These SSPAs are designed so that they become hardware-failure-proof, and are becoming very popular with most broadcasters. Randeep Sethi, Vice President, General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies Inc.

On market trends

The market has not shown very significant growth during the last two years. There has not been an increase of more than ten percent in the commercial market. There have however, been encouraging trends as of late, as a number of new broadcasters are scheduled to set up their own teleports. More and more commercial/government satellite-based networks are being planned. Defense is emerging as the single largest market booster for the satcom industry.

On opportunities and challenges

Increasing costs, accompanied by rising consumer expectations, continue to be a challenge. Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are prospective markets for Indian players.

ISRO is planning to set up a new satellite in orbit for the Ka band in near future. The Ka band features high data rates, and following that, the terminal sizes will be much smaller. GSAT 11 with Ka band payload is expected to be launched soon.

On technology trends

• Satellites are becoming stronger, giving broadcasters the advantage of using smaller systems with increased capabilities. As compression techniques have significantly improved, the same bandwidth can now be used to transmit more content.
• The trend is moving toward SMC and carbon fiber antennae, with high resistance to temperature and atmospheric effects, and a longer operational life span.
• Broadcasters are looking for dual band antennae, which are capable of functioning in varied bandwidths.
• Customers are planning to deploy mobile hub antennae as a backup. Companies are also looking at offering these mobile hub systems to other companies who are hoping to carry out maintenance on their own sites, or during emergencies.
• Fly away antennae penetration is growing due to its multi-feature operations, and quick deployment at site with assured quality standards.

On new products

General Dynamics Satcom Technologies have introduced a pioneering technology which is known as Satcom On The Move (SOTM^TM. Traditionally, in the case of mobile terminals while transmitting, the vehicle on which they have been mounted has to be stationary. SOTM^TM is a very powerful terminal which has a complete earth station packed in a dome, and is capable of transferring voice, video, and high-speed data, even when a vehicle is moving at a speed of 100-150 km/hr on rough terrain. The outer dome is to protect the equipment from the atmosphere, and maintains the stability of the system at such high speeds and rough motions.

Another important development is in terms of very high reliability electronic products like Quad Mod, and Modumax SSPAs. These SSPAs are designed so that they become hardware-failure-proof, and are becoming very popular with most broadcasters. All the sources of possible failure are swappable, making the operations uninterrupted even if there is an RF module failure, a power supply failure, or a cooling fan failure. These SSPAs are available from power ranging up to 3 kW in C Band, and up to 2 kW in Ku band.