Gilat Satellite Networks today announced that it has entered into an OEM agreement with Proxim for satellite backhaul of WiMAX, Wi-Fi Mesh and other Broadband Wireless Access solutions. Gilat will market the SkyMP.16 for WiMAX technology and SkyMP.11 for license-free frequencies.
Gilat Satellite Networks operates Spacenet, which provides managed services in North America for businesses and governments through Connexstar and for consumers through its StarBand 2-way satellite terminals. StarBand has about 30,000 broadband subscribers in the United States.
Proxim’s products will expand Gilat’s offering to include WiMAX and Wi-Fi Mesh for shared “last mile” connectivity.
“The markets which require broadband satellite communications often have a need for Broadband Wireless Access technology,” said Amiram Levinberg, Chairman and CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks. “Proxim’s WiMAX expertise and product offering, coupled with our strong presence in emerging markets, underscores the synergistic value of this cooperation”.
Gilat was founded in 1987 and has shipped over 670,000 Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to more than 85 countries across six continents. Gilat’s SkyEdge family provides VoIP services with prioritization for real-time traffic.
Hughes currently has about 275,000 subscribers to its HughesNet Ku-band broadband services in North America (left), provided aboard satellites operated by Intelsat, PanAmSat, SES Americom and Satmex.
HughesNet is a new name for HNS’s DirecWay service. The DirecWay brand name is the property of DirecTV, which used to own Hughes, and Hughes was obliged to stop using the name last year.
Now, two-way satellite terminals using the Ku (14 GHz) band are getting competition from satellite providers using the Ka (30 GHz) band — with spot beams.
Spot beam internet satellite providers include WildBlue (right), which began service last year. It’s now available in many areas in the United States for as low as $50/month. WildBlue launched their dedicated spacecraft, WildBlue-1, for 2-way internet access earlier this year. They also use transponders aboard a similar spot beam satellite — Canada’s Anik F-2.
Partner EchoStar will be the prime user of the Ku-band capacity on the new Anik F3, launched last month. The C-band will be used for high-definition TV while the small Ka-band system will augment two-way Internet services already available.
The Hughes Spaceway-3 spacecraft is expected to launch on an Ariane 5 this August 2007 (due to a Sea Launch failure this January). It will also provide high-speed broadband access using the Ka band.
Most satellite broadband is not cost/effective. That’s because satellites are restricted to about 500 MHz of bandwidth, which must be shared nation-wide. It’s not much. A typical cable tv plant has 750 Mhz. One 36MHz satellite transponder doesn’t pencil out very well when you realize that it’s only about the size of 6 cable modem channels (times 24 transponders) for the entire country. Cable modems typically share bandwidth between 150-500 users. Six times 500 users is 3,000 users per transponder. Now divide 3,000 by $300K/yr transponder lease - that’s $100/month in bandwidth cost alone. To lower prices, more people must share.
Spot beams change all that. The same frequency can be re-used in different parts of the country. The cost per transponder could drop by a factor of ten. Satellite broadband could (finally) become profitable. Latency, of course, is less easily solved.
Satellite broadband service revenues are expected to rise this year until 2011, says research firm Northern Sky Research. NSR estimates that almost 900, 36-MHz transponders will be needed to provision the global base of broadband VSAT sites and satellite Internet access subscribers by 2011 — a 40% increase from 2006. Government-sponsored broadband VSAT projects, notably in developing countries, form a large part of NSR’s forecast.
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