(Broadband Info) – As the constraints of current network connections weigh on users, many consumers will turn to satellite-based broadband services, a market that is expected to grow from $300 million in 2000 to $1.6 billion in 2007, according to a recent study released today by San Jose, Calif.-based market-research firm Frost & Sullivan.
Although broadband-satellite technology offers advantages over many land-based network systems, it still faces competition from emerging systems, the study said.
“Broadband wireless has penetrated the marketplace,” Jose del Rosario, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said in a press release. “With the lower costs associated with deploying a broadband-wireless network, this technology poses a serious threat to the satellite platform.”
The study, titled “World Broadband Satellite Equipment Markets,” also found that low-cost, high-capacity fiber optics will continue to steal other prospective customers from broadband satellite.
“In the caching, streaming and multicasting markets, terrestrial-based solutions are also being developed to alleviate Internet congestion,” del Rosario said.
As competition among satellite providers increases, market participants must tap new markets to stay alive, Frost & Sullivan said.
“The presence of large rural populations in the globe offers important opportunities for broadband satellite providers if companies can overcome challenges inherent to those markets,” the company said.
