What comes to mind when you think of Ka-band? Maybe it is miniature dishes, broader bandwidth blocks or affordable Internet broadband. Perhaps the term has a negative connotation — as in intense rain fade. Whatever your view, commercial Ka-band applications have made a bold appearance in today’s satellite market.

Commercial interest in Ka-band technology was sparked by NASA in the early 1990s with the launch of its Advanced Communications Technology Satellite. Shortly thereafter, Hughes filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for geostationary satellite orbit service in the Ka-band. Teledesic soon filed its own FCC application to build a constellation of 840 low-Earth orbit Ka-band satellites which, according to the company, would provide affordable Internet access to everyone, everywhere. In 1997, the FCC granted Teledesic’s application after the company requested a reduction from 840 to 288 satellites. Teledesic later requested a further reduction in satellites from 288 to 30 but eventually relinquished its FCC license, and the project never materialized.

In the United States, Ka-band regulations have been in place for some time, so the playing field has been defined. Satellite service providers may offer services in the frequencies of 28.35-28.6 and 29.25-30 GHz for the uplink and 18.3-18.8 and 19.7-20.2 GHz for the downlink. A service provider can apply for a single, blanket license to service thousands of remote terminals. Since Ka-band antennas usually have small diameters, the most important factor in evaluating a license application is to ensure that the EIRP density, the combination of the power density supplied to the antenna and the antenna gain, falls below FCC-prescribed thresholds.

The Teledesic model of Internet for everyone perhaps was too ambitious for its time, as other models have since emerged that focus on specific markets. For instance, O3b pursues the wholesale market, and WildBlue focuses on rural populations.

O3b, short for “the other 3 billion,” will provide satellite backhaul capability to emerging markets using 16 medium-Earth orbit Ka-band satellites. The service primarily is offered to telcos and ISPs, and the company claims it will offer the benefits of satellite with the speed of fiber. The constellation certainly will offer the advantage of shorter space propagation delays — as opposed to WildBlue’s geostationary satellites. However, competition could come from fiber backhaul. In fact, with new undersea cable deployments to Africa and other emerging markets, fiber could prove an unanticipated threat to this model. It was just such a threat — the cellular networks’ enhanced data services — that probably contributed to the reduced demand for Teledesic’s proposed services.

WildBlue’s business model has proven viable, especially since it limits its market to rural areas where there are no wireline, high-speed options such as DSL and cable. ViaSat’s acquisition of WildBlue likely will change the dynamics of Ka-band service. For the first time, ViaSat will operate its own Ka-band satellites and thus play a role as a satellite operator/service provider. This dual-role strategy is not new in the satellite industry, but it is not without its challenges either.

The coming of age of Ka-band is much like an adolescent going through puberty. It involves a process, often full of uncertainties, which eventually will culminate in adulthood. The idea of affordable Internet over Ka-band eventually might become a reality, but it is the pioneers that pay the price for what might become affordable later on. For instance, the affordable Internet of Teledesic actually would have necessitated the building of a $9 billion infrastructure. By its own account, ViaSat has already committed $1 billion on its Ka-band endeavors.

At the end of the day, there is no one right business model for Ka-band. Success or failure will depend on supply and demand, as it always does. Both an understanding of the target market — retail or wholesale, rural or urban — and attracting capital will be essential. It also will be important to account for the threat of new non-satellite entrants. The playing field is not always level. Wireless networks, for example, can expand on a city-by-city basis. On the other hand, satellite networks have to finance having one or more operational satellites in the sky as well as ground hub equipment before the first customer can be served.

Raul Magallanes runs a Houston-based law firm focusing on telecommunications law.
He may be reached at +1 (281) 317-1397 or by email at raul@ rmtelecomlaw.com.