Kacific Broadband and ST Engineering iDirect Strengthen Partnership To Provide Next Generation Infrastructure

Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) and ST Engineering iDirect have reaffirmed their long-term technology partnership through deep cooperation on the ground systems infrastructure for Kacific’s fleet of satellites. ST Engineering iDirect, whose Dialog hub platform was instrumental to Kacific1’s highly successful program, will provide a comprehensive next-generation ground infrastructure including systems integration, as part of this strategic partnership.  

Riding on the success of Kacific1, which has provided critical satellite internet access to people and governments throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Singapore-based broadband satellite operator Kacific is now working to expand its capabilities and coverage, adding capacity manyfold with services throughout the region. As a first step, the company's next-generation satellite aims to meet the increasing demand for satellite connectivity in its existing Southeast Asian markets while also expanding its reach into Southeast Asia, Central and Western Asia, and Eastern Africa. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), satellite bandwidth sold across Asia-Pacific will reach 335.6 Gbps by 2026, with an estimated 1 billion unconnected people in Kacific's areas of interest, representing a $8 billion total addressable market.

The next-generation Kacific satellites will be reconfigurable, with flexible bandwidth allocation and high spectral efficiency. ST Engineering iDirect will complement the space segment with a new generation of fully scalable, distributed ground systems that will use standards-based, automated resource and service orchestration to enable dynamic satellite resource allocation. Its next-generation ground system will enable extremely flexible services that align with new applications and changing customer demands, as well as the delivery of ultra-high-throughput services capable of meeting the demands of the most difficult applications, ranging from community access to business networks.

Kacific will take advantage of the latest advancements in virtualization and cloudification using ST Engineering iDirect's cutting-edge technology for unprecedented scale and ease of operations. With a fully digitalized ground network, the Kacific satellites will bring new services and capabilities to market faster and meet the region's growing demand.

Together with ST Engineering iDirect's next-generation Network Management System (NMS), these new innovations will enable Kacific to streamline the management and operations of a complex large-scale network, optimising costs, performance, and service delivery quality to ensure an exceptional customer experience.

“Through Kacific1, we have successfully broken ground to democratize satellite broadband in the Asia-Pacific region,” says Christian Patouraux, Kacific CEO. “New generation software-defined-satellite technologies, supported by a comprehensive ST Engineering iDirect-run ground system, set the stage for successful new broadband satellite programs, meeting unabated demand in our existing markets and opening up new opportunities.”

“We are proud to extend our technology partnership with Kacific and enable them to deliver the next generation of broadband satellite connectivity that will continue to empower communities across the Asia-Pacific region,” said John Arnold, Regional Vice President, ST Engineering iDirect. “We are looking forward to this next chapter in Kacific’s journey, and evolving with their technological requirements to provide the highly efficient, agile and cost-effective connectivity that their customers need.”