As part of our ongoing May 2021 series on satellite constellations, today we bring you a report from the Asian Development Bank with their perspective on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations and the opportunities for Asia and the Pacific. We note that Telesat is one of the four LEO satellite constellations discussed.
The Asian Development Bank 47 page report is titled Digital Connectivity and Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellations – OpportunitieS for Asia and the Pacific and was released in April.
The authors of the report are John Garrity who is an economist, policy advisor, and project manager and Arndt Husar who “facilitates the effective use of digital technology, advising ADB clients.”
Executive Summary
Satellite communication plays a necessary role in the global connectivity ecosystem, connecting rural and remote populations, providing backhaul connectivity to mobile cellular networks, and rapidly establishing communication in emergency and disaster response scenarios. This Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sustainable Development Working Paper, the first in a series reviewing emerging innovations in connectivity technologies, focuses on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, which have been in deployment for decades and are again a subject of intensive investment as new large constellations are in early stages of deployment. These new LEO constellations, such as those being deployed by Starlink by SpaceX, Project Kuiper by Amazon, OneWeb, Lightspeed by Telesat, among others, may prove to be transformational to the connectivity landscape based on their global coverage and their suitability for areas not served by fiber optic cable networks.
ADB’s developing member countries are well placed to leverage and benefit from this expansion of internet connectivity, particularly for underserved geographies and countries with limited international internet bandwidth, such as landlocked developing countries and small island developing states. With their global reach and coverage, LEO constellations are expected to dramatically expand the availability of high-speed broadband internet access with levels of service that rival fiber optic cables in terms of speed and latency, and at significantly reduced price levels compared to traditional geostationary satellites.
A proactive engagement with LEO solutions is likely to yield benefits as the relevant business models are still evolving. Well-informed early action by regulators and investors can ensure that developing member countries prepare for opportunities presented by the anticipated expansion of connectivity bandwidth.
The report is organized in six chapters;
- Introduction
- Background: Satellite Connectivity as a Means for Broadband Internet
- Innovation in Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellations
- In Focus: Starlink’s Deployment, Differentiation and Viability
- Opportunities and Barriers to Leveraging Low Earth Orbit Satellites in Developing Member Countries
- Recommendations: What Developing Members Can Do to Leverage the Opportunity Presented by Low Earth Orbit Satellites
Recommendations
Here are the recommendations which are further discussed in the report:
- Ensure flexible and streamlined licenses procedures for domestic internet service providers and satellite broadband providers.
- Allow for satellite provision of international internet capacity without a requirement for domestic ground stations to route traffic to and from satellite transponders.
- Reduce or remove import tariffs, quotas, or local manufacturing requirements for satellite user terminals.
- Engage in regional discussion and cooperation both in terms of regulatory convergence to improve the “ease of doing business” for LEO satellite connectivity as well as for potential demand aggregation between markets.
- Deploy universal access funding to support public access through community Wi-Fi deployments.
- Invest in developing accurate, publicly available, mobile coverage and network infrastructure availability maps to better identify geographic areas that are unserved and underserved by current service providers.
Download or Read the Report Here