Vienna, Austria, December 2nd,1998 Exploiting the Opportunities of Space Space in the Service of the Citizen IST ‘98 Alexander M. Geurtz SES/ASTRA Vienna, Austria, December 2nd,1998

General Overview Workshop: Exploiting the Opportunities of Space Panel: Space in the Service of the Citizen Objectives of the Panel Overview of new services enabled by space technologies Impact of new services on the citizen Future directions in this area

AltaVista context search: Space Exploiting the Opportunities of Space Intelligent, Networks, Investment, Growth, Media and Marketing Space in the Service of the Citizen Online Communities, Disk Space, Promised Land, Public Utilities Space (WWWebster) Boundless opportunities for communications, information and learning Unlimited possibilities as shown by development of satellite Direct-To-Home

Direct-To-Home Satellite Television Multi-channel television Choice, quality and convenience: Regulatory drivers: TV without Frontiers, deregulation Early eighties: few channels per country Late nineties: more than 400 programs via ASTRA, received by more than 73 million households (one third DTH/SMATV): initially analog, increasingly digital Satellite: increasingly strong position in broadcasting

New services: Threats and Opportunities Integration of broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology enabled by transition from analog to digital Markets shift from one-way to asymmetrical two-way Main dimensions: directionality and symmetry Opportunities in business and consumer applications Demand will increase for instantaneously available, continuously updated, diversified information

Building the network of the 21st century Challenge to create Intelligent Network infrastructure allowing all market parties to connect to the future of broadcasting SES is taking a gradual approach

SES Gradual Approach Transition to digital broadcasting infrastructure Addition of data broadcasting and multicasting to infrastructure Upgrade to two-satellite services with Ka band return channel Geographical expansion to cover new markets, establish partnerships with other operators High capacity two-way geostationary satellite system for regional coverage Possible participation in a broadband LEO constellation

Conclusions Challenge to repeat the highly successful, and highly focussed, television broadcast business approach in the era of boundless demand for highly customized interactive services Leverage technical and commercial strengths Integrating satellites into the Intelligent Networks of the 21st Century using open standards Allowing a level playing field for competing as well as complementary infrastructures Investing the solid revenue stream coming from today’s broadcast services in a market driven way: not too soon, not too late