[Satellite News 05-23-11]  Eric Béranger has been appointed as the new Chairman of the European Satellite Operators Association (ESOA). As CEO of Astrium Services, he has been the key architect in building a highly lucrative services business for Astrium during the last few years. Here, he talks to Satellite News about the challenges in this new role, and what the satellite industry needs to do to develop a more powerful voice at a political level in Europe.

SATELLITE NEWS: What are your initial thoughts about becoming the chairman of the European Satellite Operators Association? What do you hope to achieve in this role?

Béranger: I’m honoured to be taking on the role of ESOA chairman. To my knowledge, ESOA is the only CEO-driven satellite association in the world. It has 22 members, among which four of the five largest satcom operators in the world, both fixed and mobile. In total, the satcom operators of ESOA operate about 150 satellites delivering direct and indirect services. In Europe, satellite operators face both opportunities and challenges with the emergence of Europe’s space strategy, a 5-year spectrum program and the implementation of the Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe. I hope that during the coming year, we can continue to make good headway in further enhancing the understanding of policymakers on how satellite communications are acting as an enabler to help them achieve key policy objectives, for example Europe’s digital agenda goals. Satellite communications are also a fundamental part of Europe’s industrial space policy.

SATELLITE NEWS: What do you see as the perception of satellite at a political level in Europe? Do you believe there are still perception issues about the effectiveness of satellite when it comes to reducing digital divides?

Béranger: Although telecommunication satellites have been serving commercial and government markets for years, they are still perceived as the products of a high-tech industry and as a result they are not often well-known or understood as delivering benefits directly to citizens. So ESOA is working hard to raise awareness on this aspect. Satellite services bring important benefits to citizens all across Europe everyday. As for the digital divide, despite the relatively recent recognition by the European Commission of the role satellites can play in bridging the digital divide, there are still major obstacles in rules and procedures that prevent users in many member states from benefiting from European funds for accessing satellite broadband.

SATELLITE NEWS: When you look at the EU’s proposals regarding bringing broadband to all of Europe’s citizens, do you believe they are fully aware of satellite capabilities in terms of helping reduce digital divides?

Béranger: Broadband satellites are intrinsically complementary to other technologies, as they target those areas that terrestrial operators cannot serve in due time and in an economically viable way. A few member states (For example, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland) are providing funds to cover the upfront costs of purchasing the satellite terminals to those who do not have access to broadband. However, the hype around very high data rates such as 30-100 Mbps at the 2020 horizon, creates confusion in decision-makers’ minds when arbitrating the use of public money between today’s and tomorrows objectives, with the risk of increasing rather than bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas. It should, of course, be remembered that the majority of investment in the latest cutting-edge satellite technology has been funded almost exclusively by satellite operators with next to no public funds.

SATELLITE NEWS: Can you give us a timeline of what will happen during the rest of the year? Do you think ESOA needs to develop a more powerful voice?

Béranger: ESOA will continue with its awareness-raising campaign throughout this year and yes we need to raise our voice as a sector toward European institutions, especially as we are not at the forefront of the flagship programmes Galileo and GMES, which are clearly better known! Nevertheless we hope that with increasing awareness, there will be scope for appropriate funding for satcoms in the next budget period.

 

SATELLITE NEWS: With the launch of high-powered satellites such as Ka-Sat and Hylas-1, is this a good time for satellite to state its case for more European funding?

Béranger: The latest high-throughput and flexible satellites provide state-of-the-art services based on the cutting-edge technology almost at its limits. But to move forward and to be able to deliver services five or even 10 times those of the latest spacecraft will require investment in development, particularly relating to efficient payload and system architectures.

SATELLITE NEWS: With many countries suffering national debt issues, how could this impact the satellite industry in Europe?

Béranger: Thanks to a sound investment strategy and long-term contracts with major customers, the satellite operators have been able to remain sustainable, even during the recent financial crisis. In short, satellite operators have already invested in their major infrastructure, i.e. the present satellite generation. Therefore, even at a time of crisis, cost-effective solutions to achieve major political objectives can be found using very limited public money by leveraging satcoms.