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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 062 799 EM 009 842 AUTHOR Chayes, Abram TITLE The Impact ot Satellites onCable Communications. INSTITUTION Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, NewYork, N.Y. PUB DATE May 71 NOTE 31p.; Report of the SloanCommission on Cable Communications EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Cable Television; CommunicationSatellites; Community Antennas; Educational Television;Instructional Television; Programing (Broadcast); Telecommunication IDENTIFIERS CATV; *Sloan Commission onCable Communications ABSTRACT Two recent developmentsin communications satellite technology may speed the comingof cable TV (CATV) networks.First, increases in satellite power arereducing the cost cf ground stations. Second, a connectionbetween one ground station,the satellite, and any other groundstation is no longer necessarily fixed. Now one station cancommunicate with another, and thenhave the circuit switched orreconnected to some otherstation. Lower-cost ground stations could makepossible a multi-channelnetwork of broadcast receiving stations.Circuit switching could makepossible a switched two-way communicationnetwork that would allow a groupof CATV systems to interconnectfor special interest programsat any time. A proposal to startbuilding such a system hasbeen made by Hughes Aircraft. It callsfor two 12-channel satellites, anumber of receive-only earth stations,and two two-way stations totransmit to any of theothers. Two steps may be taken toimprove program quality and reduce centralized programcontrol: 1) require the operatorto donate some capacity to a freenational instructional TVnetwork; 2) authorization for operation shouldrequire experimentation andbe for a limited timeonly. (MG) FILMED FROMBEST AVAILABLECOPY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION POSITION OR POLICY. THE IMPACT UF SATELLITES OH CABLE COMMUNICATIONS by Abram Mayes' Professor of Law Harvard University May 1971 A Report Prepared forthe SLOAN COMMISSION ON CABLECOMMUNICATIONS author The opinions expressedherein are the views of the members and do not reflectnecessarily the opinions of the of the Sloan Commission onCable Communications or of the A1fred P. Sloan Foundation. CONMNICATIONS THE IMPACT OFSATELLITES ON CABLE the most dynamic Cables and satelliteshave been two of expansion elements in a decade ofbreath-taking communications The They began At aboutthe same time. in the United States. 1950's, systems went intooperation in the first rudimentary cable communication by satellitewere con- and the firstexperiments with Telstar, the firstpracticable ducted toward the end ofthe decade. in the sameperiod, communications satellite waslaunched in 1962, and In the ensuing years, cable systems beganmoving into urban areas. involved in thedeployment each mode has solvedthe technical problems Each has embracedits most obvious of reliable operationalsystems. regulatory issues. initial markets and hasgrappled with threshold growth, but in directionsnot Each is facing aperiod of exponential when, for the firsttime, altogether clear. These prospects emerge policy is too important there is a growing sensethat communications It is altogetherappropriate, there- to be left to thetechnicians. Communications should ex- fore, that the SloanCommission on Cable between these twoincreasingly important amine the interrelations communications modes. Some TechnicalBackground system, the satellitein orbit In a satellite communications from an earth sta- acts as a relay, picking upsignals transmitted and sending them on to areceiving earth tion, amplifying them -2- of systems are now in use: random station. Two principal kinds and synchronous orbit, exemplified bythe Russian Molniya system, Telecomolunica- orbit, which is the formadopted by the International tions Satellite Consortium(INTELSAT). revolves in an ellip- In the random orbitsystem, the satellite point on theearth's tical orbit and is visiblefrom any particular In order to havecontinuous surface for only a portionof each day. must include communications.between any twoearth stations the system disappears over the a number of satellitesspaced so that when one already visible to both. horizon of one of thestations another is least two antennas, and Earth stations in such asystem must have at it makes its pas- they must be capableof tracking the satellite as sage acrosc thesky. satellite travels in an In a synchronousorbit system the At this altitude,the or- orbit 22,500 miles abovethe equator. rotates on its bital speed is equal to the speedat which the earth appears to hangmotionless in the axis. The satellite therefore A synchronous sky above a single point onthe earth's surface. visible over a third or moreof the satellite is simultaneously through earth's surface - from about750 north to 75° south latitude satellites, as in the 150° of longitude. Three properly positioned operational systems. The statement is truefot all existing done with passivesatellites (the Echo Early experimental work was perforning any series), which simply reflectthe signals without For the future, directinterconnection be- amplification function. intervening ground tween satellites can beenvisioned, without an is unlikely to be ofmuch practical The passive satellite link. satellite-to- significance in the communicationsfield, but direct interconnecting satellite links may becomeincreasingly important in satellite systems. 3 -3- for the polar the wholeplanet, except INTELSAT system,can cover simpler earthstation satellite permits regions. A synchronous hand, emplacing antenna. Onthe other design, with asingle, fixed orbit at complicated, andthe equatorial the satellitesis more orbital arc) isin some sense a 22,500 miles(the geostationary limited resource. has beenfurnished by by the satellite To date, thepower used satellite.Nuclear mounted on thesurface of the arrays ofsolar cells &reatly ex- for the futureand will power systemsare in prospect The communica- communicationssatellites. tend the lifeand power of of the is governedby the payload tions capacity ofthe satellite Since there delivery system. efficiency of thepower booster and the has both of thesedimensions, capacity has been rapidgrowth along satel- Early Bird, thefirst INTELSAT been growingexponentially. telephone provided about240 trans-Atlantic lite, launchedin 1965) the capacitythen availa- Even so, itpractically doubled channels. * the most ad- INTELSAT III,until recently ble on submarinecables. circuits, andthe first of 1600 voice vanced vehicle,has a capacity on 9000 voicecircuits, depending INTELSAT IV candeliver 3000 to member of thisseries, of its beams. The first the configuration over theAtlantic and positioned launched in Januaryof this year, or 12 TVchannels or any 5000 voice circuits "(keen, provides about only a year trans-Atlantic cable waslaid in 1956, The first increasing Cable capacityis also before SputnikI went up. trans-Atlantic cable,TAT-5, The mostrecently authorized capacities seem tobe rapidly. Much larger provides 750 voicechannels. will be com- but it is notclear that they technically feasible intercontinentaldistances. petitive withsatellites at 4 -4- developments contributingheavily combination of these. One of the focus the beam expansion is thegrowing ability to to this capacity small area of the transmitted from thesatellite on a relatively and increasing the effectivepower delivered earth's surface, thus flexibility in otherdimensions as well. providing important Institutional Framework 1 applications of satellitecommunication The first practical distance internationaltelecommunications, ;ere in thefield of long high. In advantage of the spaceroute seemed where the comparative Congress call for timelypolicy action, response toPresident Kennedy's Satellite Act of 1962, establishing a passed the Communications Corporation (Comsat) as Communications Satellite federally chartered participation in aglobal the chosen instrumentfor United States although a privatecorporation, is system. Under the Act, Comsat, regulation and policyguidance from the subjected to extensive President, the FCC and NASA. the lead, a groupof With Comsat and theUnited States taking established INTELSAT from the developed areas, countries primarily the summer of1964. This consortium on an interimbasis, beginning in countries.It finances, has now grown to amembership of almost 80 of a global system,consisting owns and operatesthe space segment Atlantic, satellites in synchronousorbit over the of three operating tracking and controlequip- Pacific and IndianOceans and associated owned in about 30countries, locally m*nt. Some 50 earth stations connect the laws of the placewhere they are built, in accordance with 47 U.S.C. 88 701-744(1964). 5 -5- global net forinternational provide a basic with the spacesegment to is expectedthat the By the endof 1971, it telecommunications. 70 in 40 have increasedto about number of earthstations will consortium vestthe con- establishing the countries. The agreements representing themembers. activities in aCommittee trol over its Comsat, notonly has beendominated by In practice,the Committee of the votesunder the corporation hashad a majority because the it * the agreements, but alsobecause, under weighted votingsystem, position has This dominating consortium. ia the managerof the and in thedefinitive the beginning, been a source offriction