Intelsat EpicNG is a high performance, next generation satellite platform that delivers global high-throughput technology without sacrificing user control of service elements and hardware.
Speaking to Grant Marais, regional V-P of Intelsat at SATCOM 2013 he said that two satellites are under construction that will offer KU-band spot beams.
"Because Epic NG will have narrow spot beams we can offer higher bandwidth and more powerful signals which means that smaller ground station equipment can be deployed utilising far less energy than current ground stations. The higher power also mitigates issues such as rain-fade."
With many spot beams close to each other one could compare the Epic next generation platform with a series of cellular base stations which handover to each other as the traffic passes through. This makes it particularly suitable for services on aircraft and ships, handing over from one spot beam to another without loss of signal or fringe edge degradation. "We foresee that Epic will be used in many cellular backhaul applications because of its bandwidth and power offering. I believe that KU-band is still the logical band for Africa. The only difference that Epic will offer is that it is KU-band on steroids!"
[Original Article @ EE Publishers]
