“The future is rural for telecom operators looking to differentiate”
The message going out to telcos is: Think rural.
Speaking to a full audience of industry professionals at CommunicAsia in Singapore recently, Speedcast vice president of global cellular services, Stephane Palomba spoke about the growth opportunities presented by recent improvements in VSAT technology, including cellular backhaul capabilities.
"In order to differentiate, telecommunications operators must address the trend of bringing connectivity to remote locations," says Palomba.
"Providing services for rural areas has never been a priority for most operators, as it's challenging to provide connectivity in remote and harsh environments. As the industry faces market consolidation telcos must find a way to differentiate to gain market share, otherwise they risk falling behind. The future is rural connectivity.
Palomba described several reasons why rural connectivity can now be more easily attained, including new advances in VSAT technology, (including the DVB-S2X standard to increase efficiency); the rise of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites; and the gradual reduction in the cost of bandwidth. At the same time, SMS and voice services have become a commodity and the demand for mobile data has grown.
"Satellite services are becoming more affordable to deploy, and with the launch of new constellations, efficiency is increased and latency is reduced, allowing telecom operators to offer a high-quality service to their customers," continues Palomba.
"Applications such as e-banking are in high demand in remote locations and low latency is needed for them to be successfully used.
Palomba affirms the rise of LEO and MEO satellites has led to improved connectivity, lower latency, and better overall service quality, allowing Speedcast to connect people around the world through reliable, fully managed, remote communication and IT solutions.
And according to the company, Speedcast has developed an extensive portfolio of services to meet the demand for seamless connectivity which benefits Internet Service Providers (ISPs), operators and telecom providers alike.
"Speedcast has the capability to provide seamless communications and IT solutions through cellular backhaul and VSAT services to everywhere in the world because of its expertise and partnerships with global satellite operators," Palomba says.
"Satellite connectivity has become so reliable that it is driving the shift to rural connectivity and Speedcast is at the forefront of leading the change.
