Broad horizons for satellite communications with Intelsat

Rhys Morgan, RVP Europe and MENA sales, Intelsat, told IBC: “The company is also looking into the future, assessing how its activities can work in the cloud. The next generation of software is a defined networking strategy, which will be a combination of a massively increased terrestrial presence and more sophisticated backend. A new constellation of satellites that will learn that will feed into that – software defined, with a tremendous capacity yet very flexible.”

The biggest challenge, he said, is the transition from linear delivery.

“We have to deploy a lot of space-based infrastructure,” he said, “which historically has not been easy to repurpose. With the software defined approach, we can actually change the way the satellites perform quite quickly.

“By increasing flexibility and providing more automation so that all of our services are simpler – a ‘one pane of glass’ approach, which hasn’t been our traditional approach, we’re able to move to a more unified and seamless experience.”

The company is finishing the first phase of its C-Band clearing in the US, which will free up several hundred MHz of spectrum for mobile network operators, a project which, he said, has involved a lot of human, technical and physical resources.

It is also recovering from its Chapter 11 financial restructuring, which, said Rhys, “means we can do some exciting things related to integrated networks. We are also looking at bringing new partners on board to broaden our service portfolio and beginning to ramp up reinvestment in the business and future proof us and make sure that we’re here for our customers, and meeting the challenges that all of our partners are currently grappling with.”