The economic benefits of VSATs

The author describes several state-of-the-art VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite systems currently in production and compares their economics with terrestrial networks. A real network example is analyzed in the context of VSAT technology alternatives. The economic performance of VSATs is found to depend on the user's network specification and the technology. Per-point costs of Ku-band VSATs, for example, improve with larger networks. Spread-spectrum or LSAT costs improve with lower data rates. Terrestrial costs improve with more secondary stations per line. Technology is therefore matched with economy by virtue of specifics.<>