Northern Sky: Mobile Satellite Services to Remain a Niche but Highly Viable Market

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 2/Satnews Daily/ ¾ Consumption of high-speed data and not narrowband voice will sustain next generation mobile satellite services, Northern Sky Research concluded in its latest report, adding the market is estimated to generate $3.7 billion in cumulative revenue thru 2010.

In its "Next-Generation Mobile Satellite Services" report, Northern Sky said revenue growth for mobile satellite services is driven largely by the government/military sector and the commercial airline industry. It considered the government/military sector the anchor tenant as revenue streams will sustain R&D efforts, particularly in antenna system development where there are technical challenges currently that need to be addressed. But Northern Sky said the commercial airline industry is expected to drive revenue streams as well, as high-paying international business travelers on long-haul trips will increase Internet usage in accessing corporate intranets.

"Sustained government use will actually lead to positive spillover to commercial sectors as higher orders lead to economies-of-scale and a subsidization of R&D for commercial applications," said Jose del Rosario, senior analyst of Northern Sky Research and author of the report.

From a regional comparison, the report forecasts that the Africa/Middle East region will dominate the market until 2010. From 16% of all revenues in 2003, the region is forecasted to account for 22% of overall revenues in 2010 and 19% of cumulative revenues over an eight-year period.

Government use is currently prevalent in the Africa/Middle East region and is expected to continue within the report's forecast period. Many deployments and even technological benchmarks are being implemented using the conditions of the Africa/Middle East to develop products, which should continue over time, said Northern Sky.