Satellite is offered as CDN alternative for delivery of streaming TV
Two of the world’s leading satellite service providers, SES and Eutelsat, are confident they can help content owners offload live streaming from CDNs even in countries with widely deployed high-speed (terrestrial) broadband, as in Europe.
Their role in delivering streaming TV, in the form of adaptive bitrate (ABR) video that appears to smart TVs, tablets and mobiles as a unicast stream, is enabled by DVB-NIP, the standard that enables delivery of native IP content over satellite broadcast spectrum.
Until now, DVB-NIP use cases mainly focused on delivering IP services, including e-learning and video, to places where there is no terrestrial Internet. Rural education in developing markets, and welfare services for ship crews, oil rig workers and the military, are good examples.
At IBC last month, SES and Eutelsat made it clear that DVB-NIP is something broadcasters and channel owners can use, in any market, when audiences for streaming TV – and therefore internet content delivery network (CDN) delivery costs – start to spike.
DVB-NIP was standardised in 2024 and enables a satellite operator to take a unicast stream, convert it to multicast for satellite delivery, and convert it back to unicast streaming in a customer premise gateway. By using ABR video, satellite broadcast transmission effectively becomes another part of the global streaming delivery infrastructure.
This also means that for the first time, satellite delivered content can be consumed on devices that do not have a satellite broadcast tuner. These include many smart TVs, streaming dongles and boxes, computers, game consoles and mobile devices.
SES and Eutelsat believe that DVB-NIP could be used to stream live television, like sports, to millions of homes as an alternative to classic CDNs.
Streaming costs fixed
Satellite uses a one-to-many delivery architecture, so the cost of the streaming is fixed. Andreas Breuer, regional manager DACH, solutions engineering at SES, noted how CDN costs rise as each new consumer requests a unicast stream (in the classic internet delivery model).
“When you use satellite, it does not matter if there are 500 or 50 million people consuming content.”
He observed that the challenge for the television industry was how to combine the broadcast nature of satellite with the benefits of streaming, and this is what DVB-NIP (NIP stands for native IP) achieves.
“That has allowed us to create hybrid networks where broadcasters can use satellite instead of CDNs to take back control of their costs.”
He noted the ability for DVB-NIP to expand the technical reach of any television service that was previously delivered using satellite broadcast only. “Every smart device in the household can consume the streams without knowing it is satellite delivered television.
“Content owners can reach more eyeballs, giving them a better opportunity to monetise content, while optimising costs.”
One of the first commercial services to use DVB-NIP over satellite – and the first in the world to deliver television with this delivery architecture – is Sky Flow. Backed by the Peruvian government, this company serves millions of rural homes in Peru that have no terrestrial Internet.
That includes 10 million Peruvians who are not covered by legacy terrestrial television signals and Sky Flow now offers them live streaming TV, harnessing Eutelsat satellites. The service also delivers educational material on-demand.
ST Engineering iDirect (whose many solutions include modems and modulators for satellite broadcast, including support for DVB-NIP) is another key stakeholder in this implementation.
Eutelsat is also helping MediaMobil run a proof-of-concept service that delivers live streaming TV, VOD and file-based content to ships as part of crew welfare services.
Speaking at a briefing organised by ST Engineering and hosted by DVB (during IBC), José Ignacio González-Núñez, senior regional vice president at Eutelsat, explained how high-quality and reliable connectivity is critical to crew welfare at sea.
He noted that there were increasing mental health challenges, while digital-native crews expect streaming services as part of their entertainment provision. Staff retention is a key concern for shipping companies.
MediaMobil is a satellite communications company that serves isolated construction sites, shipping and disaster areas, among other places. ST Engineering iDirect is also involved in this project.
González-Núñez said: “These services offer high-quality video streaming over satellite. Streaming is the ‘word’ in the video business today and satellite must not be outside this game, and it is important that satellite services can reach any screen.
Efficient, resilient, sustainable
“Streaming over satellite with DVB-NIP is extremely efficient, and sustainable. It is resilient. We can offer this anywhere we have satellite coverage – it is global.”
He pointed to onboard entertainment (cruise ships and flights) as other examples where satellite streaming could be used.
In all cases, DVB-NIP does require some kind of gateway device at the receive end of the satellite signal, as multicast must be converted back to unicast. This could happen in a Wi-Fi router (including those acting as a public access point) or a set-top box.
Bart Van Utterbeeck, general manager & business development for Latin America at ST Engineering iDirect, also hailed the way satellite video streaming combines wide coverage with efficient scale.
“Geostationary satellites are a natural broadcast and multicast environment, and you can reach a whole continent through one uplink. Adding terminals [end receive devices] does not cost anything [in terms of additional bandwidth]. You can provide the same quality for the whole footprint. It is very predictable, as well as cost-effective.”
He noted the role of DVB-NIP for live events coverage, pointing to how even today these can be impacted by service loss – as witnessed during the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing on Netflix last year. “Live streaming is a tough business,” he declared. “These are high-stakes events.”
He also emphasised the need for the satellite industry to adjust to changed consumer behaviour. “We are watching on different devices, not only on the television screen.”
You can read more about the technical challenges of DVB-NIP implementation in this opinion piece by Bart Van Utterbeeck.
Overcoming the technical challenges of DVB-NIP implementation