VSAT Statistics

There are now a great variety of different star and mesh TDMA and DAMA systems from many vendors - The 12th Edition of the VSAT Report lists 28 different products - but currently the star data market is primarily contested by Hughes Network Systems (with its HN and HX systems), Gilat Satellite Networks (with its SkyEdge II product), ViaSat (with the LinkStar and SurfBeam 2 systems), iDirect (with the iNFINITI & Evolution) and several standards-based DVB-RCS system vendors which include Advantech Satnet, STM Group, NanoTronix and Thales Alenia Space.  Others include Elbit (Shiron InterSKY), Romantis (UHP), Newtec (Sat3Play), TSAT and several once-large players, including NEC and AT&T Tridom which have since exited the market.  The figure opposite shows the vendor market share measured by the number of terminals ordered in 2010:

The regional market for VSAT systems is dominated by North America, especially in terms of volumes and particularly so since the launch of mass consumer services.  The lack of any effective penetration of the US is one of the reasons that DVB-RCS systems have fared so poorly in the market over the past few years, despite being backed by companies like Thales Alenia (previously Alcatel).  However, the other regions have been catching up since 1988 and have, until relatively recently, been higher margin markets.  Africa and the Middle East grew very strongly through 2009, but fell back as demand in both regions has evolved to reflect the advent of international fibre in Africa, the changing military situation in the ME and the impending arrival of new Ka-band satellite systems.  Western Europe retains its position as the world's hub, Russia has re-emerged to drive demand in Eastern Europe, Brazil is the engine for Latin America and India, SE Asia and Australia are the hot spots in Asia.

Demand for broadband access services from small businesses has been strong for many years, but as Ka-band spot-beam satellites have emerged with the promise of massively increased bandwidth and lower costs, the market has begun to transition as operators and customers prepare for new services. 

As a consequence, the market has returned to a more volatile state - something that was a feature of the industry a few years ago.  Increased demand for bandwidth alongside the need to ensure business continuity has meant that hybrid mixed VSAT/terrestrial networks are now far more common.  However, this has also led to fast growth of consumer services which tails off quickly as bandwidth is saturated.  The expectation is that the new generation of Ka-band satellites currently being launched will bring more sustained and predictable growth. 

To date over two million star TDMA sites have been sold to core enterprise customers, such as Yum!, Mobil/Exxon, the US Postal Service, Rite Aid, Walgreens, GTECH, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Best Western and Safeway (see the user examples for more information).  2001 saw the initial growth of consumer internet access services, which are most successful in the US, although service initiatives are growing in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.  Managed broadband access services targeted at the SME segment will almost certainly see a significant amount of change as the commercial launch of these consumer services gather pace.

Consumer services in North America have continued to grow, but the rate slowed considerably from 2009 onwards as WildBlue and Telesat ran out of bandwidth.  In fact, with average data use of satellite internet service growing strongly, WildBlue actualy saw its total number of subscribers fall.  The company spent most of 2011 preparing for the arrival of its parent's ViaSat-1 satellite.  This will reverse the competitive situation as Hughes will have to wait until mid-2012 for its own 120 Gbps Jupiter-1 to come into service.

Overall, the total number of satellite sites in service continued to grow between 2008 and 2010 and although the rates appear slower, the site count masks the fact that increased use has driven up ARPUs and service revenues grew by over 13 per cent during this period.

Growth segments in the core enterprise markets include networks for lotteries, banking ATMs, government projects and utilities as well as hybrid business continuity, carrier extension and video media-related applications in the enterprise segment. Corporate services are also seeing demand for new sites and higher data rates in the specialised vertical segments including oil & gas, disaster and emergency, mining, GSM backhaul and maritime.