SkyBridge Limited Partnership, a satellite-based telecommunications system providing global broadband access via local operators, today announced that it is increasing its global system capacity by almost 50 percent. The growth from 144 Gbps to over 200 Gbps will enable SkyBridge to serve more than 20 million users worldwide when the full system is operational. Service will begin in 2001.
The decision to expand the constellation was made in light of the
results of global market studies that estimate that the market for
broadband services will be approximately 400 million users by 2005, a
substantial portion of which will use satellite technologies.
All of the major design characteristics of the SkyBridge system
have been maintained. The increase in the number of satellites,
resulting in more satellites in view from any given point on the
earth, allows for an increase in capacity without modifying any of the
system’s original technical and service objectives. In particular, the
expanded system will continue to avoid all harmful interference to
satellite and terrestrial communications systems.
“Our market forecasts and the conclusions drawn from meetings we
have had with telecom operators from around the world convinced us
that the demand for bandwidth will be far higher than we had
originally anticipated,” said Pascale Sourisse, president and CEO of
SkyBridge. “By making the decision to expand the constellation now, we
are minimizing the impact on system cost, keeping it under $4.2
billion; a 20-percent increase in system cost results in a 50-percent
increase in capacity. The resulting configuration boosts predicted
revenue streams dramatically and makes SkyBridge even more
compelling.”
According to Mrs. Sourisse, “This decision was made, in
consultation with our strategic partners, during the final phase of
the system design optimization process, prior to entering the
construction phase. It is fully in line with our development roadmap.”
A large industrial team is now in place under the leadership of
Alcatel to design and develop SkyBridge. More than 400 engineers
currently work on the program. These large-scale engineering
activities have enabled SkyBridge to finalize the design
characteristics of the system.
Editor’s notes Alcatel is the General Partner of SkyBridge LP.
The other partners of SkyBridge include the following group of leading
industrial companies: Loral Space & Communications of the United
States; Toshiba Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Sharp
Corporation of Japan; SPAR Aerospace Limited of Canada; Aerospatiale
and CNES of France; and SRIW, a Belgian investment entity.
Based on a constellation of 80 Low-Earth-Orbiting (LEO)
satellites, SkyBridge will deliver global connectivity to business and
residential users worldwide with performance comparable to that of
future terrestrial broadband technologies:
SkyBridge will complement and extend terrestrial networks and
help them solve the “last mile” problem by providing an instant
broadband connection to users that previously only had narrowband
access.
The SkyBridge system will optimize the use of the radio frequency
spectrum by operating in the Ku-band, while fully protecting
geostationary satellite systems and terrestrial services within the
Ku-band through an innovative frequency re-use concept. The 1997 World
Radiocommunication Conference approved this approach. SkyBridge
services will be delivered locally through national and regional
telecommunications operators and other service providers.
