Intelsat has been a pioneer and a staple of the global satellite industry for decades. But even by its own standards, the last 12 months have been some of the most interesting. Intelsat was hopeful of merging with up and coming operator OneWeb, but was unable to finalize a deal even though it will continue to work with the operator. Also, in a surprising recent initiative, it got together with Intel to come up with ways the satellite industry can work with others in the area of 5G. However, those announcements aside, the operator must also find new markets and ways to improve its revenues and forecasts. We talked to Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler about what 2018 holds for the operator.
VIA SATELLITE: How important are other orbits for major global Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) operators? Do you think most will look beyond GEO now? Has it become a necessity?
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Spengler: When we made our investment in OneWeb two years ago, we made an investment and established that partnership, because we believe that to really unlock the applications of the future and create new demand and to expand the space for satellite, we needed to have a broader complement of capabilities to bring and package up services for our customers. From our perspective having OneWeb and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) type services, which have different attributes to GEO services, was extremely valuable to that approach and still is. And we believe that the ability to bring in Ku-band, LEO, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and interoperable satellite services through the same terminal is really advantageous to customers and gives them the diversity of capability that is not there today. It also gives another layer of capacity and capability globally in all parts of world where there may not be a lot of GEO strategy. Our strategy has always been it is not LEO or GEO. We see a role for both orbits, but an integrated strategy going forward.
VIA SATELLITE: Has the lack of GEO orders come as a surprise to you?
Spengler: I would say a couple of things. If you look at the overall capability, operators like ourselves and SES are looking at other orbits to complement and expand service capability. We are not going to stop building GEO satellites. GEO satellites are extremely valuable for broadcasting and video applications. We see that as being extremely viable.
VIA SATELLITE: How do you see 2018 shaping up from a capital expenditure perspective?
Spengler: We have programs that are continuing. In 2018, we will be launching Intelsat 38, which is the satellite we are building jointly with AzerCosmos to target a number of our media marketplaces and customers. We will be following that with Intelsat 39, which is a satellite that provides services through the Asia-Pacific region. We have Horizons 3E, which is the last of this series of Epic satellites that launches in 2018 to 2019.
VIA SATELLITE: What technology innovation do you think could make the most difference to your business going forward?
Spengler: Antennas are key. One of the challenges we have had in satellite communications, with the exception of Direct-to-Home (DTH), has been that the antenna systems have been pretty simple as they are receive-only. But when it comes to two-way satellite communications, the positive is that they can be quickly deployed to build out infrastructure. The negative is that it is still too complex and too costly. Advancements in flat panel antennas and electronically steerable antennas is really critical to enable the ease of installation and operation. VS
