Many business are starting to sport VSAT dishes.

VSAT stands for “Very Small Aperture Terminal” and refers to receive/transmit terminals

installed at dispersed sites connecting to a central hub via satellite using small

diameter antenna dishes (0.6 to 3.8 meter).

Who uses them?

Oil exploration companies, car dealerships, gas stations, lottery systems, banks, insurance companies, drug stores, general stores, supermarkets, health care companies, manufacturers, couriers, hotel chains, car rental businesses, food manufacturers, heavy industries, mines, electrical utilities, oil and gas pipelines, energy production and exploration, timber companies, plantations, various government departments and agencies...to name a few!

From Communications News, May 1990

GTE Spacenet Corp. is implementing a Skystar private data/video network to connect all First Union banking and brokerage sites throughout the Southeast by mid-1990. More than 567 are already operational. First Union's network of very-small-aperture terminals (VSATs) will support branch automation and transaction processing at 24-hour ATMs, as well as account inquiries and employee computer-based training throughout the 723-branch system. First Union's 16-office brokerage network is only the second such operation in the U.S. to use this technology. At each branch, a 1.8-meter VSAT will permit interactive communications with the 6.1-meter dedicated hub earth station in Charlotte, via GTE Spacenet's GSTAR II. First Union had used traditional leased lines to link branches in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. But increased waiting times for line installation and repair became a frustration that was compounded by deregulation.The assets of this bank holding company, based in Charlotte, have gone from $8 billion in 1985 to $38 billion last year. Much of this growth has come from the acquisition of 21 U.S. banks in five states since 1985. This expansion has transformed First Union from a statewide institution to a super-regional bank, one of America's 20 largest. A 1% improvement in reliability means 7.5 more hours of availability a month for each ATM. VSATs have improved terminal response time, due to the 19.2-kb/s data transmission rate (the old network ran at 4.8 or 9.6). Productivity rates improved. First Union's customer service reps and specialists, who process more than 500,000 transactions daily, now can handle each one a full second faster. This amounts to a system-wide savings of nearly 120 work hours a day--time that these employees can use to focus on current and potential customers and their needs. "The ability to simultaneously deliver the same message to all our branches represents a powerful advantage," Mattingly says. "We will be able to roll out a new product virtually overnight."

From AST Australia.

Over the last few years VSAT and especially BBI systems have typically been used to facilitate very fast Internet access to remote communities, or to places where terrestrial communications are not present. Broadband satellite technology is not new. It has been used mainly for business purposes, and there are about 500,000 terminals installed in 120 countries, most of them being developing countries. The components of a Broadband Satellite site consist of a parabolic-shaped antenna mounted on the roof of a building, connected by a cable to a chassis inside the building. Dishes are installed at customer sites and then transmission capacity on satellites is arranged.

Broadband Sate

Satellites involved in VSAT transactions:

AMC-4 (Galileo Satellite Systems) - North America

INSAT-3C - India

Anik F2 - North America

Wildblue

Some calculations found at www.satsig.net

"A satellite costs $300 million to build, launch and operate and has 15 transponders. Over 10 years the cost is then $2 million per annum per transponder.

One transponder is leased and used to provide a high power 34 Mbit/s outlink carrier (hub to remotes). Cost = $2,000,000 per annum
One quarter of another transponder is leased to provide a low power high sensitivity return link capacity (remotes to hub). Cost = $500,000 per annum

In July 2003, in ViaSatellite, SATMEX V at Phoenix Teleport, was advertising C band bandwidth at $3,500 per MHz per month. (equivalent to $1,512,000 per annum for a 36 MHz bandwidth) so the above estimates are not far out but you should be aware of large variations due to power, frequency band, length of lease, pre-emptibility, priority in the event of transponder failure etc.

Dedicated capacity assigned to each remote = 1 Mbit/s outlink, 250 kbit/s return link. This implies just 34 customers, each with dedicated capacity, which means not shared.

Cost per remote (outlink) = $2,000,000 / 34 = $58,823 per annum plus:
Cost per remote (return link) = $500,000 / 34 = $14,705 per annum
So..
1000k/250k link will cost $73,528 per annum (dedicated)
or 100k/25k link will cost $7,353 per annum (dedicated)

Smaller capacities, such as 32 kbit/s each way, will be proportionally lower cost and higher capacities, like 2 Mbit/s outlink and 500 kbit/s return link, will be proportionally higher cost.

Very substantial price reduction is possible if the bandwidth is shared, typically with contention ratios of 1:40 or 1:60, giving prices like:

1000k/250k link will cost $1,470 per annum (shared, contention ratio 1:50)
or 100k/25k link will cost $147 per annum (shared, contention ratio 1:50) "