|
One of the current priorities for the international
community is to bridge the “digital divide,” a gap primarily defined
as the unequal distribution of telecommunications infrastructure
between regions and countries, and between urban and rural areas. A
possible way to redress this infrastructure imbalance and to
accelerate the advent of a global, connected information and
communication society would be through the creation of an innovative
public-private sector partnership that establishes a global broadband
satellite infrastructure (GBSI).
The GBSI Initiative that was launched by the
Director General of the International Telecommunications Satellite
Organization (ITSO) in 2002 within the framework of the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, was
created to define a concrete action plan to transform the “digital
divide” into “ digital opportunities.”
It is now universally accepted that ICTs are the
driving force behind economic and social development. In particular,
high-speed Internet has become a powerful and effective means to
deliver numerous and vital educational, health-related, electronic
commerce and e-government services at unparalleled cost and
performance conditions.
Satellite technology offers the advantages of
universal coverage, point-to-multipoint transmission capabilities,
seamless transmission and rapid deployment when compared to cable
technology. Overall, the satellite industry already has considerable
resources and potential to provide universal high-speed Internet
access to developing countries, as well as to rural and remote areas
in developed countries where terrestrial infrastructure is
non-existent or its rollout is prohibitive. Unfortunately, although
over 260 commercial satellites in geostationary orbit cover the entire
planet –averaging more than one satellite per country– over half of
the global population has never used a telephone. It is important to
note that over 69 countries accounting for more than 60 percent of the
world population currently depends on satellites for their domestic
and international telecommunication services.
How then can this available satellite capacity be
matched with the pressing telecommunications needs of the developing
world?
An examination of the global situation, in terms of
utilizing satellite resources to provide not only basic telephony
services but high-speed Internet access, shows that:
First, user terminals are expensive and cumbersome.
Because user terminals traditionally have been based on proprietary
standards, satellite systems generally do not allow interoperability
with other user terminals. This has proven to be an important barrier
to achieving the economies of scale required for mass production of
low-cost equipment.
Second, the allocation of frequency spectrum and
orbital locations for Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) are not optimized
for use by inexpensive terminals accessing broadband services.
Decisions regarding these allocations were, in fact, based on a small
number of large terminals (earth stations) coexisting with terrestrial
stations. For example, the allotments under planned bands established
by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (Appendix 30B Plan)
are based on 3m diameter Ku band earth stations.
Third, the “bandwidth” or satellite transmission
capacity is costly. Satellite operators not only have to contend with
lengthy and complex Radio Regulations to access spectrum and orbital
resources, but also have to overcome many administrative, technical
and regulatory hurdles in order to gain access to domestic markets.
Some of the issues that satellite operators experience include
restrictions on user terminals (including utilization taxes and fees),
complex and costly type-approval procedures and reluctance to use
so-called network “head-end” or “Gateway” stations located outside the
national territory.
Fourth, there is a large market for broadband
services as almost 30 percent of the population of industrialized
countries live in rural and suburban areas. More than 70 percent of
the population in developing countries will never be served by
cable-modem or DSL technologies.
These are just a few issues that illustrate the
urgent need to facilitate the emergence of a “global broadband
satellite infrastructure,” which is capable of providing high-speed
Internet access on a global and non-discriminatory basis.
At a time when most intergovernmental satellite
organizations have privatized their commercial activities to take
advantage of the opportunities offered by the liberalization and
privatization of telecommunications markets around the world, and to
allow them to better accomplish their public service obligations, it
is not feasible or even realistic to envision a new global project for
broadband services that would be fully owned and financed by the
public sector or even by a single operator. Therefore, any initiative
to provide universal broadband services must rely on market forces and
on the involvement of all operators on a voluntary basis.
In order to promote access by all to satellite
high-speed Internet, it is necessary to forge a public-private sector
partnership that is dynamic and focused in its approach. Such a
partnership could be similar to the one taken by the European Union
for the promotion and adoption of the “Global System Mobile” (GSM)
standard for digital cellular communications. One of the main elements
contributing to the success of the GSM standard was the successful
partnership between companies, manufacturers, governments, the
European Commission and the relevant technical standardization bodies.
No one, including the Europeans themselves, could have predicted that
the GSM Initiative would become a de facto global standard in less
than a decade, allowing more than one billion worldwide users to
exchange voice, data and images. Indeed, the success of GSM is one of
the success stories of the European Union.
A similar model of private-public partnership needs
to be the basis of the future development of the GBSI Initiative so
that access to high-speed Internet connections through affordable,
plug-and-play user terminals can become available to all. This
partnership would be forged between various players in the government
and private sector.
The role of government in ensuring the success of
the Initiative is essential. Indeed, it is through governments that
the necessary legal and administrative framework will need to be
defined and adopted in the appropriate regulatory fora and in the
different countries around the world. Governments must ensure that a
harmonized and minimal satellite telecommunications regulatory
framework is established that promotes competition and broadband
services. Such a framework should address key issues related to
“landing rights’ for satellite operators, licensing and fair
competition. Also, there is a need for governments to allocate
worldwide harmonized radio-frequency bands that are able to ensure
global coverage, and which are exclusively dedicated to the provision
of high-speed Internet services.
The political will and commitment of governments to
develop a worldwide market for satellite broadband services will
present tremendous business opportunities for the private sector.
Therefore, the telecommunications industry, and particularly the
satellite operators, should recognize these opportunities and take a
proactive approach through the development of a global infrastructure
to provide these services. It is important, for example, that the
private sector agree on a universal and open technical standard for
user terminals to access high-speed Internet service. This standard
would encourage mass production of low-cost terminals.
Since the GBSI Initiative first was forwarded to
the preparatory process of the WSIS in 2002, the international
telecommunication community, and especially the satellite industry,
has actively supported the concept. Within the framework of the ITU,
and after receiving the green light from the ITU Council, the ITU
Radiocommunication Assembly in its meeting in June 2003 decided to
complete the necessary studies by 2005 related to the frequency
requirements and standardization issues. The ITU World
Radiocommunication Conference in 2003 put the issue on the agenda for
the next WRC conference in 2007 for decisions to be taken.
The results of the December 2003 WSIS in Geneva
also were very supportive of the GBSI Initiative. The Summit
recognized the relevance of an appropriate regulatory regime; the need
for international, open, interoperable and non-discriminatory
standards; and the importance of spectrum management. In addition, the
Action Plan adopted at the Summit incorporates a series of actions to
be undertaken by the ITU in order to “promote the provision of global
high-speed satellite services for underserved areas such as remote and
sparsely populated areas.”
Subsequent to the WSIS meeting in December 2003, a
number of WSIS participants requested that the ITSO’s Director General
circulate the text of a “Memorandum of Understanding to Facilitate the
Emergence of a Global Broadband Satellite Infrastructure” (“GBSI
MoU”). This MoU seeks support from the different stakeholders of the
GBSI Initiative, although the expression of interest in the MoU has no
legally or financially binding consequences on the MoU signatories and
already has been signed by a significant number of stakeholders.
In conclusion, today satellite telecommunication
technologies make it possible to provide universal access to
high-speed Internet services within a reasonable timeframe and at
affordable cost. The satellite industry and governments have a unique
opportunity to partner their efforts to transform the dream into a
reality.
José Toscano
International Telecommunications Satellite
Organization
ITSO
|
G
