Satellites are becoming stronger and more efficient, and this has given broadcasters the advantage of using smaller systems for transmission.

The antenna industry, estimated at Rs. 1100 crore in 2010-11, may be segmented as large-sized, DTH, and mobile antennae. The market comprises Rs. 150 crore, Rs. 900 crore, and Rs. 50 crore for the three antennae, respectively.

The large-sized antennae are primarily used by the broadcasters and the channels. The leading vendors are General Dynamics Satcom Technologies Asia (P) Ltd., ViaSat, Cobham, and Comsat. There would approximately be 300 units. In 2010-11, 13.7 million new DTH connections were added. These antennae, known as customer premises equipment (CPE), comprise low-noise block-down converter for satellite (LNB-S), the arm, and the reflectors. The mobile antennae mostly used for outside broadcast (OB) vans had sales of 175 numbers. The VSAT antennae, transportable antennae, and microwave antennae find application in the telecom services industry. The leading vendors are General Dynamics, AvL, and Swedish. The Indian companies procure and market these antennae as the system integrators. Essel Shyam and IndiaSign are among the prime system integrators.

The antennae industry is upbeat on the forthcoming demand from expansion of DD Direct Plus, increase in number of channels, and imperative digitization of cable TV by 2014.

Global Scenario

The global market for antennae for wireless infrastructure, including base station, fixed, and active types, is set to reach almost US$ 2 billion in 2016. Widespread installations of active antennae, which combine the base station's RF electronics in the antenna housing mounted at the top of the tower, have been recently introduced. Apart from the active segment, the antenna market can be described as stable and mature. The antenna vendor ecosystem is slightly unusual that there are multiple tiers and many participants. The bulk of these vendors are small companies that command only fractional percentages of the total available market.

The global wireless base transmitting stations (BTS) antenna market will experience a three-year growth cycle from 2011 through 2013 before declining in 2014. However, it is expected that the second half of 2011 will be weaker than the first half. Multi-band BTS antennae grew 128 percent year over year and are expected to increase by another 50 percent through 2013 as demands for reducing site costs are driving the adoption of this technology. The emergence of the new 800 MHz digital dividend spectrum in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and the 2600 MHz LTE spectrum is driving demand for multi-band antennae.

Remote electrical tilt (RET)-enabled variable electrical tilt (VET) antennae continue to gain market acceptance and have reached a penetration rate of 29 percent in 2010 and it is expected that this segment will become the largest segment by 2012.

China and India continued to be the largest BTS antenna markets in 2010 at a combined 18 percent; however, it is expected that North America and Western Europe will have the strongest growth profiles through 2013.

Total global revenue from distributed antenna system (DAS) is expected to surpass US$ 13 billion in 2015. By 2012, the value of all DAS projects in North America, with the exception of metro area outdoor DAS, nears US$ 2 billion. In the Caribbean and Latin American regions, DAS revenue is expected to increase 20 percent or more over the forecast period.

The VSAT antenna market was a bit slow last year but is likely to marginally grow in the next few years. The year 2010-11 witnessed a number of new broadcasters who invested in setting up their teleports. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, opting for new HD channel set-up, proved to be good markets for Indian manufacturers. The market drivers for new antennae are upcoming new channels that will boost the demand for new satellites. The number of teleports will increase with new channels. The market is growing and will require new satellites. Flyaway antenna penetration is growing due to its multi-feature operations, and quick deployment at site with assured quality standards. Broadcasters are looking forward to dual-band antennae, which are capable of functioning in varied bandwidths.

Trends. The latest trend in the antenna industry is HDTV antenna. Since more TV channels are telecasting in HD format, viewers have found an optional way to obtain HDTV programs. Connecting to a high-end TV antenna often results in improved picture quality, with free HDTV programs. With an increasing number of HDTV owners, there are more and more demand for HDTV programs. With DTH operators offering more HDTV choices, the renewed consumer interest in TV antennae is understandable. India is becoming a hub for international events like IPL and Commonwealth games, where HD transmission is required. Manufacturers and retailers are taking advantage of the current, heightened consumer interest in all things related to digital HDTV - including HDTV antennae. The penetration is getting better for OB vans as roads improve. The infrastructure may have saturated a little; however, there is still a way ahead with HD. More and more customers are demanding HD-upgradeable or HD-ready solutions as the price differentials between SD and HD keeps decreasing day by day. With HDTV invading the TV market, it is time to say goodbye to these rods.

Penetration of mobile antennae is growing. They are not costly because cutdown on civil installations lowers the total entrastructure costs, lowering the total infrastructure costs. The quality remains the same as regulations assure quality standards. However, redeployment of mobile antennae is cumbersome. The industry is looking for dual-band antennae, which are capable of functioning in both C-band and Ku-band. The main aim is having a standard antennae working in the definite C- or Ku-band and a backup antennae capable of switching to different bands as necessity dictates.

Earth Station and DTH Antennae

A satellite earth station has multiple antennae or an antenna farm, which function as a hub connecting a satellite or geocentric orbital network with a terrestrial telecommunication network.

A broadcast coming directly from a studio at a single radio or television station is simply sent through the air chain to the transmitter, and then from the antenna on the tower out to the world. Programming may also come through a communications satellite, played either live or recorded for later transmission. Networks stations may simulcast the same programming at the same time originally via microwave link, now usually by satellite.

The final leg of broadcast distribution is how the signal gets to the listener or viewer. It may come over the air as with a radio station or television station to an antenna and receiver, or it may come through cable television or cable radio directly from a network.

The size of an antenna is decided by the link and the amount of carriers that are being utilized. According to regulations, a standard size is followed for a particular bandwidth. Earth station antennae vary in sizes from 3.8 M to 9 M to 11 M, and are used by broadcasters to transmit signals. These are in turn used by DTH players to receive it. The trend is moving toward SMC antennae, which have a high resistance to temperature and atmospheric effects, and have an operational time period of almost 15 years.

There are two ways of using these antennae: the first being transmission by broadcasters, and the second being DTH operators receiving the content and retransmitting.

Most of the transmission by broadcasters is in C-band and by DTH operators in Ku-Band. For C-band, the antenna size is bigger and the advantage of using Ku-band is the smaller antenna size.

Due to continuous operational antennae, broadcasters are unable to carry out maintenance, which has emerged as a major issue as these antennae are operational for a time period of 15-20 years. A recent trend in the industry is the creation of a backup system, which comprises one standard antenna and another smaller antenna, so that a switchover can be made in case there is a need for maintenance.

In the case of DTH operators working in the Ku-band, there is a high rate of rain attenuation, with a loss of around 20 dB that cannot be covered by any amplifier. This has given rise to two options - the company can have two antennae and carry the transmission half and half; and to have a geo-redundancy site, where two antennae are placed in different geographic locations, so that in case of rain in one region, the transmission can be shifted to another.

This is smoothly carried out by MNC systems that monitor the signal, and in case of a signal drop, the transmission is shifted to the other antennae. With this, the up-time of the transmission is very high.

Most of the DTH antennae are metal antennae. These are cheaper and have a lifetime of 2-3 years. These also help in keeping the lowest cost package for the customers of DTH operators.

Transportable Antennae

Mobile terminals are mounted on a car or a truck, and require the complete vehicle. These are intelligent systems that are automatically programmed to change their trajectory to align with a satellite.

In the case of mobile terminals, while transmitting, the vehicle cannot move. One needs to stop the vehicle to transfer. The new trend is an on-the-move terminal that has a complete earth station packed in a dome, and is capable of transferring data even when a vehicle is moving at a speed of 100-150 km/hr.

Flyaway terminals provide better mobility, as these can be taken apart and flown to any location. Available in sizes ranging from 1 meter to 1.8 meter, these are intelligent systems with a setup time of 20-30 minutes that self-adjust to a satellite automatically. These are mostly SMC antennae made from carbon fiber, giving them the advantage of being lightweight, as well as rugged and free from corrosion. These are also very tolerant to temperature changes, and their efficiency does not change with time. These are easy to use and can operate in C-band, Ku-band, and even in Ka-band.

Satellites are becoming stronger and more efficient, and this has given broadcasters the advantage of using smaller systems for transmission. As compression methods have improved, the same bandwidth can be used to transmit more contents.

There are a number of teleports that have recently come up. Broadcasters can either set up their own units or approach the teleport operators or service providers. The upfront initial investment is a major deciding factor in these decisions. Broadcasters can approach teleport operators to transmit their programs; this can lead to a broadcaster giving huge recurring amounts of money every month.

In some parts of India, the satellite backbone is used to transmit content from one part of the country to a specific region, and then the terrestrial antennae network is used to transmit in the local region. This is known as relay transmission, where a combination of satellite and terrestrial transmission is employed.

VSAT Antennae

A very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a stabilized maritime antenna, with a dish smaller than 3 M. VSATs access satellites in geosynchronous orbit to relay data from small remote earth stations to other terminals or master earth station hubs.

VSATs are most commonly used to transmit narrow band data or broadband data, for the provision of satellite Internet access to remote locations, VoIP or video. VSATs are also used for transportable, on-the-move, or mobile maritime communications.

VSAT dishes provide two-way satellite Internet communications for both consumers, and private networks for organizations. Today, most VSATs operate in Ku-Band, and C-band is restricted to less-populated regions of the world. There is a move toward new Ka-band satellites operating at higher frequencies, offering greater performance at lower costs. These antennae vary from 74 cm to 120 cm (29 inch to 47 inch) in most applications, though C-band VSATs may be as large as 4 M (13 feet).

A growing threat to VSAT antennae is fiber cables. Major parts of India are now connected with fiber cables; this in turn may lead to shrinkage of the market for VSATs. However, fiber cables are difficult to lie down and require a large amount of time. The biggest problem with fiber cables is the last mile connectivity.

Major Players

AvL Technologies Inc. delivers superior mobile satellite communication antenna systems and positioners. AvL's visionary approach to mobile satellite antennas and positioners has established the company as a global leader in innovation and reliability. The product line features a full range of lightweight, rapidly deployable, self-contained antenna and positioner systems. AvL antenna systems enable efficient and cost-effective voice, video, and data connectivity to be established quickly without the need for specialized training. AvL is also one of the largest producers of high-performance, Ka-band ready, solid carbon-fiber CF antennae. AvL's growing CF product line includes 1 M, 1.2 M, 1.6 M, 2.0 M, and 2.4 M apertures. Each of these apertures can be configured for case-based or vehicle-mount systems for diverse, worldwide applications.

Cobham Plc. designs, simulates, prototypes, and manufactures a variety of antennae operating from VHF to 6 GHz. Many antennae are offered as standard products, particularly those used for microwave video transmission and reception. The company designs electrically small antennae, packaging them in devices with limited or unusual space constraints. The company takes pride in matching the antenna to the output of the transmitter, maximizing the effective radiation characteristics of the device. Another area of expertise is in body-worn antenna systems.

Comsat Systems Pvt. Ltd. manufactures antenna systems for satellite communications, microwave communications, and other antennae in the HF/UHF/VHF frequencies. Presently, the company is manufacturing a wide range of large steerable earth station antennae with Cassegrain/Gregorian configuration for hubs/teleports and VSAT antennae in C/Ext C/Ku/Ka bands of both prime focus and off-set types. The company manufactures mobile VSATs for SNG/ OB vans.

General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies (GDST) offers mobile VSAT, flyaway, SNG, small fixed, medium fixed, large fixed, and multi-beam receive-only antennae. The antenna division specializes in fixed and transportable antenna systems in sizes ranging from 0.6 M to 32 M with 658,000 sq ft of manufacturing area located in Texas, North Carolina, Germany, and India with four test ranges.

Modern Communications and Broadcast Systems (MCBS) manufactures and supplies antenna system for various Satcom, DTH, VSAT, and SAT triple-play applications. The company has a base of around 5 million DTH antennae and systems. APNA DTH is a registered trade mark of MCBS for DTH terminals designed and developed for various DTH platforms in India. It consists of a variety of dish antenna terminals with low-noise block-down feedhorn converter (LNBF) and STBs to suit needs of all customers.

Kathrein India Pvt. Ltd. manufactures professional transmitting antennae for radio, TV, multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), digital audio broadcasting (DAB), and DVB.

Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) manufactures a complete range of broadcast antennae and combining equipment for VHF/UHF TV and FM services. All of its products are supported with design, project management, installation, and commissioning services. RFS's commercial and specialized development software forms a comprehensive resource to allow synthesis and analysis of antennae and filter networks.

This article is based on research conducted by Broadcast & Cablesat in October, 2011