SIA Encourages House to Protect Vital Satellite Spectrum and Services to Ensure Next Generation Broadband for All Americans

Washington, D.C., July 17th, 2018 – The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today testified before the United States House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communication and Technology during a hearing titled, Ingenuity, Innovation and Solutions to the Rural Broadband Challenge.  SIA President Tom Stroup provided testimony on behalf of the Association.

“Satellite communications services are positioned to be the keystone for bringing 21^st century broadband capabilities to the entirety of the United States,” said Tom Stroup in his oral testimony. “These services are capable of providing broadband to rural and remote areas of the country where it remains uneconomical for terrestrial services to deploy, and provide both speeds and prices comparable to terrestrial alternatives. These services are available directly to the consumer today, covering all 50 states and delivering broadband offerings up to 100 megabits per second.

“The satellite industry is investing tens of billions of dollars to innovate and increase broadband connectivity in the US and across the globe. The first broadband satellite began service in 2008 with a capacity of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps); today’s satellites have capacities of up to 260 Gbps, a number expected to increase to 1000 Gbps by the end of the decade.

These terabit capacity geostationary satellites will provide orders of magnitude capacity increases. In another highly-anticipated advancement in the industry, thousands of new high throughput (non-geostationary) satellites will soon join existing operators in Low-Earth and Medium-Earth orbits to provide additional high-speed broadband at low latency levels; prototypes of these satellites have already begun to launch.”

Mr. Stroup concluded, “Of course, all the breakthroughs we’ve seen because of satellite technologies should not be taken for granted. They depend upon our industry’s ability to access spectrum. In order for our industry to sustain and meet the growing demand for satellite services, we encourage regulators to continue to allocate sufficient spectrum for satellite use and to support the National Broadband Mapping system as to provide a clear and complete map of broadband services.”

A written copy of SIA’s complete testimony is available at the following link: 

About The Satellite Industry Association

SIA is a U.S.-based trade association providing representation of the leading satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers. For more than two decades, SIA has advocated on behalf of the U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the satellite business.