Originally published by Space Intel Report on November 26, 2024. Read the original article here.
(Source: CST/ITU)
LA PLATA, Maryland — Ahmed Ali Al-Sohaily, former chief technologies of Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator, CST, did not mince words in asking his panel — which included the CEOs of Eutelsat Group and Echostar, Brazil’s telecom regulator, Anatel; and the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) — a simple question.
“When a single company has two-thirds of of the total satellites in orbit, is that a concern?” he asked, referring to Starlink, owner by SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, who also owns the X social platform and has been nominated to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency in the incoming Trump administration.
Here’s how they answered during a Nov. 25 session at the “Connecting the World from the Skies” conference, organized by CST and ITU.
Eva Berneke. (Source: CST/ITU video)
Eutelsat Group CEO Eva Berneke:
“Musk has shaken up the industry and forced us to recognize we need to innovate and invest. It has put some people on their back foot, but it’s a true positive for the industry.
“But we need to preserve space and make it available for generations to come. We cannot go with a total Wild West in how we manage space. Nobody wants to put that into the hands of a monopolist.
“Digital sovereignty is a big challenge. We [Eutelsat and OneWeb] are in about 130 countries and targeting cup to 180. Each country is seeing what non-GEO orbit can do. It’s a different type of regulation and it’s going to be different opportunities.
“We see outliers such as India and some of the Africa countries and Latin American countries that are taking their time to understand the implications of what’s happening here Other companies have been very open and rolled out the red carpet.
“We are working with the regulators to adapt to the different requirements. Sometimes it’s ground stations [on their territory], sometimes it’s how traffic is managed out of that country. We need local partners to work through the regulatory aspects.”
A wish for the next 10 years: “A global — including the US and China — regulatory framework for equitable access to space.”
Hamid Akhavan. (Source: CST/ITU video)
EchoStar Chief Executive Hamid Akhavan:
“There’s no doubt that what SpaceX has done has been good. They’ve managed to lower the cost of launch. The only way this should not be a monopoly is if we work harder to have a better solution. We just need to provide something better.
“In terms of direct to device, we are significantly ahead in terms of what we can accomplish. That is a differentiator that is even more valuable than what Starlink has brought to date. With the efficiency of the multi-orbit systems we are working on, we will provide not only low-latency LEO but the cost benefits of GEO.”
EchoStar has a global S-band license for a direct-to-device play.
“This will be the first-ever satellite system where the end-user device is not manufactured by the satellite industry. It uses standard iPhone and Android phones. We have the highest ITU [spectrum] rights around the world and we are hard at work designing a system.
“We are planning to launch the system as early as 2027 and to be in service in 2028. Even if I had the satellites today I would not be launching because the latest generation of IoS and Android have to be populated [with S-band chips] so that when we come to market we can support millions of users. Today a satellite system would not be serving a single user.
“On regulatory sovereignty, we are in touch with many regulators around the world and generally they are aligned, even though the complexity is there. Historically this has been a highly regulated industry and that legacy is still there.
“But I think they are all aligned. They want coverage and they want costs to come down. More than anything, I come across regulators who want to know: How soon? It’s very rare that we hear: No.”
Aarti Holla-Maini. (Source: CST/ITU video)
Aarti Holla-Maini, director, UNOOSA:
“We are not going to pronounce judgment on that [Starlink’s position in LEO]. Space cannot be owned by use or occupation by any state or actor. We are hearing this more and more from governments.
“The UN has long been a natural user of satellite capacity for refugee camps, disaster relief, food security and other missions It’s mostly legacy C-bhand, because of the advantages of a global network and because we have a qualify-of-service guarantee through service-level agreements. Mobile phones are not relied on because they bring coverage, resilience and cost concerns. The UN can’t operate with roaming as part of the solution.
“With C-band, however, the problem is it’s premium bandwidth. It’s expensive. It’s also asymmetrical, which was OK in the past. But these days video conferencing is happening a lot more and we need better uplink and downlink speeds. The UN imposes tight controls and restrictions so that it’s used only for work, not after hours for leisure.
“That’s where NTNs [non-terrestrial networks] come into play. Ku-band has been a backup but now it’s heavily contended. Starlink is being increasingly used by the UN. At UNHCR, for example, we have at least 29 Starlink [terminals] used for after-hours connectivity.
“The problem with these NTNs is that they are expensive. There are no discounts at all — a stark contrast with global satellite imagery, where we are able to negotiate discounts.
“For NTNs we have three questions. What is the bandwidth? I have heard S-band may be limited to messaging and that may be some time before voice and data come on line.
“Second is price point. We cannot deal with a roaming model. Starlink is like an ISP in the sky and AST SpaceMobile is more like an MNO [mobile network operator] in the sky. But the fundamental aspect is quality of service.
“We are looking forward to OneWeb because there’s potential for higher bandwidth and even a minimum quality of service. The question is: At what price?”
Carlos Baigorri. (Source: CST/ITU video)
Carlos Baigorri, president, Anatel of Brazil:
“One company having two-thirds of the satellites is not a problem, but it may be a problem if this company controls access to that market with its market share. But if they have power because they have the best product, congratulations to them.”
Originally published by Space Intel Report on November 26, 2024. Read the original article here.
