Cheaper satellite broadband anywhere
Satellite broadband that is easily available nearly anywhere on Earth comes at a price but it has now been shown that operators who know their customers’ needs can reduce their charges.
European telecom satellites equipped with powerful, high-frequency communications are sometimes the only broadband option open to people living in remote locations.
Given the fixed cost of satellite bandwidth and the need to share this bandwidth between customers, ‘unmetered’ usage is not economically viable, so the challenge is in setting acceptable usage rules.
Satellite-based broadband providers need to be able to offer service packages that are appealing to customers as well as being commercially viable.
In the Lift Off project, supported by ESA’s ARTES programme, OpenSky in Italy has developed a set of pilot services targeting the business and consumer markets. Together with its partners at the University of Rome, the Lift Off team has established a set of consumer profiles based on market research.
To do this, OpenSky studied in detail how individual users are using their Internet connection. This allowed them to build sets of rules managing bandwidth use, giving priority to certain types of applications as well as blocking given protocols, users or destinations.
In particular, bandwidth-hungry applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming video may have to be either blocked or restricted during peak hours.
OpenSky then created a set of services, with varying bandwidth speeds and subscription models, targeting the different customer profiles. The team solicited a group of 268 test users who used the services for eight months. The top bandwidth speeds of the profiles were 8 Mbit/s down and 2 Mbit/s up, making the services comparable with terrestrial mobile and ADSL Internet.
OpenSky discovered that offering a monthly flat-rate service aimed at the consumer market is not viable. This is not a technical problem, but rather a problem of costs and user perception.
The flat service is perceived as “all you can eat” – incompatible with the economics of satellite-based services.
However, the team discovered that other pricing models are viable, such as flexible usage such as fixed day rates for second homes, or business offerings with higher fixed or metered rates.
OpenSky's most successful offering is now the consumer OpenSky Daily, which offers 8 Mbits down and 2 Mbit/s up for €2 per day, with a €5 per month subscription fee. The company plans to continue developing and marketing these services.
“The ESA Lift Off project brought us to a next level of technical control of a satellite connection. Now we are in full control of the connectivity per user per protocol,” commented Walter Munarini, Director of OpenSky.
“Nevertheless, we have to go beyond the simple technical aspects. Developing satellite-based broadband services and competing in an open market is not so much a technical challenge but rather a marketing one.
“Essentially, it comes down to managing consumer expectations. What works are services which are perceived as inexpensive and flexible, where the customer pays for what they use, without a lot of restrictions.”
While Europe as a whole enjoys high levels of Internet connectivity, there are still regions where terrestrial internet access is not viable. Affordable satellite-based broadband will play an important role in helping to close the digital divide, bringing access to the Internet to millions of consumers throughout Europe.
Indeed, satellite-based broadband played an important role in helping the European Commission achieve its target of 100% broadband coverage in 2013 as part of its Digital Agenda for Europe.
OpenSky is not new to developing innovative satellite-based services. In an earlier activity supported by ESA under ARTES, the company developed a highly successful network for distributing high-definition digital films and other programming that is now used by some 1300 cinemas around Europe.
