Think Latency

 

ND Satcom CEO Norbert Hölzle is excited. His company has developed a "zero latency" product, which, appropriately, has no name/brand. Don’t believe it? You’re probably not alone. Since when have we exceeded the speed of light?

He was interviewed by Satellite Today’s IBC E-Daily recently…

IBC E-Daily: What are your expectations for the latency product?

Hölzle: When I initially saw this, I was a little skeptical, but at our headquarters, the new system was faster than my laptop. It is impressive. Inside the industry, you can talk about buzz words such as encryption, bits and bytes, but this will not win a customer outside the satcom industry. But if you are able to show customers that an SAP log-on can work in the desert, for example, that will be of interest.

IBC E-Daily: Does this latency market open up new customer segments?

Hölzle: On the booth, we have had three customers that want to have a demonstration over the next few weeks, and they are definitely not using our modems right now. The combination of this solution with the newly launched SkyWan IDU 1070 modem is something that will definitely open up new markets.

IBC E-Daily: How do you sell the product to a new customer base?

Hölzle: We will target business customers that need equipment in the field for business critical applications. One option is through our own sales force, another option is through a partnership model. In South Africa, for example, we go through the service provider Q-Kon, so if someone wants to buy this, we will forward them to Q-Kon, and we will build our partners for this type of system. We also have an interested South American partner organization. You have to map this on the sales channel, because you don’t want to tread on their toes. The most important thing is not just to develop the product, but how you sell it and go to the market. You have the danger that a partner may see you as a competitor, so we have to convince them they are not. We are not the biggest player in the modem field, but I think the latency product will help change the ball game for us.

Aren’t you glad he cited SAP? Sure, there are plenty of businesses located in the middle of nowhere that run SAP. Right.

 

Satcom biggest drawbacks are cost and latency. When you have no choice, you bear down and take it. Well, now ISPs in Africa have another option: the Seacom fiber optic cable. Tata Communications, for one, is expected to reduce latency from 500 to 170 milliseconds:

 Tata Communications, which is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world and handles 17 per cent of the world’s ISP traffic, says that soon it will be able to reduce latency time from 500 to 170 milliseconds.

The reduction has been made possible due to the switching from satellite-based transmission to fibre-based transmission through the 17,000 km Seacom cable system that went live a few weeks ago.

 CNN’s report was excellent…

SES is ready for a cat fight. Their African business is at stake, and "partnering" with Intersat Africa is their first move:

 The company plans to initially sell ASTRA2Connect to countries like East and Central Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, Newtec, a manufacturer of state-of-the-art satellite equipment and a long-term partner for ASTRA2Connect, will supply Intersat Africa with the respective satellite broadband user terminals based on its award-winning Sat3Play technology.
 
 “East Africa has recently been connected to the Information Superhighway on submarine fibre, but unfortunately only the users in urban areas will benefit from this internet revolution,” Abdul Bakhrani, CEO of Intersat Africa said in a statement. “The last mile connectivity is still a challenge and this is whereSES’ ( News – Alert) broadband service and satellite capacity fit in. The ASTRA2Connect service also complements our Rural Internet Kiosk programm, which will empower thousands of Africans with high speed internet.”

 Astra2Connect. Brilliant. Now let’s see about helping organizations like DrumNet with satcom and showing you’re not all about making money on space segment. Quick: deploy!

 

Do we sense another case of social/marketing latency? Too little, too late?