Despite being around for well over a decade, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) as a connectivity medium hasn't been able to make its mark in the enterprise connectivity space.
The technology is still not as well known or widely used as some of the other connectivity technologies such as terrestrial link based IP VPN (Virtual Private Network) or MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) VPN.
VSATs are earthbound stations used in satellite communications of data, voice and video signals. The technology was introduced in India around the nineties when the Department of telecom (DoT) started to explore the idea and issued licenses to service providers to offer connectivity services via VSATs.
Since then VSAT service providers have toiled hard and managed to register a moderate yet steady year-on-year growth rate of 25-30% in a market currently estimated at Rs 350-400 crore.
However, even with all this, the notoriety that one would have expected for VSATs continues to evade it. Service providers tend to attribute this apathy to customer's preconceived notions about the technology.
Harish Keswani, national manager-products and alliances, Tatanet believes that the biggest challenge for them is breaking the myths that are often tagged with the technology.
According to him, "VSATs aren't yet on the radars of Enterprises and IT managers when it comes to choosing connectivity technologies. They tend to think of VSATs as expensive, elaborate mass of machinery that can only be used as the last resort to establish a connectivity network. Also, most of them still consider it expensive and complicated in terms of manageability. When in fact it's not the case."
Also, while it may seem logical to attribute VSAT's lack of fame to significant strides made by private terrestrial link players and the growth of terrestrial data networks throughout the country, not many service providers are buying the argument.
Kiran Bhagwanani, VP-sales, APAC, HCL Comnet says, "VSATs were never meant to compete with terrestrial networks and it's not fair to pit them against each other because both of them have their unique sets of advantages and disadvantages. The positive growth figures experienced by the VSAT services segment, despite the rising popularity of terrestrial alternatives is a clear indication of this."
So what is it that's preventing VSATs from gaining attention from the customer community?
M.N. Vyas, director, Essel Shyam Communication argues that, "One of the primary reasons for VSATs not being as popular as some of the other alternatives is because VSATs have been used for wrong applications so far. They are not an ideal choice for carrying out heavy transactions. VSAT's should be used for applications that have low TCP handshakes and light applications such as ATMs, POS, and lottery terminals etc. VSATs are not the best medium for two way communication."
Bhagwanani of HCL Comnet suggests that organizations should consider their requirements and evaluate priorities before choosing a connectivity medium.
He adds, "If it's an organization with great number of users and applications that result in heavy traffic, then it must go for terrestrial networks. However, if it's an organization with thin client applications and bursty traffic such as ATM, VSATs fit the bill perfectly."
Another reason that hinders VSAT acceptance is cost. In the past, the initial CAPEX associated with a typical VSAT installation used to run into lacs of rupees, which made even the most willing of customers to think twice. However, with a maturing market and technological advancements made in recent times, the costs have gone down considerably. Nowadays, a normal VSAT installation can be made for as low as $650.
Tatanet's Keswani believes that these changes will go a long way in bolstering VSATs credentials.
"VSATs are far more affordable and stronger than ever before. The myths pertaining to cost and performance are gradually fading away. With the advent of broadband VSATs, the bandwidth availability issues and latency problems have also been addressed greatly. However, we are still playing catch up with other technologies and there is still a long way to go," he added.
