Satcom Broadband Can Reach Consumers Through Retail Presence, NSR Says

Satellite communications can start serving the mass consumer market due to the coming wave of competitively priced capacity, but first satcom operators must put more emphasis on sales channels, partners and product architecture to reach that market, said Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm-Serra in an NSR blog post Tuesday. NSR said satcom must build a strong retail presence for satellite Internet: "The 'build it and they will come' approach does not work, and the market requires significant effort for demand stimulation." The research firm said some satcom operators are creating their own demand aggregation points of Wi-Fi hot spots in unconnected underserved locations, and those aggregation points will be big drivers of consumer broadband demand for satellite services.