Executive leaders from four regional telco and MNOs did not pull any punches when discussing their sometimes frustrating relationship with satellite service providers during SATELLITE 2021’s EMEA + Asia virtual conference.
Safaricom Transport and IP Planning lead David Adhiambo said: “Telcos have always characterized the satellite industry by very high costs. The nature of partnerships with satellite operators is naturally long-term because of how difficult it is for telcos like us to switch providers. Historically, this has locked us into high costs.” He said new LEO and MEO systems offer an opportunity to finally provide services deep into rural Africa, but only if satellite operators provide competitive bandwidth pricing.
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iSAT Africa Managing Director Rakesh Kukreja said the satellite industry can lower prices by clearing up value chain confusion: “There was a time when the satellite industry ecosystem were all in sync with each other. As connectivity markets evolve, that synchronization seems to have disappeared. Each segment of the satellite value chain has different ideas of how to serve today’s market. Not being on the same page creates overlap, which kills innovation.”
Orange Business Services VP of International Transmission Networks Aurelien Vigano said: “With some satellite operators, the problem seems to be confusion about the identity of their own businesses. Some aren’t sure whether or not they’re competing with us or partnering with us. It’s hard to build win-win relationships in that kind of setting.”
Liquid Telecom Managing Executive Scott Mumford said proprietary VSAT standards keep price points high: “The continued development around proprietary systems, especially in the VSAT arena, is a real issue. That keeps price points high from a terminal perspective, and prevents us from reaching the distribution numbers we need to be profitable.”
Adhiambo closed with advice for NGSO operators entering Africa: “Don’t come in with the mentality of wanting to compete with existing telcos. Rather, try to work to meet the unique needs of all prolific telcos to complement all of their systems.” VS
