The satellite industry has dramatically advanced over recent years, both in terms of capability and competitiveness. The satellite “facelift” mainly culminates around High Throughput Satellite (HTS). The technology will enable more people to access digital services via satellite than ever before, but, perhaps more importantly, it means that satellite is becoming a viable alternative to other types of communication technologies, especially in those hard to reach areas. Then, satellite broadband services are offered to rural areas at a much cheaper rate and better quality than ever before, so consumers are beginning to see the value in turning to these services for a better (or in some cases any) connection.
However many customers are complaining about the complexity compared to fiber, especially in the deployment face. HTS is based on economy of scale where the operators have to provide larger networks to cope with the extra demand, which often need to be deployed in a short time frame.
The installation is usually costly and the margin for error is high. It is quite often to misaligned the antenna causing a multitude of problems, including interference in other satellites and services. Many VSAT networks are also mobile. Take the maritime, for example, it can have been perfectly well installed and pointed, but then every time it moves, you risk all those same misalign problems again. Often the personnel accompanying the unit won’t be highly trained in satellite communications, but even when they are, it means a constant job of realigning to ensure the equipment is always working at its optimum and without satellite interference. In most cases, the network will factor in extra cost.
For the end user, HTSEMPOWER aims to (i) To make VSAT and Satellite Technology a more attractive proposition to the end customer by drastically simplifying the task of installing and commissioning VSAT-based satellite services, ensuring the required technical quality and reducing the cost of VSAT deployment, and (ii) Open the door to accurate self-customer installation with easy-to-use technology by simplifying the installation process through intuitive tools and allowing the VSAT installers to self-check critical parameters in real time.
The overall objective is to develop this tool for the main manufacturers of infrastructure of VSATs, in such a way, that our solution will be available worldwide for most of the VSAT networks technologies that are leading this market.
As a results, the project has been running during 22 months, with full achievements of the objectives and complete execution of the performed task.
