The sky sets no limit for satellite communications

Date: 15/05/1997

“ONLY connect” was novelist EM Forster's recurring remark as his books outlined the difficulties of crossing religious, cultural, and class boundaries.

Almost a century later, the world's phone companies and their customers are taking those words to heart and connecting like there was no tomorrow. Even the sky is no limit for corporate promiscuity and fast-moving business strategies.

Low earth orbit satellite systems (LEOS) are seen as the next step in the sector's evolution and are the focus of World Telecommunications Day this Saturday (17 May).

The new systems are still in their infancy, but explosive growth is predicted over the next decade. They will allow the world's remotest regions to be connected up without the need for the expensive infrastructure which supports most of today's big telecommunications companies.

“A phone box could be set up in the Gobi Desert linked to a satellite which would allow calls to be made even from there,” said one industry observer.

The big question that has to be answered by telecoms companies and their regulators is whether the ability of the new systems to link anywhere with anywhere means they will be a plaything for the rich or will chase a mass market.

The former outcome is probable in the US, where there are large holes in mobile phone coverage, but looks less plausible in Europe.

Hundreds of LEOS should be sent into the sky by a handful of mostly US-led consortiums, with the Commission sounding a warning that EU companies are missing out.

Europe's stake beyond the stratosphere is mainly made up of satellites from the commercial spin-off of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). On earth, Europe's national phone companies will have to bury their terrestrial antagonisms if they are to achieve their higher ambitions.