Pushing Ahead With Hybrid Networks
With the revenue-generating result hybrid networks creates for satellite service providers, many more companies, such as Intelsat Ltd., are incorporating this solution into their mix of offerings. Not only has this former international state-run organization made a transformation to the private sector, but it also has grasped the advantages of embracing terrestrial transmission, rather than fearing it.
"We launched our own hybrid network in May 2002," says Barbara Clarke, Intelsat's director of market development and product management. "It integrates our teleports and 25 satellites with numerous terrestrial Points of Presence (PoPs). In turn, these PoPs link to local high-speed telephone loops. For our customers, the result is efficient, cost- effective global access."
So what inspired Intelsat to adopt a hybrid approach? "We saw that our existing customer base was consolidating, and that they wanted to offload their own teleport/terrestrial facilities," Clarke says. "We saw this as an opportunity to take over these responsibilities for them.
"Meanwhile, our new customers don't think in terms of satellite and terrestrial," she adds. "They're concerned with end-to-end solutions to get their signals where they need them to be, and that's it. They pay us to handle the details of making that happen. All they care about is that it does."
To make the move easier Intelsat has worked closely with vendors to integrate its teleports with local fiber optic networks. "We've been pretty pleased with how this has worked," Clarke says. "With our vendors' help, we've been able to ramp up our hybrid services pretty quickly. In fact, we already have 100 clients using them."
Ironically, adding terrestrial connections has improved Intelsat's satellite operations. Now the company is able to use its satellite bandwidth for the tasks it is best suited for, namely point-to-multipoint transmissions. Meanwhile, the hybrid approach allows Intelsat to keep its customers when terrestrial connections become available to them because they can offer a complete solution.
"Hybrid networks are working well for Intelsat," Clarke says. "I think they are the right choice for the entire satellite industry, in the years to come."
Panamsat Corp. also has expanded its offering of hybrid solutions. Recently, the satellite operator acquired Sonic Telecom Ltd., a provider of international high-definition multimedia transmission services and business applications. As a result of this transaction, Panamsat now provides clients with a satellite/fiber network delivering video content throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
"To effectively compete and deliver the high volume of rich content in today's marketplace, the Fixed Satellite Services sector needs to evolve from only selling satellite services to providing global communications services on the ground and in the air," says Joe Wright, president and CEO of Panamsat. Through this transaction, Panamsat gained access to an additional 20 PoPs around the globe.
Customers using Panamsat services now can transfer backhaul video traffic, connect to a global network as well as conduct videoconferencing, bridging and video content management. "This hybrid approach of uniting delivery systems is not only the future for our industry, it is the present," Wright adds.
This latest acquisition with Sonic buttresses Panamsat's agreement with its Level 3 Communications Inc. partnership. Last April, Panamsat connected its uplink facilities to Level 3's 20,000-mile broadband fiber optic network offering customers access to the Panamsat fleet from any Level 3 network location.
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