Frost Radar™: Enterprise Satellite Broadband Services, 2024

Frost Radar™: Enterprise Satellite Broadband Services, 2024

A Benchmarking System to Spark Companies to Action - Innovation that Fuels New Deal Flow and Growth Pipelines

The enterprise satellite broadband industry is mature yet experiencing significant growth and innovation. Factors driving these changes include increasing global demand for fast and reliable connectivity, growing need for the digitalization of remote services and operations, relevant advancements in satellite technology, and the proliferation of satellite constellations.

With about 100 companies offering communication satellites as of 2022, this industry is increasingly dynamic, fueled by fast technological advancements and by new entrants such as Starlink, which has rapidly expanded to more than 5,000 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in 2023, targeting both the consumer and enterprise segments. As demand for ubiquitous connectivity continues to increase, driven by globalization and expanding mobility, it will become foundational as businesses embrace digital transformation in local and remote operations. Undoubtedly, significant satellite expansion will occur in the next years, estimated to surpass 27,000 units beginning 2024.

The Frost Radar™ focuses on satellite operators and satellite service providers. These are companies that own and operate satellites and offer fixed satellite services (FSS) and mobile satellite services (MSS) for mobile stations with users on the move or where no terrestrial networks are available. In addition, companies usually offer broadband among other services to enterprises, and also to service providers through satellite capacity and backhaul to enable broadband service for business end users. This Radar concerns only broadband services for enterprises (end users). This typically includes connectivity for verticals such as mobility (aviation, maritime) and government. Frost & Sullivan has analyzed the most important innovation and growth factors to rank the leading 7 companies in both areas, highlighting competitors such as Intelsat, Viasat, Hughes, SES, and Eutelsat, Telesat and Starlink.

Increasing competition is accelerated by quick innovation and by new entrants challenging incumbents with fast broadband at more affordable prices; therefore, satellite operators are advised to speed up deployments around network virtualization to increase efficiencies and service flexibilities. Concurrently, new satellite technologies such as very high throughput satellites (VHTS), optical-laser inter-satellite links, advanced AI processing, and beamforming technologies, as well as multi-orbit networks, are improving satellite broadband performance and increasingly attracting businesses that require fast connectivity for streamlined operations. Services that support hybrid connectivity (satellite, cellular, terrestrial) and value-added services, such as security, will become more relevant and enable not only expanded coverage but optimized bandwidth to satisfy businesses’ increasing requirements.

Frost & Sullivan analyzes numerous companies in an industry. Those selected for further analysis based on their leadership or other distinctions are benchmarked across 10 Growth and Innovation criteria to reveal their position on the Frost Radar™. The publication presents competitive profiles of each company on the Frost Radar™ considering their strengths and the opportunities that best fit those strengths.