communications in December expanded terrestrial distribution from its East and West coast teleports in for its IP-based QuickSpot satellite bandwidth on-demand network. The expansion gives On Call’s QuickSpot clients the ability to connect directly to all major networks and broadcasters and also will be used for occasional video services provided by On Call’s fleet of rental terminals and network of satellite uplink service providers. For its West coast upgrade, On Call installed a terrestrial connection to The Switch in Los Angeles from On Call’s teleport location in Orange County. The Switch serves as On Call’s gateway to media companies in the Los Angeles area, major broadcast networks, other Los Angeles points of presence, and to national and international video fiber networks. On the East coast, On Call signed an agreement with All Mobile Video for use of their teleport with direct connectivity to New York points of presence.

Following the expansion, On Call signed a deal to provide access to VideoLink VideoLink’s live broadcast facilities outside of Irvine, Calif., The first West Coast expansion for Boston-based VideoLink. On Call and VideoLink will provide the ability to originate and transmit live video feeds to any broadcast network and around the world via a fiber-optic link to The Switch in Los Angeles or via satellite. “The studio is a great opportunity to expand our services from in the field satellite newsgathering to studio based production,” says Jim Gilbert, On Call’s CEO. “Our experience in both satellite and fiber transmissions combined with VideoLink’s production experience offer our clients tremendous flexibility to produce top notch interviews and distribute the video around the world.”

This terrestrial expansion also is being used by governments around the globe that are increasing their use of commercially provided communications networks. In April, CapRock Government Solutions expanded its satellite and terrestrial infrastructure to include bandwidth-on-demand to more than 35 major U.S. Department of Defense locations and direct connections at 24 critical U.S. Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) access points. The terrestrial expansion is part of its DISN Access Transport Services contract with the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Under the contract, CapRock is contracted to integrate U.S. Defense installations onto the DISN backbone network, interconnecting U.S. military and intelligence facilities throughout the world. With bandwidth-on-demand available at 24 DISN access points, CapRock is able to connect customers to the DISN in as little as 48 hours.

CapRock captured a pair of contracts for the Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States in 2006 to help connect more than 800,000 DISN users, and throughout the last five years, the company expanded its infrastructure. To date, CapRock has installed more than 2,500 terrestrial circuits to more than 1,100 facilities in 28 states. “Our team has installed over 2,500 circuits with another 500 orders currently in process. We’re not just installing T1’s per customer request and calling it a network. Our backbone is live, it’s powerful and it’s available now,” says CapRock Government Solutions vice president of operations David Cavossa. “We have more [Department of Defense] communications access points than any other service provider, with true end-to-end solutions from the GIG to the foxhole,” Cavossa added.

For GlobeCast, the acquisition of software solutions developer Netia began a conversion for GlobeCast that has helped improve revenues. At the time of the acquisition, GlobeCast CEO Christian Pinon said the move was designed “to bring more business to our value-added layer. Being more global is one thing. Obviously, we are a transporter of TV, but we also need to bring solutions that are innovative, and this deal enlarges our toolbox in that area. Eighty percent of our revenues come from distributing TV channels. It is a permanent business. However, it is a low value-added service — simply using fiber, satellites and teleports to distribute content. The remaining 20 percent of our revenues come from the contribution business. This means taking some TV content from one location and bringing it to another location. As for that, we have to be more innovative and provide a full set of solutions from providing full live HD solutions using fiber and satellite to low-end solutions using IP distribution. We need to also ingest and store the content, generate metadata, etc. Buying Netia was the best way to develop innovative solutions for new contribution services.”

In April, Justin called the acquisition “an incredible success story. It changed how we do business. Media management is on everybody’s lips, and the deal we announced with [India’s B4U to provide playout and media management services for eight channels], I don’t think we win that without offering an end-to-end tapeless offering.” Under the agreement, GlobeCast will ingest and archive of 22,500 hours of content made in India to a library in GlobeCast’s central London facility. From there, the broadcaster can remotely access and edit the content from its own facility for playout to the United Kingdom, United States, India, Malaysia and the Middle East, without the use of tapes and the associated cost and timing.

“Our most common deal 10 years ago was to sell satellite capacity,” says Justin. “Five years ago our most common deal was for playout, but now we are adding more upstream management services. The business proposition has completely changed, and we will see more of this along with geographical expansion.” 

Some Not Looking to Ground

But not everyone is taking the terrestrial expansion route, primarily SES, which recently said it would back away from offering end-to-end services to focus on its satellite capacity business and divest its ND SatCom division, the satellite operator’s ground equipment manufacturer.

In April, SES reported revenue of 423.4 million euros in the 2010 first quarter and utilization rates of 909 of 1,157 commercially available transponders. While revenues from transponder use continued to improved, SES did not see growth in its services revenues. “We are seeing a slight decrease in revenues,” Bausch said during an April telephone conference to discuss the operator’s financial results. “We are working actively on solutions. We can confirm we are looking to deconsolidate ND SatCom by the middle of this year. … It can be a complete sale of the company or a partnership where an investor would take over the majority ownership of the company. These are the two models we are discussing with” ND SatCom, he says. SES also is refocusing its U.S. government business, SES World Skies, “moving away from the services approach and focusing more on bandwidth sales. The company will focus more on leasing satellite capacity on SES 3, and develop new opportunities where capacity is needed by the customer. We are expecting nice growth opportunities in our infrastructure business in the United States,” he says.

Jason Bates is the Editor of Via Satellite magazine.