The development of VSAT market in eastern Europe: a vendor´s view

The very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks have been widely perceived as the fast answer to rebuilding the communications networks of central and eastern Europe and the republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The benefits are obvious: a network can be deployed at high speed regardless of terrain; integration with existing and new terrestrial networks is practical; and extension and reconfiguration can be carried out at will. So far these systems have fulfilled only part of their early promise. One problem is that vendors have failed to appreciate the very different needs of central Europe and points further east. Another is that the fragile economies of many of the countries concerned demand the lowest cost solution. The paper aims to examine the development of the VSAT market in central and eastern Europe, offering a vendor´s view of the key issues associated with the successful development of VSAT technology in the region