The Next Broadband Frontier

Copyright 2001Electronic Commerce World. Full text in April 2001 edition. Excerpts below involve Helius.

Broadband technology is literally zooming into the space age. As wired systems increase in popularity and sophistication, developers are searching for the next big broadband frontier. And high on their agenda is the satellite sector.

While broadband satellite transmissions still is a relatively novel concept, Pioneer Consulting LLC projects the market will reach $28.8 billion by 2004. The Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm attributes the increasing interest to confidence in the satellite industry among investors and a demand for global connectivity.

Meanwhile, Dataquest, San Jose, Calif., a division of Gartner Inc., says demand for Internet connections will increase the number of satellite terminals from 293,500 in 2000, to 7.2 million terminals by 2005.

Broadband is a type of data transmission in which a single medium is able to simultaneously carry several channels. While wire is the most common type of broadband system, more developers are looking at satellites as a way to provide quicker and higher quality data services. Satellites can support uplinks and downlinks, and telephone and digital data connections. ...

Another niche player, Helius Inc., Lindon, Utah, is providing software for content distribution and Internet protocol multicast, in which a single stream of data is sent to multiple receivers. Myron Mosbarger, Helius president and CEO, says he expects satellite to prosper because he believes it produces the highest-quality broadband service with more readily available bandwidth.

"That's most significant when you uplink from a satellite to an information source," he said. "Data does not have to traverse through a [fixed] route. The quality in which it is sent is the same as the quality [in which] it is received."

The Internet protocol router also could emerge as a broadband staple. While Mosbarger says IP still is unknown to most IT and network administrators, he says more companies will explore sophisticated connectivity options.

Executives from GlobeCast America, Miami, a provider of broadcast services and a co-developer of the Helius IP router, say the tool is well positioned as it is compatible with multiple systems. "As a result, when we install the Helius router at a customer's site, we do so safely with the knowledge that it will interface with that site's existing LAN, re- multicasting the received IP signal to desired desktops," says Jonathan Feldman, GlobeCast senior vice president, multimedia. "The fact that the Helius router is scalable allows us to adapt new products and to expand as the demand for IP services grows."...

Though satellite broadband is a relatively novel concept, it is gaining popularity because of its potential for quicker and higher-quality transmissions. As more companies enter the market, and the number of satellite terminals increases, prospects for success are looking up.

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