The demand for satellite-based communications is not fading anytime soon, according to a pair of studies released in early November.
The fixed satellite services industry recorded an 8 percent growth in revenues and a 5 percent growth in transponder capacity volume in the last year, according to Euroconsult. The growth was driven by a new cycle of development in satellite applications in telecoms and broadcasting, and this trend looks to continue, according to the firm’s “World Satellite Communications & Broadcasting Markets Survey – Ten Year Outlook (2006- 2016).”

Digital entertainment remains a primary growth driver in the fixed satellite services industry, with deployments of corporate networks, the takeoff of broadband and continued demand from military users also contributing, according to Euroconsult. The firm predicts that growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa will provide further opportunities, but consolidation and new competition from developing satellite systems will present new challenges to FSS players.

A study released by NSR delves further into military demand for commercial satellite services and forecasts that this business shows little sign of abating, despite growing calls to scale back U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. The study, “Government and Military Demand on Commercial Satellites, 4th Edition,” analyzes potential policy changes that could lead to military budget cuts that would affect procurement and usage of commercial satellite services as well as negatively impact the development of next-generation systems.

While there are calls for troop drawdowns, NSR believes that such a scenario “may actually lead to higher demand for bandwidth and satellite services, as the U.S. military needs to continue engaging the globe’s hotspots, albeit at relative arms length.” While the need to provide communications to troops on the ground would decrease, actual demand for commercial bandwidth could rise as the military replaces its troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan with the need for greater intelligence gathering and reconnaissance missions for systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles.

The government demand for commercial satellite communications also will continue to rise on the home front, as civil governments ramp up bandwidth demands for efforts in areas such as public disaster preparedness, border patrols and environmental missions, according to NSR. The need to address these issues is becoming a concern around the globe, meaning that civilian government demand for commercial satellite services, traditionally only a major market in the United States, will begin to become more widespread.