Satellite broadband key to bridging digital divide

Over 100 million people will be connected via satellite broadband access by 2029, as more governments are aiming to bring essential services to sparsely populated regions underreached by terrestrial networks.

Making this prediction in a new research, Euroconsult also reported that the global market for satellite broadband is expected to triple with service revenues reaching US$12.7 billion by 2029. This continues a growing trajectory of Internet users, which doubled between 2010 and 2020, to just over four billion users worldwide in 2020. Of these, 43 million were connected to broadband via satellite.

Highlighting how governments are encouraged to invest in programmes that contribute to bridging the digital divide, Dimitri Buchs, Senior Consultant at Euroconsult, added, “Overall, the broadband ecosystem will be central to building the post COVID-19 world, notably by making sure universal equitable access to broadband services is part of the new normal. We have a long way to go to achieve this, but satellite will be key to reaching many who are currently unserved or underserved.”

Euroconsult identified three categories of satellite solutions that address the universal broadband market — Consumer broadband, Wi-Fi hotspots and Cellular backhaul. Consumer broadband is currently the dominant option in advanced economies, while Wi-Fi hotspots form the preferred option in less developed regions.

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