Unearthing the Advantages of Smart Satellite Connectivity in the Mining Sector

An end-user perspective on features, applications and benefits

Satellite telecommunication services are a specialised form of technology that serves specific user requirements for specific applications. Unlike fibre networks, they are not, and were never meant to be, default solutions for mass deployment. As a result, they are not commonly used by large Telco’s and service providers. Within the field of satellite connectivity, Smart Satellite Services were developed specifically for the financial, business and now mining industries. But what exactly constitutes Smart Satellite Services and why are they so necessary for certain sectors?

Why Smart Satellite Services?

Satellite communications is a relatively “old” technology with the first deployments implemented in the 1960s. Before undersea and terrestrial cable networks were installed, satellite services were used for international communications between continents and between countries in Africa. Then, as more and more fibre networks were implemented, users began to see satellite services as slow, expensive and constrained by transmission latency.

However, the development of satellite constellations continued. By 2020, the first high-powered digital satellites were in operation over Africa. And, by their very nature, satellite networks are still the only option that can effectively provide both very high service reliability and anywhere, always on connectivity. Due to these fundamental advantages, a new category - Smart Satellite Services (such as Twoobii) - was developed to meet user requirements while overcoming the old limitations of speed, cost and latency.

What are the elements of Smart Satellite Services?

Smart Satellite Services are engineered on all levels of the end-to-end satellite network component chain and include many different network domains that share the following key elements:

High-Powered Satellites:

The latest high-powered satellites make it possible to design high speed user links of +20Mbps while still using small user terminal antennas.

Advanced Qualityof-Service:

SDWAN-over-satellite, Realtime video, voice calls and video streaming are all possible due to the advanced qualityof-service capabilities of Smart Satellite Services.

Content Management:

Cost-vs-performance optimisation is achieved using content aware platform and implementing content management algorithms.

Flexible Billing:

Specific user services such as pay-per-use, standby-only and data-pool service are only possible with sophisticated and flexible billing platforms which is integral to Smart Satellite Services.