[Satellite TODAY 04-13-11] Broadband access will be the leading revenue generator for satellite broadband providers during the next 10 years, growing at nearly 15 percent annually, according to NSR. The firm expects the total satellite broadband market to generate $9 billion in revenues by 2020, driven primarily by satellite broadband Internet access and VSAT networking to enterprises, according to "Broadband Satellite Markets, 10th Edition," released April 12.
    "Satellite broadband access services will be a more than $5.1 billion industry by 2020," study author and NSR Senior Analyst Patrick French said in a statement. "This is a fourfold revenue increase compared with 2010 and illustrates why so many companies are making major plays into this arena."
    NSR expects that improving economic conditions will strengthen capital spending from enterprises and governments, and this will couple with greater availability of satellite capacity in key markets leading to a peak in VSAT deployments from 2011 through 2013.
    The growth of undersea cables and terrestrial fiber has reduced the demand for broadband trunking services in sub-Saharan Africa, while satellite backhaul services for cellular extension continued to make good gains in 2010 and will see at least a 175 percent growth in installed backhaul sites around the globe in the coming 10 years. NSR also sees a solid play for O3b in the backhaul market as well as for trunking services.