OneWeb and international satellite company Intelsat have struck a deal to target in-flight connectivity.

The distribution agreement allows Intelsat to distribute OneWeb’s low-earth-orbit (LEO) broadband satellite systems to airlines worldwide in tandem with Intelsat's existing geostationary service.

It is being billed as a “multi-orbit solution” to airline broadband that will reduce significant gaps in coverage and/or capacity at hubs and on transoceanic and polar routes for Internet browsing, texting, streaming, cellphone service and email.

The companies say that multi-orbit hybrid coverage should be ready to take off in 2024.

According to a report earlier this month from Verified Market Research, the in-flight connectivity and entertainment market — including hardware and content — is projected to reach over $12 billion by 2030, growing at a rate of over 8% per year. ■

Alaskan cable and telecom provider GCI said it has entered into a $150 million partnership with Intelsat to expand its geosynchronous satellite capacity to meet growing demand in rural areas across the state.

According to GCI, the deal provides continued access to Intelsat’s C-band and Ku-band capacity -- already part of GCI’s portfolio -- but also provides new access to Ka-band spectrum across the state. 

As part of the deal Intelsat will supply a multiple-satellite solution over an enhanced managed earth station platform and a tri-band (C, Ku, and Ka) network that will cover the entire state of Alaska.

In a press release, GCI CEO Ron Duncan said the Intelsat deal will nearly quadruple the company’s available satellite capacity and is part of a much broader rural connectivity strategy that also includes its ambitious AU-Aleutians Fiber Project. 

“Today’s announcement is another example of GCI’s continued commitment to our rural customers and our willingness to make the investment necessary to serve small, remote communities across the state,” Duncan said in the press release.

Also Read: GCI Targets 17 Rural Communities for 2021 Broadband Upgrades 

GCI is Alaska’s largest telecommunications company and has delivered satellite-based connectivity for 35 years. The company said the Intelsat deal will ensure it has sufficient capacity to meet the needs of rural customers like regional tribal health care providers, school districts, government agencies, and businesses.

“What sets GCI’s satellite service apart is that we manage the network from end to end, combining Intelsat’s satellite capacity with GCI’s satellite engineering and remote logistics know-how,” GCI SVP of corporate development Billy Wailand said in a press release.

Also Read: GCI Commits to Deploy 2 Gbps Service in Alaska in 2022 

The agreement also adds another tool in GCI’s broadband service approach, which includes a mix of fiber, microwave, GEO satellites and eventually low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. GCI has been actively engaged in talks with LEO providers including SpaceX, OneWeb, and Telesat. 

Also Read: Cable’s Last Frontier 

“We are confident that LEOs will become an important part of GCI’s toolkit over time,” Wailand said in the release. “But before we begin encouraging some of our customers to consider a move to LEO satellites, we need to be confident in their performance and ability to meet our customers’ current and future demands. Our partnership with Intelsat provides GCI and our customers with an immediate solution that addresses capacity needs today, as well as the ability to integrate future technologies like LEOs when they become ready.”

Cable operators are not happy with some of the satellite operators' proposed cost estimates for moving incumbent earth station users out of the lower portion of the C-Band, but the FCC has followed NCTA's lead in this week seeking further comment on those costs and taking into account cable ops' particular earth station-moving expenses. 

FCC Proposes Added Bucks for MVPDs in C-Band Move

In a letter to the FCC June 3 in response to filings by satellite operators on the move and its costs, NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, said Intelsat's suggestions for capping per-site payments for earth station operator is arbitrary.

NCTA said a lump sum should be paid for each antenna--and that the satellite operator's estimated average costs for various classes of earth station sites appear "very low" and exclude "relevant categories."

The FCC sought comment on cost estimates for moving satellite operations, including cable and broadcast earth stations for network programming, to the upper 200 MHz of the band and, on Thursday (June 4), asked for more input on prices and methodologies for lump sum payments, including proposing a new class of MVPD earth stations that factors in extra costs and saying it would seek further comment on its cost catalog. NCTA had sought both of those in its letter.  

Related: FCC's C-Band Auction still a 'Go' for December 

NCTA had asked the FCC not to issue a final catalog before providing another round of comment, which it is now doing. 

NCTA also tells the FCC that transition costs need to include not only new equipment and installation but costs of forms, coordination, zoning, project management and engineering fees, legal fees, consulting fees, and more. 

It said ACA Connects and Cox had both come up with methodologies for lump sum payments that are better than Intelsat's at representing "the level of effort and likely costs of an average earth station operator’s transition." 

Related: Pai Defends C-Band Incentive Payments to Hill 

NCTA said Intelsat efforts to "cut and paste" lump sum payment text into a revised cost catalog should be rejected. 

Finally, NCTA is asking the FCC to establish a way for content companies to use all of the C-Band, including the 280 MHz being auctioned to wireless carriers, on a secondary basis for live sports productions--the band is used to get video from sports venues back to the studio. NCTA argues it would be too tough to try to shoehorn those into the 200 MHz or to have to seek special temporary authorities--there are tens of thousands of live sports produced each year, or each non-pandemic year anyway--for all those portable earth stations.  

International satellite service provider Intelsat has told the FCC that, given the way the commission has structured the clearing of C-Band spectrum for 5G wireless, the satellite company can't guarantee its video clients the same quality signal they had before. 

It also asked for some transition flexibility given the current pandemic. 

Cable operators and broadcasters use that spectrum for network programming distribution and remote-to-studio video. 

In a filing with the FCC, Intelsat said the FCC needs to revise its out-of-band signal protections, which Intelsat said will likely not protect earth stations from interference from wireless signals.  

And, whether it does so or not, Intelsat said the FCC has to clarify that so long as Intelsat has done its best to protect its customers' video signals, it can't be held responsible for interference from terrestrial wireless. "While Intelsat will do everything within its control to provide the same or better service to its customers, it cannot be held responsible for any interference that earth stations may experience from new flexible use operations post-clearing," the company said.

It said the FCC must clarify that point.  

Intelsat also told the FCC that "the unprecedented and ongoing global pandemic could result in serious challenges to meeting every transition deadline." It cited potential labor stoppages and vendor delays.

"The Commission should expressly allow for a waiver process if it becomes impossible for satellite operators to meet the deadlines adopted in the Report and Order that did not take into consideration the unexpected COVID-19 shutdowns and related challenges to a massive project like accelerated transition."

Satellite services provider Intelsat has announced a "financial restructuring to position [it] for long-term success" at what it called a "transformational moment in the history of our company," or, as Intelsat critic Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) put it: "Intelsat’s decision to file for bankruptcy." 

On that news, whichever way one looks at it, Kennedy said the FCC should "withdraw its offer, take control of America’s spectrum and save taxpayers billions of dollars instead of shelling out that money to foreign companies." 

He said the Intelsat filing makes it clear that Intelsat "had no intention of accepting the FCC’s deal." Intelsat in a tweet on the restructuring said its business would continue "without interruption." 

[embed]https://twitter.com/INTELSAT/status/1260780910649147393[/embed]

Sen. Kennedy: Make Satellite Operators Buy American

That "offer" was a reference to the FCC's decision to provide billions of dollars in incentives and auction proceeds to Intelsat and other satellite service providers to give up 300 MHz of spectrum (out of a total of 500 MHz) in the C-Band for 5G. 

Kennedy long argued that instead of turning over auction proceeds to international satellite companies, it should go to the Treasury to build out rural broadband, fund public safety communications and more. 

The FCC approved up to $9.7 billion in incentive payments to satellite carriers for exiting the spectrum early, arguing that paying satellite companies was the quickest way to free up the much-needed spectrum. 

Over Kennedy's objections, the FCC voted March 3 to allow 280 MHz of spectrum to be auctioned for 5G (plus 20 MHz for a guard band), and satellite operators and others to be compensated for the move out. 

For broadcasters and programmers, there is nothing more important than the quality, reliability and unique nature of their content. A cyberattack can disrupt streaming services, slow video performance and enable hackers to steal unique content. The availability of connected devices on a broadband network is changing the way people consume content – and posing new security challenges.

These current trends – as well as the trends toward cloud-based streaming and linear programming – require that media companies rethink their approach to cybersecurity. While there are no simple solutions, the following five steps can help media organizations identify potential risks and significantly improve their security posture.

1. Harden Your Network at Every End-Point

The same new opportunities that enable programmers to contribute content, and enable customers to obtain content, have opened new inroads for malicious actors to steal or disrupt content. Every end-point across the distribution cycle needs to be assessed, tested and secured. Companies need to consider how their content data stores are protected, whether their transit is secure, and if everything is protected by encryption.

For satellite operators, it is critical to use multi-platform, layered controls to establish proactive security that limits opportunities for content and other data to be compromised on the ground or in orbit.

2. Use Layered Security

Multiple layers of security make it harder to breach your system and give your team valuable time to detect and respond before any data is compromised.

In the satellite industry, the most progressive operators utilize a pervasive security framework that includes layered controls, a mature compliance program, extensive audit and assessment initiatives, and a coordinated incident-response process.

3. Insist Your Partners Follow Best Practices

Even if you secure all the end-points you manage and employ layered-security measures, your content remains at risk if your partners do not follow best practices and are not transparent in their security posture. Media companies need to ensure that each ecosystem partner has the right security requirements in place and has regular communication to keep up with the threat environment and maintain security in orbit and on the ground.

The most progressive satellite operators maintain secure flight operations for all wide-beam and spot-beam satellites via a segmented control network that ensures key assets are being managed in a proactive way. Those operators also have multiple levels of cybersecurity in place for their partners, segmented by need of network access.

It is critical for satellite operators to proactively work with media customers to ensure their connected ecosystem is protected against active threats at all stages of uplink, downlink and terrestrial transport.

4. Practice Rapid Incident Response

Rapid incident response is what distinguishes an advanced cybersecurity program from others – and prevents an incident from becoming a significant breach. Breaches will occur, but the ability to rapidly detect, thwart and recover is what can make all the difference in the world.

Advanced digital payloads, such as those on Intelsat EpicNG satellites, can rapidly identify, communicate, move and mitigate interference issues – thus limiting the scope and severity of the breach.

5. Conduct Independent Security Audits

Cybersecurity is too complex and disruptive to rely solely on internal security reviews. Many companies have engaged outside cybersecurity firms and sought accreditations to ensure their current program and security posture is current and effective. If an outside firm identifies security issues, they can provide recommendations to further harden internal controls.

When evaluating satellite operators, media organizations should select only those that have been audited by a major, independent auditing firm. Also, insist that your satellite operator has completed a Service Organization Control 3 (SOC 3) review of security controls.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity will become a greater challenge as more content is distributed over multiple platforms. As media organizations become increasingly connected, the demand for cybersecurity solutions will increase significantly.

There are no simple solutions to ensure broadcast security. However, the five steps outlined above can substantially improve the security of your media content.

About the Author: Vinit Duggal is Vice President of Network Engineering and CISO at Intelsat, the world’s largest satellite operator.

Dejero and Intelsat have teamed on a hybrid IP video transmission platform for broadcasters that combines on-demand connectivity to both cellular- and satellite-based networks.

That platform, called CellSat, relies on Dejero’s patented network blending technology, which can mix cellular connectivity from multiple mobile network carriers with Ku-band IP connectivity provided by Intelsat, they said.

That combo, the companies added, can provide broadcasters with the bandwidth necessary to go live from most locations. If the bandwidth available from cellular connections drops due to network congestion or other factors, CellSat automatically adds in satellite connectivity to balance out the bandwidth requirement.

CellSat doesn’t require the scheduling of satellite time, and the platform’s software is designed to dynamically allocate the satellite bandwidth needed. The platform also includes pre-certified encoding and receiving equipment.

Most satellite vehicles with existing Ka-band or Ku-band satellite equipment can be upgraded to work with CellSat, they said.

Dejero said CellSat is available in the U.S. and Canada, and expects to roll it out to other regions in 2018.

Dejero and Intelsat introduced CellSat ahead of IBC 2017, set for Sept. 14-19 in Amsterdam.

 “We are addressing the dilemma that broadcasters face about which video transport assets to deploy to a news story or live event,” Bogdan Frusina, founder of Dejero, said in a statement.

“Today’s broadcasters are challenged with quickly producing high-quality, reliable television coverage in environments that run the gamut from sparsely populated in extremely remote areas to overcrowded with a congested network,” added Rob Cerbone, Intelsat’s VP and general manager of media services, and a former exec of Time Warner  Cable. “Coupling Intelsat’s high performing, ubiquitous  Ku-band IP connectivity with Dejero’s blended cellular technology will give broadcasters greater assurance when covering live events. Dejero CellSat was designed with simplicity in mind so crews can focus on setting up quickly and getting the live shot back to the broadcast facility and on the air.”