21285 - SCTE Broadband Dec2021 COMPLETE v1

27 Vol. 43 No. 4 - November 2021 Issue from the industry What is in store for the near future of developments? LEO Low Earth Orbit satellites, disposable satellites placed in the low earth orbit, (160 to 2000km above the earth) will allow for better web performance and wider coverage than the current satellites. Instead of having a base station or mast placed on the earth, the idea centres around moving this into orbit. This allows for network of satellites covering the globe allowing data connectivity. SpaceX is one of the ventures that has currently 1791 satellites launched, with 1429 of these operational (as of the 30th of September 2021). Allowing access to a connection in orbit removes a large part of the network requirement and places this in terrestrial base stations and satellites, with a user terminal to get broadband into the home. Internet balloons 20km above the earth in the stratosphere balloons are deployed and software controlled to ensure they move into position using the winds to keep them in a stationary deployment. Each balloon can maintain an internet connection to an antenna on the ground. Solar powered balloons transmit using LTE technology which allows a rural and remote area connection. LiFi Light fidelity is a bidirectional high speedwireless communication technology using visable light or infra-red and near ultraviolet from light emitting diodes. With speeds faster than WiFi at 224Gbps, this technology is deployed in electromagnetic sensitive areas such as hospitals, nuclear plants, aircraft, basically anywhere where radio frequency waves are not viable. However, this is a line-of-sight technology and the downside is its short range, so there are limitations. The future is unknown; there is a lot in place already to aid the push for more data and that is the one thing we are certain about. More data is a necessity; the global population is growing and broadband is a utility that every global citizen should have access to. This push is raising the demand for more. The route to achieving such a goal is complicated by the existing network topology, the investment required and the commercial tensions that lie therein. Whichever route is being taken the SCTE will continue to follow this and provide insight to the industry.