- [Presenter] Do you remember these?
They used to get video from these
but they're not as popular as they used to be
and that's because we're consuming media differently
by using things like these and these.
And do you know what these require?
Data, and a lot of it.
Most of that data comes from underground cables
but half of the planet doesn't have access to cables
that provide that reliable broadband
and that is why satellites could be a game changer,
according to Tom Sullivan at
the Federal Communications Commission.
- We've all become accustomed to having broadband
and we see how instrumental it is in our daily lives,
from education to healthcare, financial planning.
And in areas in the U.S. and globally, there just isn't
the terrestrial case for that type of capacity
and that's where some of the satellite companies
have provided those offerings.
- [Presenter] Those offerings come
from three kinds of satellites.
The first, high orbit satellites,
and they hover over the Earth's equator
around 36,000 kilometers, are physically big,
like the size of a school bus, and cost big bucks to make.
The second are low Earth orbit satellites.
They're only a tenth of the size of high orbit sats,
cheaper to build, and orbit at
around only a thousand kilometers.
And then, there are satellites
that orbit even closer to Earth.
They're known as cube satellites
and they're about the size of a milk jug.
Those orbit at only around 500 kilometers and can be
attached together like Legos to multiply their power.
Each of these satellites could eventually
compete against the underground cables
that get you your Verizon, Charter, or Comcast WiFi.
The high orbit satellites cast a really wide net of data,
nearly the size of North America wide,
but because they're high up, they have less data capacity.
This means they're not great for commercial uses
like gaming because they have lag time.
But low orbit and cube sats are closer,
so they can provide faster speed like 5G with lower latency
and that is what competes with cables back on planet Earth.
The catch is that they have a
narrower signal beam that covers less ground
and when you have smaller beams but still want
a lot of coverage, you need a lot of satellites,
so even though the price of the
low orbit and cube sats might be cheaper,
the fact that you have to launch a lot of them
still makes the whole prospect a pricey one.
But they're still attracting some big commercial dollars.
With newer satellites, companies can provide internet
where current broadband cable infrastructure can't reach
and they can do it faster.
This is data by the FCC tracking the speeds of
data providers based on what they're advertising.
That is cable and fiber and that is satellite speed.
When it comes to the satellite industry,
there are names you know, like SpaceX and Amazon,
and names you may not know, like OneWeb and Viasat.
They all have plans to launch entire fleets of satellites
to get you your internet and that's a gamble.
- So, for geo-stationary satellites, they've been licensed
on what we call a first-come, first-served basis.
Whomever applies for an orbital location
has the first mover advantage of getting into that orbit
and using the spectrum and providing service.
- [Presenter] That first mover advantage
is a big deal for any companies trying to sell you data.
In fact, it helps to explain
the increasing investment in small satellites.
When you consider the cost for launching satellites
is getting cheaper and cheaper for commercial companies
and the cost of smaller satellites
is also getting cheaper and cheaper,
it makes sense for companies to apply for
satellite space as soon as possible
and those ever-cheapening costs
are the result of one interesting new trend.
Instead of three different companies building satellites,
launching satellites, or using satellites,
newer companies are trying to consolidate
launching satellites and building satellites on their own,
like SpaceX and Viasat, and that means more applications
for satellites coming in faster than ever before,
which comes with its own growing list of concerns.
- Generally, companies are concerned
because they are sharing similar orbital altitudes
that they might receive a conflicting signal
and might cause interference.
Those are one of the areas where
the FCC has asked the satellite community to,
in other words, coordinate among themselves
and demonstrate that they can share the spectrum.
No one can tell how the industry and technology
will continue to drive things forward on the satellite side,
or even the terrestrial side.
What we've done at the FCC is tried to make
the rules of the road conducive to help foster
satellite innovation and technology in the United States.
- [Presenter] If you live in a big city, most of your data
will likely still come from underground cables,
but if you like fast internet
in places you couldn't get it before,
satellites are going to increase competition
to satisfy our ever-growing hunger for data.