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What makes a top teleport operator?Teleports play a key role in everyday life, whether we know it or not. Communicating withsatellites in orbit, teleports are our link to space, and, indeed, the rest of the world. Althoughthere are now so many Earth stations spread across the globe, the differences between each aremassive. Here, we take a look at the World Teleport’s Top Teleport Operators of 2017 report anddiscuss the challenges and successes stories with leading teleport operators and industryinsiders.

Thaicom Teleport Ladlum Kaeow

January 2018 saw the World TeleportAssociation (WTA) publish its annualrankings of the Top Teleport Operatorsof 2017, with a unique list forindependent operators, globaloperators, and fast-growing operators.Each teleport is assessed by revenueand revenue growth, as compiled bysurveying teleport operators around theworld, as well as by referencing thepublished results of publicly-heldcompanies.

The report is a great indicator of thecurrent state of play in the sector. Withincreasing pressures from competingtechnologies such as fibre, it’s becomea much more competitive arena in whichto operate. Teleports must constantlydevelop to keep in line with the latest

technologies; in recent years, manyhave had to update equipment in orderto operate with the most recent highthroughput satellites (HTS), while thelarge number of low Earth orbit (LEO)constellations expected in the comingyears will make for additional equipmentpressures.

The teleport sector is dealing with agreat deal of disruption. “Establishedbusinesses face disruption from newmodels of connectivity - HTS, MEO andLEO - and the rising domination ofsoftware over hardware. The innovatorsin the business are disrupting their ownoperations by innovating up the valuechain to meet new customer needs,” theWTA’s Executive Director, Robert Bell,told Satell ite Evolution. “The Top

Operators lists offer a snapshot of who’sadapting and who’s not, who’s aheadand who’s behind. Of course, it can onlyreflect it in numbers: The size of annualrevenues, or year-over-year revenuegrowth. And every company naturallybelieves that it should be Number One!”

According to Robert Bell, in theWTA’s recently-published TeleportOpportunities 2018 study, telepor texecutives were asked to describe theirbiggest opportunities, top challenges,investment priorities and plans forgrowth, acquisition and sale. “Itillustrated some of the fundamentalchanges. Take cloud services: Teleportoperators that mostly handle datacustomers are investing in integratingpublic cloud services like Amazon Web

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Services into their offerings, apparentlyreasoning that they are never going tobeat Amazon at its own game,” said Bell.“Telepor t operators specializing inmedia and entertainment customers, onthe other hand, are developing their ownprivate cloud services, because TVcontent owners continue to hesitateover hosting their high-value content inthe public cloud. Some are doing both.”

Bell asser ts that all telepor toperators continue to prioritize theirtelepor t’s satcom infrastructure,encode/decode and modem technologyand network management systems forinvestment. “But ask them whereinvestment will flow over the next threeyears, and you see the r isingimportance of data centre and IPinfrastructure, OTT technology andsecurity/encryption software,” said Bell.

The Independent Top 20The Independent Top 20 teleports havebeen ranked by the WTA based onrevenue from all sources; companieswhose primary business is ownershipand operation of a satellite fleet orterrestrial network have been excluded.

Table 1 shows that the majority of2017’s leading independent teleportshave remained more or less stationaryyear-on-year, including Slovenia’s STN,which has remained at position 17 forthe second year running. “The WTAIndependent Top 20 ranking is certainlyone of the most important and reliablesources for any customer to take intoconsideration when choosing the rightoperator with whom to entrust theirdistribution needs,” Mitja Lovsin, CCOat STN, opined to Satellite Evolution.“Therefore, we are very proud tomaintain our position amongst the top-ranking year-on-year. For us, it is a verypositive indicator that we are still on thepath of continued success through ourorganic growth, as most of ourcompetitors have experienced growthpurely through acquisition.”

There are, however, several notableoutliers to the year-on-year stability. It’sbeen a good year for Global DataSystems (USA), which has moved upthe list significantly from position 19 in2016 to 13 in 2017. CETel (Germany)at position 20, US Electrodynamics(USA) at 19 and Etisalat (UAE) at 10have all made their way into the top 20for 2017 after not featuring in the 2016

list. On the other hand, it’s not been sopositive for Harris CapRock (USA),Belgacom Int’l Carrier Services (BICS)(Belgium), Onlime (Germany) andMilano Media S.p.A. (Italy), all of whichwere all featured in the 2016 top 20 list,and have failed to make the grade inthe 2017 list. Harris CapRock hasfamously had a rough few years, andwas in January 2017 acquired bySpeedcast in a US$425 million cashdeal, so hopefully things should startto turn around there pretty quickly underSpeedcast. According to Harris, the2017 acquisition would enable it to paydown debt and return cash toshareholders.

The Global Top 20The Global Top 20 teleports have beenranked by the WTA based on revenuesfrom all customised sources, andincludes operators of both teleports andsatellite fleets. Of all three of the WTA’sTop 20 lists, the Global Top 20 hasremained the most stable over the lastyear, as shown in Table 2.

“Although 2017 was a tough year forus, like for most other satellite operatorsdue to price pressures, we startedseeing a positive upward trend as wecould sign new customers and extendexisting contracts,” commentedPatompob (Nile) Suwansiri, CCO atThaicom, which retained its position atnumber 10 for the second year running.“Gone are the days of selling just rawbandwidth. Today’s world is driven by

2017 20161 Global Eagle (USA) GEE/EMC (USA)2 Telespazio S.p.A. (Italy) Harris CapRock (USA)3 Globecast (France) Telespazio S.p.A. (Italy)4 Encompass Digital Media (USA) Encompass Digital Media (USA)5 Arqiva (UK) Arqiva (UK)6 Speedcast (China) Speedcast (China)7 Globecomm (USA) Globecomm (USA)8 Telstra Corporation (Australia) Telstra Corporation (Australia)9 du (UAE) Belgacom Int’l Carrier Services (BICS) (Belgium)10 Etisalat (UAE) du (UAE)11 PlanetCast Media Services (India) PlanetCast Media Services (India)12 Media Broadcast Satellite (Germany) Media Broadcast (Germany)13 Global Data Systems (USA) Jordan Media City (Jordan)14 Axesat (Columbia) Signalhorn Trusted Networks (Germany)15 Signalhorn Trusted Networks (Germany) Axesat (Columbia)16 Jordan Media City (Jordan) Onlime (Germany)17 STN (Slovenia) STN (Slovenia)18 Elara Comunicaciones SA (Mexico) Elara Comunicaciones SA (Mexico)19 US Electrodynamics (USA) Global Data Systems (USA)20 CETel (Germany) Milano Teleport S.p.A. (Italy)

Table 1. The Independent Top 20

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digital transformation. We areembracing this change as anopportunity to develop and providesatellite solutions that our customersneed to thrive in the digital era. What’smore, we will leverage our currently 15gateways for IPSTAR to add extrastrength to developing partnerships inthe digital era throughout the Asia-Pacific region. We hope this is what willhelp us sustain our top-10 position inthe WTA’s Global Top 20 list well intothe future.”

Harris CapRock (USA) and TelstraCorporation (Australia) are the only twoteleports to have fallen off the listbetween 2016 and 2017, but it shouldbe noted that Telstra Corporation has

only fallen from position 20 in 2016, anda quick review of its financial reportsshows that its revenue (excludingfinance income) from ordinary activitiesonly fell from $26.738 million to $26.013million in 2016 and 2017 respectively;that’s just 2.7 percent, which in today’scompetitive climate, isn’t exactly the endof the world. Globecast (France) andRussian Satellite CommunicationsCompany (Russia), meanwhile, havemade their entry into the Global Top 20list for 2017.

The Fast 20The WTA’s Fast 20 teleports has rankedthe top 20 fastest-growing teleportsbased on year-on-year growth in theirmost recent fiscal years. The Fast 20lists, shown in Table 3, demonstratemassive change in company growthover the last twelve months; very littlehas remained constant.

It’s been a great year for SantanderTeleport (Spain); the company moved

from position 13 in 2016 to top theleader board in 2017, with the WTAreporting that is has achieved 37percent year-on-year growth. “We hada splendid year from a growthperspective thanks to several newservices that we have operated for bothexisting and new customers,” LuisGarcia, CEO at Santander Teleport, toldSatellite Evolution. “Existing customershave continued to bring additionaluplink services as well as what we callspecial support services. We alsosigned contracts with new customersincluding a service provider for whomwe provide managed services, atechnology customer who needed highlevel consultancy and managedservices to take their product to the nextlevel of development, and we closed anumber of government-related projectswith service providers in this sector ofthe satell ite market.” Garcia alsoasserted that over the next 12 months,Santander Teleport will work to attractnew customers as it develops specialsupport, consultancy and government

2017 20161 SES (Luxembourg) Intelsat S.A. (Luxembourg)2 Intelsat S.A. (Luxembourg) SES (Luxembourg)3 Eutelsat (France) Eutelsat (France)4 Telesat (USA) EchoStar Satellite Services (Canada)5 EchoStar Satellite Services (Canada) Telesat (USA)6 Global Eagle* (USA) GEE/EMC* (USA)7 Telespazio S.p.A (Italy) Harris CapRock* (USA)8 Globecast* (France) Telespazio S.p.A (Italy)9 Singtel Satellite (Singapore) Singtel Satellite (Singapore)10 Thaicom Public Company Ltd (Thailand) Thaicom Public Company Ltd (Thailand)11 Encompass Digital Media* (USA) Encompass Digital Media* (USA)12 Hispasat (Spain) Hispasat (Spain)13 Arqiva* (UK) Arqiva Broadcast & Media* (UK)14 Optus (Australia) Optus (Australia)15 Speedcast* (Australia) AsiaSat (China)16 Russian Satellite Communications Company (Russia) Speedcast* (China)17 Globecomm* (USA) Globecomm* (USA)18 AsiaSat (China) MEASAT (Malaysia)19 MEASAT (Malaysia) Telenor Satellite (Norway)20 Telenor Satellite (Norway) Telstra Corporation* (Australia)

Table 2. The Global Top 20

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“Teleports have alwayssucceeded by resisting the

temptation to get too farahead of the market, too close

to the bleeding edge oftechnology or too sure of the

road ahead,” observed theWTA’s Robert Bell

“Although 2017 was a toughyear for us, like for most othersatellite operators due to pricepressures, we started seeinga positive upward trend as wecould sign new customers and

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business areas.du (UAE), too, has made significant

advancement in growth, moving fromposition 14 to 9. There are a whole hostof new entrants too, which havedemonstrated significant year-on-yeargrowth and landed themselves a spotin the WTA’s top 20 for 2017: Etisalat(UAE), Speedcast (Australia), USElectrodynamics (USA), RussianSatellite Communications Company(Russia), Globecast (France), ElaraComunicaciones SA (Mexico),Encompass Digital Media (USA), CETel(Germany), SingTel Satellite (Sing-apore), and Optus (Australia). Clearly,these are the teleports to watch.

On the other end of the scale, GEE/EMC (USA), Speedcast (China), GlobalData Systems (USA), Belgacom Int’lCarrier Services (BICS) (Belgium), STN(Slovenia), Media Broadcast(Germany), Thaicom Public CompanyLtd (Thailand), Telenor Satell ite(Norway), Onlime (Germany) andEutelsat (France), have all seen theirgrowth slowed or overtaken by othersin the last 12 months. Satell iteMediaport Services (UK) has fallen fromposition 6 to 12, and Milano TeleportS.p.A. has fallen from 10 to 17. Thesepositional falls aren’t the be all and endall; growth rises and falls with so manyfactors, and there is only so much

business that can be achieved at atelepor t until it expands itsinfrastructure.

What makes a teleport successful?Success is a tricky thing to gauge in theteleports business, and difficult tomeasure. Of course, reports such as theWTA’s annual Top Teleport Operatorsreview help us get an idea of how someteleports are doing in comparison witheach other on a financial basis, butsuccess means something different toeveryone, and it can’t always bemeasured with a number.

“Teleports have always succeededby resisting the temptation to get toofar ahead of the market, too close to

2017 20161 Santander Teleport (Spain) GEE/EMC (USA)2 Etisalat (UAE) Speedcast* (China)3 Speedcast* (Australia) Global Data Systems (USA)4 US Electrodynamics (USA) Belgacom Int’l Carrier Services (BICS)* (Belgium)5 Russian Satellite Communications Company (Russia) Gazprom Space Systems (Russia)6 PlanetCast Media Services* (India) Satellite Mediaport Services (UK)7 Gazprom Space Systems (Russia) STN* (Slovenia)8 MEASAT (Malaysia) MEASAT (Malaysia)9 du* (UAE) PlanetCast Media Services* (Malaysia)10 Globecast* (France) Milano Teleport S.p.A.* (Italy)11 Hispasat (Spain) Media Broadcast* (Germany)12 Satellite Mediaport Services (UK) Hispasat (Spain)13 Elara Comunicaciones SA* (Mexico) Santander Teleport (Spain)14 SES (Luxembourg) du* (UAE)15 Encompass Digital Media (USA) Thaicom Public Company Ltd (Thailand)16 CETel (Germany) SES (Luxembourg)17 Milano Teleport S.p.A.* (Italy) Telenor Satellite (Norway)18 Telstra Corporation* (Australia) Onlime (Germany)19 Singtel Satellite (Singapore) Eutelsat (France)20 Optus (Australia) Telstra Corporation* (Australia)

Table 3. The Fast 20

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the bleeding edge of technology or toosure of the road ahead,” observed theWTA’s Robert Bell. Customers rely ontelepor ts to deliver best-of-breedsolutions using proven technology,while always thinking ahead aboutoptimizing throughput and replacinglow-value processes with high-valueoperations. “They need to be agnosticabout technology and transmissionpaths. Most important, whether theyserve media or data customers, theyhave to think of themselves as datacentres with really robust and flexibleconnectivity, not as antenna farmscarrying signals.”

Taking a logical approach hascertainly helped keep STN in a goodand reliable position in the teleportworld. “Ensuring the continued successof a telepor t requires making

researched and informed decisions withregards to both the technical andcommercial decisions which directlyimpact daily business and the directionof the future development of STN,”asserts Mitja Lovsin from STN.

Santander Teleport, meanwhile,looks to its client relationships: “We payspecial attention to making sure thatexisting clients feel that there issubstantial value in being with usbecause we go the extra mile and weprovide extra support when neededthrough our value services,” saidSantander Teleport’s Luis Garcia. “Iknow that it can sound like a clichénowadays since everyone claims tooffer the best quality and support, butour strategy is to talk less and do more,and that means to really deliver onthese promises. So far, our efforts havepaid back very well, we can measure itby the retention rate of our customers,the feedback that they give us regularly,and the positive word-of-mouth effectthat we have noticed recently.”

A modern teleport needs to providewide-ranging suppor t for today’sdemanding data, media, and voiceapplications, according to Patompob(Nile) Suwansiri, CCO at Thaicom.“Sites must be highly secure withrestricted access. The teleport needs tobe connected to Internet Protocolthrough high speed fibre networkaccess with cloud-based and datacentre services. It goes without sayingthat 24/7 operations and around theclock monitoring and customer supportare crucial. Last but not least, the price

has to be right,” he continued.Versatility is everything, according

to Global Teleport’s CEO, Roger Boddy:“A successful teleport must be versatile,ready to adapt to change and securewith stout (and secure) connections tothe cloud. In this regard, networks havereached a state of evolution with a moveto internet protocol networks.” Hecontinued: ”This change in networkarchitecture has made it imperative forthe teleport operator be able to adaptto change and the need to beknowledgeably abreast of the protocolchanges.” As the transmission networkhas changed so dramatically, so toohave the services that may be applied.“In particular, the increasing speed ofprocessors br ings an increasingdependence on computer programmingskills at all levels in the management ofa teleport. With that dependence hascome an increased exposure tocybercrime. The successful teleport willbe across all issues, signed up tocybercrime protection and proactive inkeeping all security safeguards up todate,” concluded Boddy.

What are the challenges?Of course, no teleport is without itschallenges. Financial markets, securityconcerns, technology advancements,and even mundane (if somewhatamusing) problems such as moosedamaging large antennas, are just a fewof the challenges faced by today’soperators the world over.

Today’s teleport operations arebecoming more and more complex and

“Understanding the pros andcons of your competitors’

systems and trying not to gohead to head with them inapplied technology is bestpractice,” observed Global

Teleport’s Boddy

“We pay special attention tomaking sure that existingclients feel that there is

substantial value in being withus because we go the extramile and we provide extra

support when needed throughour value services,” said

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costly. “The development of HTS, CubeSat, as well as 4K and UHD will put evenmore strain on OPEX, as more andmore data and channels are squeezedinto the same available space segment,while at the same time customers doexpect cost-effective distribution ofservices and an always available,resilient network,” said Thaicom’sSuwansiri.

One of the main challenges forteleports in the more recent years ishow to grow market share in this matureindustry environment, according toSTN’s Lovsin. “Keeping pace with theconstant introduction of newtechnologies for a teleport is highlyimportant, but equally so, is the balanceof large investments while maintainingcompetitive end-user value-add andcost-effective pricing,” stated Lovsin.

Global Telepor ts, which hasexperienced some very bad luck in itslifetime so far, has had to adapt tochanges in the market to be able tomeet customers’ needs most cost-effectively. Indeed, according to Global

Teleport’s Boddy: “We are currentlybuilding a new facility in the UK that willfocus on Ka-band and Ku-band, wherepreviously we have been a Ku-bandonly operator.” He continued: “We havehad to pay par ticular attention tosecurity in every sense of the word. Wehave fought off: Trespassers with an eyeon the bright shiny copper we use forsafe earthing; IP fraudsters capable ofspoofing an IP address; Landlords whodon’t seem to understand the need fora little preventative maintenance;Insurance loss adjusters whoapparently work solely on the basis ofcommission for how much they cansave the insurer; Sales representativeswho believe they represent onlythemselves; And competitors whobelieve plagiarism is fair play.” Boddyconcluded: “To combat thesechallenges requires dedicated attentionto both prevention and resolution. Andif you want to grow the customer baseat the same time, it requiressuperhuman team leadership skills.”

Santander Telepor t’s Garcia,meanwhile, asserts that the biggestchallenge is in standing out from thecompetition: “Here in Europe there is alarge amount of teleport operators, andcommoditization is a risk as it erodespricing and consequently revenues andmargins.” Garcia also identifies thedramatically changing market asanother challenge. “The satellite marketis changing dramatically through manyinnovations in different areas, as we allknow. This can feel uncomfortable, butI think it is a good thing; the satcom

market has been very slow in changingand taking advantages in some keytechnology areas throughout the lastfew decades, and we have been fallingbehind in comparison to our terrestrialcounterparts. This will certainly bringdisruption to the market and with it,opportunities; but not without a certainlevel of risk,” opined Garcia.

The WTA’s Bell, meanwhile,believes that delivering a high-qualityservice while managing the costs ofcapital investment and capacity is thekey priority. “The greater the rate ofchange, the higher the investmentdemand. Unlike satellite operators,teleports do not operate with 80 percentgross margins. In fact, the number onereason for business setbacks is the costof satellite capacity. For our most recentIndependent Top Operators, the costaveraged 41 percent of annual revenue,with a high of 76 percent and a low of12 percent. Teleports have to carefullybalance investment with actualcustomer demand to succeed,” Bellexplained.

What about the competition?The market is more competitive thanever, and it’s no longer just aboutcompeting teleports; we’re now seeingnew services and solutions providingcompeting offerings to the market.

“Understanding the pros and consof your competitors’ systems and tryingnot to go head to head with them inapplied technology is best practice,”observed Global Teleport’s Boddy. “Themarketplace is large, and the demandcannot be met by one supplier alone.Working together is a practical solutionthat keeps teleports both competitiveand in business.”

The advent of new technology hasalways been a challenge for the modernteleport operator, for whom flexibility iskey, according to Boddy. “Newconstellations of ever-smaller satellitespose a problem of potential interferencebetween satellites in LEO and those ingeostationary orbit. There is thepotential for an accumulative impact ofthe new constellation on existingsatellites in orbit. “ stated Boddy. Indeed,his concerns about the impact of newsatellite constellations on the existingspace ecosystem are longstanding.“Consider the complexity of managinga large constellation of satellites and thelifetime of satellites in orbit. If newsatellites fall short of their business plantargets the subsequently low return oninvestment might discourage initial

“Keeping pace with theconstant introduction of newtechnologies for a teleport ishighly important, but equally

so, is the balance of largeinvestments while maintainingcompetitive end-user value-

add and cost-effective pricing,”stated Mitja Lovsin from STN

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investors from ploughing in subsequenttranches of funds. Without committedfunds, constellations may beabandoned in orbit, putting theenvironment at risk with increasedcluttering of our precious planet’satmosphere. New constellations mustbe planned responsibly andsympathetically to their existing orbitalneighbours,” Boddy concluded.

Santander Teleport’s Garcia’s focusis closer to home. “In what it seems likea time when we forecast a heavy marketdisruption coming in the future, it isimportant to remain focused in our dailyactivities whilst forging a strategy for thefuture and figuring out how to surf thewave of the new satellite paradigm,” hesaid. This is easier said than done,however: “I believe that most honestpeople would say that they do not knowwhat the industry is really going to looklike in a few years, or when disruptionis going to hit us hard; whether it will bein a couple of years or in 10 years. A lotof promises are being made by manynewcomers in the new world ofCubeSats and LEOs (amongst otherthings), but I do not think that anyonehas a crystal ball to be more preciseabout the future. It is hard to distinguishbetween speculation and real facts,technology and business cases.” Garciaconcludes his thoughts on competitionwith the following advice: “Keep incontact with the industry, existing andnew-industry colleagues, and try tounderstand what is going to help youforge a more precise future strategy,and keep reviewing this strategy on anongoing basis. But, do not distractyourselves completely from the day-to-day activities and the more presentstrategy.”

“To remain competitive and grow inthis market, a teleport needs to remain

flexible, ensuring high standardtechnical solutions but most importantlyalways improving client services andadapting to their requirements andpredicting trends,” stated STN’s Lovsin.“Some of the big questions facingteleport operators currently are reallyhow much some of the more recentdevelopments such as HTS andCubeSats are impacting the market; Willthis, in fact, change the way in whichtelepor ts are operating? Will itsignificantly reduce the volume of workand potential projects which havehistor ically been performed byteleports? These are of course a million-dollar questions and seriousconsideration must be taken goingforward by each teleport to decide thecourse of action and strategy to ensurethe continued future success.”

“We embrace change as anopportunity. The satellite industry is re-inventing itself – so are telepor toperations to remain at the top of theirgame in today’s anywhere, anytime, anyscreen viewer market,” said Suwansiriat Thaicom. Today’s telepor ts areexpected to deliver flexibility andscalability of services, and Thaicom’steleport has evolved with the currentshift in consumer viewing patterns inrecent years from linear to non-linear.“We built our telepor t with aninfrastructure that enables us tointegrate new technologies and offer

first-rate media solutions that enableour customers to include over-the-top(OTT) services in their portfolio andother added value options to enhancethe attractiveness of the service. Theteleport of the future is an IP connectedone through high speed fibre networkaccess providing cloud-based and datacentre services to their customers. Ibelieve only thus a teleport can staycompetitive in line with the evolving DTHmarket and rapidly changing businessenvironment in the digital era,” heconcluded.

The WTA’s Bell, meanwhile, has apragmatic point of view. “Entrepre-neurship lies deep in the DNA ofindependent commercial teleports – thesector was born when entrepreneursseized the chance created by the USOpen Skies policy to access satellitesfor the first time,” said the WTA’s Bell.“In 2018, they face a faster and deeperrate of technology and market changethan ever before, and that challengestheir traditional approach to managingrisk – staying just a few steps ahead. Ina more competitive market, they alsohave to bring their operations to thehighest level of quality justified bycustomer demand.

“That’s the reason we launchedTeleport Certification nearly two yearsago, and why more than 30 teleportshave gone through the certificationprocess.”

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