Will Low Earth Orbit Satellites Disrupt Broadband in Asia/Pacific?

Will Low Earth Orbit Satellites Disrupt Broadband in Asia/Pacific?

This IDC Market Perspective discusses the role low earth orbit (LEO) satellites can play in disrupting the broadband space in the Asia/Pacific region. Significant connectivity gaps continue to be seen around the world, regardless of geography or specific market. For example, although, in general, a statement that emerging markets have greater disparities in connectivity access would be true, the pandemic has proven that there are still significant disparities even in the most advanced markets, including the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and G20 countries. Although internet SPs and governments have endeavored to expand coverage and serve last mile customers, the infrastructural challenges and the speed of deployment do not match the demand. Satellite-based connectivity solutions, specifically LEO-based broadband services, aim to bridge the digital divide and aid in providing ubiquitous coverage across geographies — in unserved and underserved, remote, and isolated areas. This study looks at what LEO-based connectivity can offer, what the challenges are, and if LEO satellites can be integrated with existing terrestrial options, such as cellular networks, to reduce coverage gaps."Satellite communications have been available since the latter half of the 20th century. The services are still relatively niche in terms of adoption and market size. The pandemic not just exposed the digital divide but also brought the focus on the demand for high bandwidth and low-latency requirements. As LEO satellites are closer to Earth, the distance that signal travels between two points (e.g., ground station and satellite) is lesser than that of a medium earth orbit (MEO) or geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite. This results in lesser propagation delay (latency) and lesser propagation loss than MEO/GEO. Cost to end users has come down drastically over the past five to six years. LEO has made satellite connectivity affordable compared with the cost of earlier generations of satellites," says Swathi Arunaa, senior market analyst, IDC Asia/Pacific.

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