The World Teleport Association (WTA) today released Ground Segment: Just a Service?, a new research report that examines the differing business models of today’s ground-segment-as-a-service (GSaaS) providers, the markets they serve, and the issues around integrating a teleport’s physical and data systems with this new class of service providers.
“Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen famously wrote that ‘software is eating the world,’” said executive director Robert Bell. “The latest example, in our industry at least, are the companies that provide a sophisticated software interface to allow users to book time and services on antennas operated by the companies themselves or partner/customers in the teleport sector. They are serving the need for intermittent service – what used to be called occasional use – by virtualizing access to idle capacity at hardware-based facilities, which is a real value to their customers. But according to the executives we interviewed, it remains far from clear just how much of the satellite communications world the GSaaS providers will be able to eat.”
WTA Members can access the report by signing into their accounts on the WTA website. The report is free for WTA Members and available for purchase by others. Members may directly download the report by following this link and logging in with their user name and password.
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In this report, WTA examines the impact that ground-segment-as-a-service, which can sound like a contradiction in terms, is having on the overall sector. No one has yet invented the data system that can exchange RF with orbiting satellites on its own. Physical communications infrastructure, from antennas and HPAS to modems and digitizers, is required to close the links, not to mention the staffing and expertise and management systems to make it happen. But GSaaS—even though it means different things to different providers and different users—is a reality, and traditional ground segment service providers risk finding themselves in the place of taxi drivers who kept driving around looking for fares while rideshare companies were giving their customers the power to book a ride on their smartphones. In this report, WTA examines the differing business models of today’s GSaaS providers, the markets they serve and the benefits and risks of integrating a teleport’s physical and data systems with this new class of service providers.
The World Teleport Association (www.worldteleport.org) has been helping its members aim higher since our founding in 1985. Today, WTA is the leading partner in growth for teleport operators, advocating for their commercial interests and promoting excellence in their business practices, technology and operations. The association publishes best-practice reports and presents webinars on technology changes and their business and market impacts. It also presents events and awards and provides global certification and assessment programs to validate excellence and drive improvement. Aiming higher creates opportunity. Aiming higher brings risk. WTA is dedicated to helping its members seize the opportunities and manage the risks to find the paths to growth in a massively changing market.
