SATELLITE 2009: Thursday…The Momentum Continues

Day two of the SATELLITE 2009 Conference focused on applications and regional developments that are driving growth for satellite-enabled services. The panel “Satellite Newsgathering: Send a Truck or Send a Laptop?” yielded an interesting discussion on the future of spot news delivery.

Ron Rosenthal, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, North America Broadcast Solutions, expressed that with the changing times comes changing formats. Broadcast-quality HD video remains in demand for satellite news gathering (SNG) transmissions—in the fourth quarter of 2008, Intelsat carried an amazing 1,500 HD SNG transmissions--but the increased use of low-tech video flooding today’s news from “citizen journalists” is changing the landscape.

The panelists, however, were quick to point out that the quality from spot news reporters is going to need to be of a higher caliber, especially with the increase of new channels coming online. Ron reiterated the important fact that as news organizations continue to migrate to an all HD formant, the live spot will have to eventually be of the same HD quality. Satellite-enabled services such as the SISLive Intelsat upod offering will be able to deliver on this demand without losing the breaking news scoop, currently dominated by people with cell phone cameras.

On the regional front, the Latin American panel drew much attention—and attendance—as delegates filled the standing-room only session to hear from the region’s top service providers. Carmen Gonzalez-Sanfeliu, Intelsat’s Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean, discussed how satellite communications are advancing throughout Mexico, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean. Carmen expressed the need to increase regulatory reform, in an effort to open new business opportunities for satellite companies to serve network service providers and media programmers. She also urged other operators and content service providers to unite increasing training for system technicians in an effort to mitigate interference that has increased throughout the region. All panelists agreed that delivering advanced broadband solutions via satellite for reaching homes in rural and remote locations needs to accelerate in order for countries to build out their communications infrastructure.

Day two was also the day that Pradman Kaul, the CEO of one of Intelsat’s largest network services customers, Hughes Network Services, was honored at a special luncheon and evening reception. Mr. Kaul was named Via Satellite’s Satellite Executive of the Year 2008 AND was admitted to the Satellite Hall of Fame.

The industry-wide interference management initiative continued to gain traction at SATELLITE Week, with many of the regional operators meeting with Intelsat and SES at Intelsat’s offices for a global forum on the topic. This is a complex issue overall, with many potential elements that could contribute to creating an interference free space environment. I think our challenge will be to stay focused on a few areas that deliver near-term impact, and then hope that the momentum from those efforts carries us to the next phase. Many thanks to the Global VSAT Forum, Slingpath and the other industry certification sources for their early indication of cooperation with this initiative.

We are looking forward to next week and the NCTA Conference (also scheduled for Washington, D.C.).