Satellite Becomes Part of the Hybrid Network
Satellite broadband is moving beyond its traditional role as a standalone connection or backup service. As telecom operators and managed service providers combine satellite with fiber, 5G and other terrestrial infrastructure, satellite is increasingly becoming an active layer of a broader hybrid network, providing path diversity, extending coverage and helping enterprises maintain connectivity when terrestrial networks fall short.
Andrew Cavalier, principal analyst at ABI Research, explains why enterprise customers are emerging as early adopters of hybrid connectivity; how GEO, MEO and LEO can play different roles based on application requirements; and why intelligent orchestration will be critical to routing traffic seamlessly across satellite and terrestrial networks.
Q: As operators provide converged solutions combining satellite with fiber and 5G, are we moving to market in which satellite broadband is primarily positioned as one layer of a hybrid connectivity service rather than as a standalone product?
A: For enterprise, yes. We are essentially seeing a change in mindset, as new hybrid satellite-terrestrial solutions get announced by telcos and MSPs. Telcos such as Comcast and T-Mobile have launched managed hybrid connectivity solutions with Starlink for enterprise customers. AT&T is also layering Amazon Leo on top of its fiber/5G network, announcing its intent to enter the hybrid connectivity market. Satellite is shifting from passive backup to an active software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) multipath option, and the telco channel is becoming the go-to-market strategy for the next generation of hybrid connectivity services.
Q: What services and applications benefit most from combining satellite with fiber, 5G and other terrestrial networks?
A: Enterprise is really what these solutions are getting built for, and adoption is coming first to downtime-sensitive verticals, where a single lost connection carries a high cost. As Columbia Sportswear explains in a promotional video for T-Mobile, one down checkout lane in its top 25 stores can lead to over US$10,000 in business losses every hour. Downtime-sensitive enterprise verticals in retail, energy and smart city are the top beneficiaries of hybrid solutions, where applications include POS and payments, remote monitoring/SCADA, video surveillance and branch connectivity. Because these applications are business-critical, network resiliency and assurance are non-negotiable, and downtime presents operational and financial risks.
Q: Where do GEO, MEO and LEO fit in the emerging hybrid network, and what determines which orbit (or terrestrial network) carries a particular application?
A: Orbit choice really comes down to what each application needs: latency, throughput, coverage, mobility and cost. GEO remains cost-effective for broadcast, wide-area coverage, and latency-tolerant traffic; MEO suits high-throughput trunk and backhaul, and LEO targets latency-sensitive applications like real-time video, voice and cloud applications. Terrestrial networks will still carry most traffic, while satellite adds path diversity and expanded coverage for sites 5G and fiber can’t reach. Increasingly, orbits are being positioned for capability expansion as well as operational resiliency, from narrowband IoT to orbital compute. Key to all of this is orchestration, where hybrid solutions route each application across orbits and terrestrial infrastructure based on policy, under unified security, management and contracts.
Q: As hybrid networks bring together more constellations, orbits and terrestrial services, could spectrum availability and coordination become one of the biggest constraints on their growth?
A: Spectrum is one of the most consequential issues in telecom today and will certainly shape how hybrid networks grow. However, I see this issue being more of a constraint on satellite capacity than on hybrid solutions themselves. Most hybrid offerings today route traffic across networks that already have spectrum, so the pressure will appear upstream with Ku/Ka-band congestion, interference coordination and competition for spectrum suited for D2D.