There has been a lot of excitement in the VSAT industry, with the DoT giving
a green signal to the VSAT service providers for offering Ku-band services in
India. However, there still exists confusion regarding the benefits that the
industry can leverage by adopting this technology.
Why Ku-band?
India is equally divided between the temperate and tropical
zones, which results in a fair amount of rainfall and multiple weather changes,
having a considerable bearing on high frequency communication. This combined
with the low availability of power on the Indian satellites, prevented the use
of higher frequency bands, such as Ku-band. Hence, to start with, we had to
depend on the more rugged communication band–extended C-band, for almost a
decade of VSAT communication in India.
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Advantages of Ku-band over Extended C |
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High transmission rate: Even though TRAI has
recommended higher transmission rate (up to 512 Kbps) for both extended
C-band and Ku-band, shortage in extended C-band capacity will see such high
speeds being achieved only on Ku-band. Ku-band will open up new markets in
high data transmission that can support more users per VSAT and new
applications like video conferencing, video up-linking, etc.
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More satellite bandwidth availability: Extended
C-band is presently being used only by the INSAT series of satellite, and
hence, there is no fall back arrangement in case of catastrophic failure of
INSAT satellites. On the other hand, Ku-band is a standard band and is being
used extensively, worldwide, and many international satellites operating on
this band are having their beams over the Indian sub continent. Thus, there
is enough backup available in Ku-band. Also, the Department of Space will
lease additional capacity in foreign satellites, if needed. Therefore, the
demand for bandwidth growth can be easily met if Ku-band is used.
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Smaller antenna size: As per the DoT regulation,
the minimum antenna size in a remote area for a TDMA-based network is 1.2
meter and 2.4 meter for DAMA network. Since the antenna size is smaller in
Ku-band as compared to the extended C-band, it results in cost saving for
the end customer.
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No interference: C-band is commonly shared between
terrestrial networks and satellite stations. However, 300 MHz is available
for extended C-band, but it is not completely coordinated by the DoT, and
therefore is not completely available for VSAT services. Whereas Ku-band
satellite frequencies are exclusive and are not used by terrestrial systems.
Hence, frequency coordination issues are not faced in Ku-band VSATs. The
entire 500 MHz on Ku-band is cleared for VSAT services.
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Low cost equipment due to economies-of-scale: Most
VSAT manufacturers build VSAT systems for Ku-band because these systems have
a worldwide demand. Large-scale production of equipment and volumes of
deployment, drive the price points low. The smaller antenna, further,
reduces the price. Overall, it makes the customers’ business size more
competitive by minimizing transaction costs without compromising on high
quality and reliability.
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Therefore, with Ku-band coming in, more and more high-bandwidth
applications would be possible on VSATs, thereby, sustaining the growth of
the VSAT industry. Moreover, Ku-band being internationally tried and tested
by all the developed countries, and being backed by scores of foreign
satellite beam footage over India, bandwidth constraints of extended C-band
would be a thing of past.
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Ku-band however, offers much more advantages than the
extended C-band, making this change a dynamic step towards technological
progress. Ku-band technology is being used extensively for satellite
connectivity, worldwide. With countries like the US, Japan and almost the entire
Europe leveraging this technology, Ku-band has become the international de facto
standard for satellite communications. In India, with the successful launch of
INSAT 3B on 22 March 2000, the bandwidth availability for the corporates has
increased tremendously. In such a scenario, Ku-band benefits for the customer
would include–ease of transponder availability, scope for high-bandwidth
applications (breaking the 64 Kbps barrier), smaller antenna and the same base
band, which is presently used in the extended C-band.
IV Rajesh, general manager, satellite services, HCL Comnet
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