VSAT : Extraterrestrial Connection

Today technology has evolved with time and it is seeing a period with

continuous change. With better and more effective wireless services, cable would

soon be a passé. Technologies like VoIP and broadband now have better platforms

to transmit. VSAT in broadband is the latest evolution in this regard.

VSAT is being used by SMEs, banking sector, and the securities industry. The

technology is also being used as a means of reducing the digital divide.

A satellite dish is placed at homes or work places to enable high speed

broadband. The biggest advantage of VSAT is the speed and is today considered to

be one of the best technologies. The VSAT industry has been growing at a

constant pace with SMEs contributing a large share to the growth. For Kaushik

Mandal, VP, Tatanet, adapting VSAT would mean cost-effectiveness. “VSAT provides

24x7 connectivity and can be quickly deployed anywhere, and is last mile

independent. Moreover, the improved satellite broadband technology has the

capability to serve the end-customer in a cost-effective manner,” says mandal.

SME Connection



Terrestrial broadband Internet infrastructure is common in the metros, urban

and few semi-urban areas. But availability is scarce in remote and far-flung

areas. A steady broadband infrastructure is absent in rural India and service is

either not available or unreliable, which is a major issue for many SMEs that

have set up businesses here. Today VSAT is a staggering Rs 600 crore industry in

India and can prove to be a reliable alternative to the SMEs.

The major problem for smaller cities is not having good bandwidth and

connectivity; to think of high speed and reliable Internet connectivity is a

distant dream, at least for the SMEs operational in C, D and E class cities. As

satellite broadband is much easier to deploy and install, and is more cost

efficient, it would become easier for the SMBs/SMEs to operate and stay

connected.

“Connectivity will be the key in the SMB growth story of India, and hence the

growth of Internet will continue in this segment. At Tatanet, we have identified

this need and are working toward bridging the digital divide by bringing more

and more innovative products and services to meet present and future

requirements of SMBs,” says Mandal. VSAT offers a single vendor for all the

services. This is not only convenient for the smaller businesses that would not

able to pay multiple service providers, but at the same time, for larger

companies as well for the same reason. This makes paying bills, sending emails,

etc, easier.

Major Adopters



The banking sector is also seeing high adoption of VSAT. Connecting ATMs

with branches is where VSAT comes in very handy, especially in branches in the

rural and semi-urban areas where there is little or no connectivity. According

to K Krishna, director, Hughes, “Today the branches in semi-urban and rural

areas want to provide the same facilities that are available in urban areas. So

to keep up with the pace they want better speed and higher uptime of

connectivity, and also want to connect five-to-six banking terminals. As the

banks want better system and network manageability, without going to multiple

telcos, VSAT is the best option.”

Recently, State Bank of India tied up with Hughes to connect its branches and

ATMs in urban, rural and semi-urban areas through VSAT and terrestrial lines.

The network will be capable of providing core banking with more than 99% uptime

at all the branches. If required the network can further be extended to a higher

number of branches and ATMs, hence providing 100% core banking.

As broadband becomes more mobile with VSAT, it gets easier for customers to

deploy it. It also has added benefits like high up-time. But the most important

factor driving VSAT broadband is mobility. It can be set up anywhere, and has

very high scalability.

According to Rajan Swaroop, executive director, NSBU, Bharti Airtel, the

future of satellite broadband is very bright in the nation, though it is at a

very nascent stage. And with the arrival of newer VSAT technologies the present

market scenario would change for the better. “We expect Ka-band to arrive in

India in 2009. The affordability and dish size are further going to improve.

Broadband VSAT would be bridging the digital divide and shall be a tool for

Internet penetration. With the success of the e-Gram project, VSATs have again

been established as a reliable and affordable medium of broadband connectivity.

The technology was unduly over-shadowed by terrestrial connectivity but the time

has come that VSAT technology be used appropriately and should be appreciated

for its strength,” says Swaroop.

The e-Gram Network deployed by the Gujarat government is the world's largest

VSAT network deployed by a single company. It connects more than 13,000 rural

villages with Internet and related applications.

Broadband Goes Rural



Recently, the Government of India for its common service center under the

NeGP, invited tenders from private players for setting up CSCs. A similar step

has been taken by the government to increase telephone penetration in rural

areas for which PCOs were set up. Similarly, for connectivity in villages

through CSCs, VSAT would come to use.

According to Krishna, “We are looking at connecting around 6 lakh villages.

And on an average one village for every six villages will have a center. In this

measure the affordability problem will be taken care. And since it is a

private-public model the government is giving subsidies to the lucrative states

like the north-eastern states and Maharashtra.”

Another project undertaken by Hughes to bridge the rural divide is the e-choupal

project, in collaboration with ITC. E-choupals are information centers networked

across nine states to seamlessly connect farmers with large firms and global

markets. Around 3.5 mn farmers across 36,000 villages will benefit using the

services. These choupals are connected through VSAT and offer real time services

like Internet, commodity prices, education and training, direct marketing

channel for farm produce, weather updates and news.

Technology Talks



Xc-band and Ku-band are the operational band for VSAT. There has been a

never-ending debate on the choice between the two. When applications are

critical the Xc-band is preferred. But economically the Ku-band is a better

choice. The new Ka-band is also being deployed by operators globally, and its

arrival in India is due in 2009. VPN over VSAT has been available for a long

time now over satellite networks, as it delivers tremendous value for secure and

fool proof operations.

In the frequency spectrum, the C-band starts from 5925 MHz to 6725 MHz and

3400 MHz to 4200 MHz, whereas the Ku-band has a frequency level of 13750 MHz to

14450 MHz, 12200 MHz to 12750 MHz, 11450 MHz to 11700 MHz and 10950 MHz to 11200

MHz. This means the Ku-band has added benefits over the C-band. The C-band has

lower frequency, which means low speed. To transmit over a longer distance the

C-band consumes more power and also needs a bigger dish. Higher noise levels and

high bandwidth, along with lesser number of channels are other drawbacks.

Not without Flaws



Like all new technologies VSAT is also facing its own set of challenges. The

biggest problem is the absence of enough air space. But hopefully the problem

would get sorted out once the next satellite is launched.

Another major factor affecting VSAT adoption is the high price of equipments.

The equipments manufacturers are unable to understand the growth model for

Indian consumers and therefore, are not able to provide low cost hardware. Some

VSAT operators also think that the telecom prices are governed in India by

valuation of companies rather than operational efficiencies. This is a very

difficult situation wherein the prices given to the consumer are not realistic.

The prices do not factor the growth in infrastructure cost, and research and

development, leaving no scope for operators to run a profitable business

operation.

Apart from all the infrastructural challenges, the other barrier in their way

is from the regulator perspective. The time taken by regulators to draw the

guidelines is herculean. Krishna says, “All VSAT providers pay 5% of their

revenue to the government for universal service operator fund, but nothing comes

back in return. The providers have time and again made requests to the

government to come out with a scheme that would benefit them in terms of

revenue.

Inspite of the challenges VSAT industry has potentials to grow at the pace of

fiber-based Internet. For a mid-size to large enterprise, the cost to install

VSAT would not be more than Rs 50,000, which is equal to installing cable

broadband. At this price satellite broadband becomes comparable to any other

medium like the MPLS.

Sunny Sen



sunnys@cybermedia.co.in