Intersputnik at ITU Satellite Workshop for Developing Countries in Geneva

On 23 April 2024, Intersputnik took part in a workshop on satellite communications for developing countries (Transformative connectivity: Satellite Workshop) in Geneva. The event was arranged by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). Andrey Kirillovich, Intersputnik’s Director of Strategy, Marketing, and Business Development, was speaking at the Workshop. Mr. Kirillovich underlined the crucial role of satellite technologies in connecting remote regions with undeveloped infrastructure. He also emphasized Intersputnik’s experience and potential of rolling out satellite deployment projects in developing countries, and provided brief overview of the current innovations in the satellite communications industry that may lower the costs of connecting remote communities and regions.

Apart from Intersputnik, the other speakers at the Workshop included top officials from ITU and Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) as well as from leading satellite operators such as ABS Global, Eutelsat Group, Intelsat, SES, Telesat, and New Space companies such as Amazon Kuiper and Sateliot.

At the session “The impact of satellites in delivering broadband connectivity in developing countries, including in rural and remote communities” Andrey Kirillovich described potential options of widespread deployment of satellite communications in developing countries, and stressed the importance of an open international cooperation for this process.

Intersputnik seeks to develop and popularise satellite technologies to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This objective is of primary importance for Intersputnik, since 19 of its 25 member countries are developing countries, 8 of which are classified by the United Nations as landlocked developing countries, and another 4 are classified by the United Nations as least developed countries. In addition, Intersputnik has an experience of implementing projects in another two least developed countries, who are not its member countries. For such countries, satellite communications are essentially the only way to connect remote regions.

In his speech, Andrey Kirillovich also underlined the pivotal role of innovations, which add much to the developing countries’ potential of creating their proprietary satellite networks. As an international organisation, Intersputnik offers a set of tools to reduce the costs of remote regions connectivity projects using all existing state-of-the-art satellite communication technologies. Its primary tool is securing equal and open cooperation among Intersputnik member countries, which gives access to the frequency spectrum as well as to cost-effective projects financing. Andrey Kirillovich described an option of several countries using the same satellite with a digital flexible payload as a key innovation helping to lower the entry ticket to the satellite club. Software-defined digital payload allows configuring footprints, transponder bandwidth and power on the fly. It helps to implement a new cooperation model in the satellite communications sector, where several countries can combine multiple coverage areas and frequencies allocated by the ITU on a permanent basis to meet their domestic needs in accordance with Appendix 30B of the ITU Radio Regulations. Such approach enables to share satellite costs among several operators and countries. Such approach also contributes to space sustainability, which is one of humanity’s top priorities, as it slows down the geostationary orbit overcrowding by reducing the number of satellite launches.

Link to the event at ITU website:

https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Study-Groups/2022-2025/Pages/meetings/workshop-satellite_april24.aspx

Video is available at https://www.itu.int/webcast/archive/d2022-25sg1