The economic impact of telecommunications infrastructure on economic growth is enormous. Studies on the impact of ICT have indicated approximately a third of economic growth can be attributed to telecommunications.
Feasibility Studies
Avanti is leading a Phase A feasibility study for HERCULES, a future generation broadband satellite programme for the UK. The project was stimulated by the UK government's aspiration to deliver universal broadband access at 2Mbps speeds to all UK citizens and in the future Next Generation Access Services at speeds of 50Mbps.
Innovations in the HERCULES system come from the need to focus power and coverage over a much smaller area compared with first generation Ka-band satellites such as HYLAS 1 and Ka-Sat (which both provide coverage over large areas of Europe): Smaller beam sizes require much larger satellite antennas and improved satellite pointing capabilities. From the service point of view the system will benefit from multicast and caching techniques which will efficiently address the ever growing use of IPTV services.
The feasibility study included a detailed assessment of user needs for broadband connectivity, including an analysis of applications and broadband trends as well as coverage issues; a regulatory assessment; derivation of a set of mission and system level requirements; design of the end to end satellite system covering space, mission ground segment and user ground segment; and a commercial feasibility analysis and deployment plan.