There are over 2 billion people in the Asia Pacific region with no access to the internet. Most of these people live in areas that are often too costly to connect with fibre coverage, as their rural locations usually mean an insufficient population density to justify the cost of fibre deployment.
This poses a crucial restraining factor to the social and economic development of a community. As evidenced in the digital transformation experiences of other regions, greater data connectivity enables digitization and efficiency in the distribution of products and services, which implies socio-economic transformations and upending of traditional industries.
Moreover, these rural communities represent a massive market-the Asia Pacific produces most of their wealth from primary industries (i.e., mining, plantations, oil and gas), which originate in said rural areas. Yet, the engines of these economies are not covered with Internet access.
Kacific Broadband Satellites Ltd. sees the opportunity to solve the endemic lack of affordable broadband internet services in underserved areas in the Asia Pacific region by combining the latest satellite technologies around the world with an innovative business model. The company's goals and vision gave rise to the launch of its first-ever satellite, the Kacific1.
With the satellite's high-frequency KA band and High Throughput Satellite solution, the company is able to reuse the same spectrum a high number of times on 56 beams, resulting in higher throughputs than more traditional low-spectrum reuse wide-beams satellites. This has led to greater spectral efficiency and cost savings, reducing the price per GB by about 50% or more depending on location. Kacific has also designed its system to only require small and affordable satellite dishes, reducing installation costs for its end-users.
The work that Kacific does in making the internet more accessible to regions that are lagging behind is bound to hasten socio-economic developments. Proof of this is the current infrastructure projects in the rural villages of West Sumatra, Indonesia, where infrastructure rollout is more efficient. Through Kacific's partnership with PT Akses Satu Nusantara, the company was able to make the internet more accessible at a far lesser cost. "The Ka-band service from Kacific and PT Akses Satu Nusantara supports village development and local businesses and makes us more efficient and effective in the field," says Pak Asmon Rialdi, Chairman of Construction Analysis Institute for Internet Network in Indonesia.
The Kacific1 is the first of the many satellites Kacific will launch. The imminent launch of the Kacific 2 will provide 3.5 times more bandwidth allocation than Kacific 1.
Kacific has also revealed that the launch of additional satellites is already in the pipeline, with a total of seven satellites reaching globally by the end of the decade. The company estimates that once all its satellites are in place, it will be able to serve hundreds of millions of people living in extra-urban areas, rural areas, remote areas, islands and highlands.
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