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LeoSat Plots Plans for Orbital, High-Capacity Backbone![]() As it plows ahead with a plan to develop and launch dozens of low-earth orbit satellites, LeoSat Enterprises intends to zig while others are zagging. Rather than focusing on delivering broadband to the masses in all parts of the globe -- hallmarks of LEO-focused projects such as OneWeb and SpaceX's Starlink -- LeoSat Enterprises wants to get down to business, namely with banks, governments, multinational corporations and other enterprise-level customers. The interconnected constellation of 78 to 108 LEO satellites that LeoSat has in mind will attempt to serve them with a high-capacity (up to 5.2 Gbit/s), low-latency (down as low as 20 milliseconds) backbone. "I was drawn to this particular project because it is designed to do something different than everybody else is trying to do," Mark Rigolle, LeoSat's CEO, said. "We've decided to go after the corporate market."
Rigolle, a satellite industry exec late of O3b Networks, SES S.A. (Paris: SESG) and Kacific, believes that LeoSat's approach will help it secure big deals with a select group of enterprise-level customers. LeoSat, which believes an investment of about $3.5 billion will be needed to fulfill its vision, claims to have more than $1.2 billion in customer commitments so far. Examples of companies with pre-launch deals with LeoSat include DCS Telecom (a telecoms provider for Middle East, Africa and Asia), GlobalSat Inc. (Pan-American communications services provider), Globecomm Systems Inc. (a connectivity provider serving the enterprise, telecoms, energy and government sectors), CopaSat (communications provider for the US government and military) and Supernet, an enterprise network provider based in Pakistan. LeoSat plans to have its birds flying at an altitude of about 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles), roughly six times higher than the International Space Station, and about two times higher than what's being planned by OneWeb and Starlink.
![]() An artist rendering that illustrates LeoSat's vision for a globally interconnected,
fishnet-style satellite data network. Each of LeoSat's satellites will be equipped with north-south and east-west lasers that allow for an interconnected, fishnet-like arrangement and will, therefore, avoid the "bent pipe" architecture that satellites tend to use to relay data in conjunction with fiber-connected gateway stations on the ground. LeoSat believes that its approach can rival terrestrial networks. "It's a place that satellite has never played," Rigolle said. LeoSat's is initially planning to deploy 78 of its satellites to provide global coverage, and then enhance that by adding more to the constellation in increments.
Vision for 2022 But to hit that, LeoSat has to put in place several pieces to a puzzle that includes the aforementioned funding, finalizing its design and obtaining regulatory approvals (LeoSat's plan got the green light from the FCC late last year). LeoSat, he added, will pursue an "A" funding round as it finalizes the design and looks to lock in a manufacturing contract. Much more about Rigolle and LeoSat's plan will be detailed in a "CxO Spotlight" feature set to appear Monday, February 18 on sister site, Light Reading. — Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading Home page image source: LeoSat
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Company's new, 'reimagined' pay-TV service and home wireless broadband efforts are starting out separately, but will eventually be fused into bundles.
In wake of its DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade completion and lower spending on set-tops and other CPE, Charter expects cable capex to fall to $7 billion in 2019, almost $2 billion less than what it spent in 2018.
Partner Perspectives - from our sponsors
A Personal Coach to Improve Your Firm's Fitness
By Eddy Vergauwen, Lead for Global Services Marketing at Nokia Fixed Networks ![]() ![]() ARCHIVED | February 14, 2019, 11am EST
Tune in to Broadband World News Radio on February 14 at 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT / 4 p.m. UK when John Isch, Practice Director of the Network and Voice Center of Excellence at Orange Business Services, discusses use cases, ROI and misconceptions of software-defined wide-area networks, virtualization and cloud. ![]() Industry Announcements
![]() ARCHIVED
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
12 p.m. New York / 5 p.m. London Consumers are buying millions of IoT devices, from smart thermostats and security systems to intelligent entertainment setups and furniture. Yet many of these devices remain isolated because home users are uncomfortable connecting them to each other – or even their WiFi. After all, their WiFi network was probably designed only to handle a few laptops, a gaming system and a couple of smartphones. Now, demand on the network is surging and even though you're delivering 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps, that doesn't necessarily mean the broadband power is in the right place or reaches every corner of a home. Even if WiFi coverage is sufficient, typing is not on trend. Voice is far more natural, easier and faster. Using a TV keyboard is archaic when more and more households have access to cloud-based voice services, like Amazon Alexa. This webinar will explore how service providers can create a comfortable, truly smart home for consumers – simultaneously driving up margin and loyalty. ![]() |
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