COVID 19 pandemic: what impact on the telecom satellite market?

If the worldwide current pandemic may have little effect on the traditional FSS and BSS markets (still accounting for ~85% capacity of the geosat com), it may have on the other hand a strong impact on the data exchange flow. Indeed, while the pandemic has boosted the OTT services, it is expected the IFC faces an inevitable slump with the immediate fall of demand, as MSS. It can be however anticipated that beyond the near-term impact of the COVID 19 crisis and price being cheaper next year or so, long-term opportunities remain.

In general, since 2013, revenues of major satellites operators have fallen by an estimated 25%, but developing HTS market may remain profitable, even at lower price than expected. For the mobility market still, the prices may also continue to drop when the LEO constellations projects are put in service beyond the COVID short term impact.
It’s interesting to note that Intelsat that has just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy is willing to clear some current activities to compete for 5G wireless infrastructure using C-Band (which spectrum has been cleared for such a use by the Federal Communications Commission). The main driver remains the demand that may increase very fast beyond 2021 for IFC and maritime. So global revenue might be increasing despite lower costs of Mbps.

See also:

http://www.satellitemarkets.com/market_trends

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-intlsat-bankruptcy/intelsat-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-idUSKBN22Q0E0