Asia’s regional satellite operators share a common strategy: expand beyond pure satellite infrastructure. Asiasat CEO Roger Tong: “We don’t want to be a pure infrastructure play anymore.” Asiasat has enjoyed a capex holiday since launching AsiaSat 9 in 2017 and sees no pressure to invest in GEO or LEO: “Our future CapEx doesn’t have to go to space.”
Azercosmos Strategic Development Manager Natavan Hasanova said Asian markets are following the European/U.S. trajectory — growing paid broadcast subscribers but declining revenue as competition drives prices down. Tong added that satellite broadband data revenues will also start declining as data prices drop faster than broadcast services.
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SKY Perfect JSAT President of Global Business Teruo Yamashita said his company wants to expand into 5G, data analytics, and even space debris removal: “We plan to integrate non-terrestrial assets across GEO, NGSO, and even HAPS.”
Measat COO Yau Chyong Lim, preparing to launch MEASAT-3d, said the company is investing in terrestrial infrastructure including ground terminals and small-cell technology: “We’re looking to completely transform our company.”
RSCC Director of Integration Services Andrey Kirillovich is focused on Russia’s Express-RV system — four Highly-Elliptical Orbit satellites supporting 4.4 Gbps connectivity. He cited customer feedback about LEO: “They were expecting fiber-like experiences. LEO constellations can really shine in enterprise markets, but the enterprise terminal costs are still high.”
Singtel Satellite’s Kheng Ghee said: “The bad news is that LEO constellations send thousands of satellites into an already cluttered space environment. As satellite operators, we all need to sit down together and really talk about how we’re going to solve this issue.” VS
