Intelsat has been a pioneer in the African communications ecosystem since the 1960s having been the the first operator to introduce satellite services to the continent. The company is now breaking new ground, deploying the world’s first truly high throughput satellite network, Intelsat Epic . TowerXchange speak to Senior Key Account Director, Sharedh Naicker to find out more.
TowerXchange: Please introduce Intelsat, your history and the company’s footprint
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
Intelsat has been part of the communications ecosystem in Africa since 1965. We were the first operator to introduce satellite services to Africa, enabling critical telecommunications infrastructure throughout the continent.
Intelsat was also the first satellite operator to:
- Enable pan-regional broadband networks;
- Provide critical connectivity to educational networks,
- Deliver a Direct-to-Home (DTH) platform to the continent, and
- Bring cellular backhaul services to Africa
With over 25 of Intelsat’s 50 satellites covering the region, Intelsat has the largest fleet. In addition, Intelsat’s orbital location boasts the largest media audience in Africa. In Africa alone we deliver over 900 channels and have enabled the rise of high definition content in the region.
Our wireless customers include the top ten mobile groups in Africa, which represent 81% of the continent’s subscribers.
Today, we are bringing our next generation satellite technology, Intelsat EpicNG to Africa. Technology that increases performance while improving economics and simplifying satellite networking, Intelsat EpicNG is designed to advance our customers’ goals of connecting the remote areas of the continent and upgrading 2G and 3G networks. With the launch of IS-33e (August 2016), IS-35e (July 2017) and IS-37e (Q3 2017), Intelsat is today the only provider of high throughput C-band and Ku-band spot beams in Africa!
With the unprecedented performance of Intelsat EpicNG and improved economics, fixed and mobile network operators can scale their networks, broaden their reach into new regions and deliver broadband/internet connectivity to communities and businesses where it was not economically feasible to do so in the past. TowerXchange: Intelsat has a great offering to tower owners – can you give us some examples of how Intelsat is working in the field? Do you have any case studies you can share from across the African region?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
Tower owners and satellite operators share a common objective of providing MNOs easy access to infrastructure and services for their network geographic extension and upgrade. You can find Intelsat’s satellite nodes sitting alongside towers across sub-Saharan Africa. Historically, most of our services have been contracted directly with the wireless operators. However, the improved economics delivered by our new Intelsat EpicNG satellites unlock new network extension solutions which allow us to collaborate directly with the tower providers. Intelsat has always been at the forefront of innovation; hence our solution to support MNOs’ need to grow in hard-to-reach areas. By providing a “turnkey” solution targeted at ultra-rural geographies, which focuses on solving challenges associated with deployment (minimal civil work), cost and options to overcome the energy challenge, Intelsat is able to equip our customers with solutions to extend their reach within their respective markets in a cost effective and resource efficient manner.
Mobile Reach Solar, the newest addition to our IntelsatOne portfolio of managed services, is an end-to-end managed service which delivers 2G or 3G connectivity via a compact, solar-powered, easily deployable bundle which can be integrated into their existing network and powered by our fleet of satellites.
We’ve recently provided Rural Cellular Services in the DRC. Our customer Vodacom expanded services across 800 rural sites that became profitable quickly.
Satellite has a lot of benefits: it can provide backhaul in areas where there is limited fibre. Satellite combined with solar power can help tower owners reduce their opex. Increasingly, converged traffic represents a fast growing requirement. Satellite can be used to deliver more content to the towers; in particular video that can be cached locally.
TowerXchange: How big do you estimate the coverage gap to be across Africa and have you seen this starting to close?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
Africa is going through an exciting time as the demand for better connectivity is growing everywhere. Between 2011 and 2015, internet bandwidth connected to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa rose at a fast rate, growing 66% per year.
According to the October 2016 Internet Usage Statistics, Africa’s Internet users remains low at only 28.7%. That said, it improved 7,448.8% from 2000-2016, reflecting the overall benefit of improved telecoms infrastructure.
We’re deploying Intelsat EpicNG , the world’s first truly high throughput satellite network. We are creating strategic partnerships to empower Africa with the better connectivity that is enabled by the high performance, improved economics and simplified access delivered by our next generation network.We have two Intelsat EpicNG satellites serving Africa today, with a third on the way in the next several weeks. Intelsat is today the only provider of high throughput C-band and Ku-band spot beams in Africa!Intelsat EpicNG is the sector’s first all-digital satellite. All of the beams are fully interconnected, allowing customers to use both Ku-band and C-band in the same network, allowing for reuse of existing capital investments. TowerXchange: At the other end of the spectrum, what trends do you see in the growth of data usage across more urban areas and in what time frame do you expect small cells/ DAS (and the backhaul issues which arise as a result of this) start to emerge in Africa?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
The evolution of network architecture is particularly crucial these days due to the demand for high throughput.
Small cells and DAS will play a critical role in meeting escalating data demand in urban areas, where overlapping macro sites are saved from decommissioning in order to meet future capacity.
Data demand is really growing in Africa: Africa is the world’s fastest growing mobile phone market and the number of people with smartphones has nearly doubled in the past two years to 226 million. The delivery of over-the-top (OTT) content is thriving in Africa, driven by smartphone penetration and the rollout of 3G and 4G networks.
DAS networks (along with other wireless applications and access technologies) are a complementary solution to macrocellular sites, rather than a replacement.
Today’s wireless networks consist of not only licensed spectrum networks but also a massive deployment of private and public Wi-Fi networks. In a typical day, a device can be connected to the Internet via its land-based IP network in the office, the office Wi-Fi network in the conference room, to the external macrocellular wireless network in the parking lot. The proliferation of connected devices across the indoor and outdoor networks will require exceptional intersystem coordination in order to provide a satisfactory customer experience.
These developments will further drive the integration of indoor DAS networks in the hierarchy of heterogeneous networks to provide seamless access to high-quality networks.
Opportunities are already rising in Africa: Of all the SSA regions, Rwanda is showing some of the strongest promise in small cells and DAS making it a key target for such companies looking to enter Africa.
TowerXchange: More than 60% of the African population live in rural areas with poor or no access to connectivity. How does Intelsat address this challenge? Do you have viable solutions to bridge the digital divide and bring broadband to rural areas?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
We understand Africa’s challenges and we are committed to delivering solutions that help our customers bridge the digital divide and connect the unconnected in the region.
We work with the most reputable partners to deliver unique and innovative solutions to Africa. For example, Intelsat recently deployed a VSAT kiosk for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ghana. The combination of Intelsat’s fleet of traditional satellites and Intelsat EpicNG helped overcome some very specific challenges to this effort. The higher efficiency of spot beams allowed the delivery of bandwidth using solar-powered hardware to remote areas without sufficient electricity to power the services. And backwards compatibility meant that there was no need to replace the existing terminals. For the UNHCR, Intelsat offered the assurance of easier access to satellite technology and enhanced performance to coordinate aid efforts; for the refugees, it meant staying in touch with their families.
TowerXchange: What role do you see satellite playing in complementing other forms of coverage and how is its value proposition becoming more compelling?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
Satellite technology has evolved and become faster and more cost effective. Satellite is increasingly used for mobile terminals, planes, ships, cars, but also we’re seeing more hybrid connectivity: Satellite + LTE.
Satellite is typically the only practical way to provide connectivity to remote and isolated areas; 100% reach, scalability, fast deployment, and overcomes last mile and remote area connectivity challenges. We designed our next generation fleet to be backwards compatible, allowing customers to leverage existing capital investment.
There are specific applications that can only be accomplished with satellite technology: providing telecom infrastructure to the most remote regions or efficiently broadcasting large amounts of data or content to an infinite number of individual users for the same cost.
Satellite technology is a great complement to other technologies. Wireless operators and tower companies can leverage satellite to expand their service territories into much wider markets. The result is a broad and expanded coverage with a better and more cost-efficient service to the end-user.
TowerXchange: What differentiates Intelsat from other satellite players in the market?
Sharedh Naicker, Senior Key Account Director, Intelsat Africa:
We are unique in too many aspects to name here.
We know Africa better than anyone, because Africa has been part of Intelsat for much of our history! Most of the African nations owned shares in Intelsat prior to 2001.
Intelsat’s commitment to serving Africa with the best technology is exemplified by the fact that, of our first five Intelsat EpicNG satellites, three of them serve the African Continent. We understand the challenges of deploying networks on the African continent. That’s why our designs strive for the highest power, facilitating the use of solar technology. We are also innovating on new ground hardware, like electronically steerable antennas, which will make it easier to deploy networks and require fewer technical resources in the field.Satellite global, ubiquitous and multipoint communications remains a flexible and cost-effective solution for domestic and international networks. Our Intelsat EpicNG platform was specifically designed to deliver a scalable, high-performance, all-digital platform that can solve today’s connectivity issues and work with other technologies to expand broadband service across Africa. Our architecture will accommodate interoperability with a new low earth orbit satellite network, OneWeb, which will provide service in the next decade. We have served the continent for nearly 50 years, and the technology and service innovations we are introducing today will continue to deliver broadband well into the future.
