Operating Multi-Orbit Connectivity Efficiently
Satellite communications are becoming increasingly diverse. GEO continues to play an important role, LEO constellations are opening up new possibilities, and MEO adds another layer to the connectivity landscape. For customers, the potential is significant: Different networks and technologies can be combined to make connectivity services more flexible, resilient, and better aligned with individual requirements.
But what operational challenges come with this promise?
More Networks Can Also Mean More Complexity
Adding another satellite network does more than expand capacity or coverage. It can also introduce another management system, additional APIs, its own terminology, different performance metrics, and new processes for provisioning and managing services.
As portfolios grow, operational teams often have to work across an increasing number of systems to deliver a service that the customer ultimately experiences as a single connectivity solution.
The challenge is therefore no longer simply to connect different networks. It is about bringing them together on a centralized platform for networks, services, and operational processes, supported by a consistent and reliable source of information.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
Consider a service provider offering connectivity across multiple satellite networks. A customer wants to activate a new service, modify an existing configuration, or understand how connectivity is performing across different sites or assets.
Behind what appears to be a simple request, numerous operational steps may be required: The appropriate network and resources need to be identified, the service configured, permissions coordinated, performance data collected, and the resulting information made available to the right users.
If each network requires its own processes and tools, complexity grows along with the portfolio.
And this does not affect the Network Operations Center alone. The impact extends from service delivery and support to product management and the overall customer experience.
Creating an Operational Layer Above the Networks
This is where software orchestration becomes increasingly important. Rather than requiring teams to operate each underlying network separately, an orchestration layer can bring information and processes from heterogeneous infrastructures together in a common operational environment.
G&S SatConnect® follows exactly this principle.
The platform integrates different satellite networks, technologies, and operational systems into a unified software environment. Network and service information can be standardized, operational processes automated, and services managed across the underlying infrastructure.
The goal is not to replace individual satellite technologies or their Network Management Systems. Instead, it is to reduce the operational complexity that comes from working across different systems.
As satellite portfolios continue to evolve, this distinction is becoming increasingly important.
From Network Complexity to a Simpler Customer Experience
Customers should not have to understand every system operating behind their connectivity service. They want to know which services are available, how those services are performing, and whether they can be adapted as their requirements change. This is precisely why orchestration, automation, and service management increasingly need to work together.
A recent example is the collaboration between Eutelsat Network Solutions and G&S SatCom and the introduction of an Online Management Tool powered by G&S SatConnect®. The solution enables authorized users to plan, provision, manage, and adapt services across OneWeb LEO connectivity. At the same time, relevant service, usage, and performance information is brought together in a common environment.
The specific implementation is tailored to the requirements of Eutelsat Network Solutions. The underlying challenge, however, is one that applies across the industry: How can increasingly complex connectivity infrastructures be made easier to operate and use?
The Next Step in Multi-Orbit Is Operational
The satellite industry has made significant progress in expanding the connectivity options available to customers. Now the software layer needs to keep pace.
The value of multi-orbit and multi-network connectivity will not depend solely on how many networks a provider can offer. Just as important will be how efficiently those networks can be turned into scalable, easy-to-manage services.
For operators and service providers, this means looking beyond connectivity itself and asking another question:
As our network portfolio becomes more diverse, is our operational environment becoming more complex as well?
G&S SatConnect® helps satellite operators and service providers bring heterogeneous connectivity environments together, automate operational processes, and manage services through a unified software layer.
Learn more about G&S SatConnect®.