Satellite Today: Is it conceivable that Deutsche Telekom will look to do something more on satellite in terms of TV?
Bausch: Yes, definitely. For telcos, the main investments before they move to satellite will be done. The acquisition of rights as well as the marketing investments will be done. It is the low hanging fruit. Satellite operators are offering a complementary infrastructure for them.
Satellite Today: When can we expect to see the first deal between SES and a major telco in this area?
Bausch: I would say this will happen when we announce a Ka-band satellite. In the next 12 months, we will decide on a Ka-band satellite.
Satellite Today: In Japan, Toshiba announced that Mobile Broadcasting Corp. will cease operations, and Tu Media is seeing flat growth in Korea. Has the mobile TV growth opportunity been overstated by the satellite players?
Bausch: The examples you have indicated have certainly not met expectations. When translating this into our activities in the mobile TV field, I would highlight two differences. Firstly, we are focusing on the infrastructure. Our vision for Solaris is not to become a mobile TV service provider. Instead we will offer satellite infrastructure and some ground components to mobile service providers. Solaris is also not exclusively focusing on mobile TV. It can provide more to mobile devices. It can provide mobile radio and mobile data communications services, safety and security services. So the success of Solaris will not only be down to the take-up and success of mobile TV. There will be six spot beams on the satellite covering the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and the German speaking countries. We can offer in any of these markets up to nine TV channels outside the coverage of the terrestrial mobile infrastructure It is also important to realize that Solaris will use the S-band, the adjacent band to UMTS, and so obviously you can receive mobile TV from Solaris but also all your UMTS communications on mobile devices. And there is no need to have any additional towers. You can use the existing towers and upgrade the transmitters in order to have the frequencies aligned, so it is a very efficient solution based on an intelligent combination between satellite and terrestrial intended to optimize the capacity.
Satellite Today: Are there other growth opportunities worth mentioning?
Bausch: I think the very important one is the combination of satellite and terrestrial infrastructure for broadcasting. The second one is HDTV. But I would not stop with HDTV. The Sonys and Panasonics say that Ultra HD will be commercially available five years from now, offering a picture quality that allows an almost three dimensional quality. This will require our customers to simulcast content. They will have to take twice the capacity to serve different areas of the market. In ultra HD, the transmission of one channel will require two satellite transponders, and we would expect the first ultra HD channel on our satellites in five to six years time.
Satellite Today: We are seeing different trends of watching content, particularly among the younger generation. Does that have any medium- to long-term implications for satellite players?
Bausch: I see this as being a trend, but that does not mean that TV, the way it is traditionally consummated, will disappear. I think it will take some of the growth away from traditional broadcasting. Long term, the importance of the hybrid function combining terrestrial DSL and satellite will become more relevant because the volume of content delivered point-to-point and the content delivered point-to-multipoint will multiply. For satellite operators, this is not a threat. What we have to do right now is promote hybrid solutions. It would be a big mistake to try to promote today a satellite-only solution.
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