Gambling
Gambling is as popular in Eastern Europe as it is in the West. This is why the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC), the country's largest satellite services provider, has signed a deal with the Russian gaming company, JackPot, to connect the latter's gaming sites nationwide. Using a Gilat Skystar 360E hub and 500 VSAT earth stations, RSCC will help JackPot customers play not only on their own electronic terminals, but across the network in a bid to win system-wide jackpots. The network will also be used for JackPot's own internal communications.
Telephony
One of the most exciting opportunities in Eastern Europe is mobile telephony. It is a fast, quick-fix solution to the region's inadequate wired networks that also offers 21st century benefits to its users. This is why TM-SAT (http://www.tmsat.ru) signed a deal in 2001 with the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, RSCC and HNS to bring Thuraya's satellite telephone service to Russia.
Internet
Urkaine may be a tough market for Western satellite companies to crack, but it is not impossible. One way of doing so is to license services to companies within that country, as HNS has done with Direcway. Specifically, Datasat, part of the Datagroup and Ukrsat are owner/operators of Directway hubs, and are now licensed providers of Directway services in Ukraine, thanks to deals signed in the last year.
Datasat provides a full range of satellite broadband services including high-speed Internet access, VoIP telephony and business television. "Deploying broadband satellite technology will dramatically increase our service offerings for our customers throughout Ukraine," says Alexander Danchenko, managing director of Datasat, in a published company release.
A Stronger Region of Satellite Opportunity
Even with differing regulatory regimes, tight money and cultural hurdles, Eastern Europe is becoming a land of opportunity for satellite equipment and service providers. Better yet, as this region moves toward Western-style prosperity, the market for satellite services is likely to grow. After all, the hunger for telephony and Internet access in a region of poor terrestrial infrastructure can only be satisfied by satellite; the same is true for premium multi-channel television services, corporate communications, and distance education. As consumers and business acquire the resources to pay for such services, satellite equipment and service providers will be there to provide them.
In fact, the global convergence of information communication technologies such as telephony, internet, TV and radio broadcasting coupled with demand for faster and more efficient Internet speed access has led to a sharp increase in the demand for broadband and it has become one of the fastest developing sectors in the global telecommunications industry. Russia, with a population of more than 147 million and traversing nine time zones, is one of the most diverse and rapidly developing telecoms and information technology markets according to analysts who track this region.
In fact, the very economic and political barriers that have kept this region's telecom sector undeveloped may prove to be a boon to satellite equipment and service providers, simply because the cost of deploying North American-style to-the-home wired networks today is prohibitive. The day may even come when Eastern Europe is one of satellite's strongest territories, compared to Western Europe and the terrestrially-competitive region of North America.
Susan Trott is a freelance writer and contributing editor to Via Satellite.
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