Arthur C. Clarke Lectures

Bombay - Colombo Videoconference 1996

Satellites: First Choice For The New Millennium

Irving Goldstein
Director General and Chief Executive Officer
INTELSAT

Thank you for those kind words, Dr. Clarke. I am honored to receive this award, especially in the presence of so many distinguished guests, including the Minister of Science, Technology and Human Resources development, the Honorable Bernard Soysa. Thank you, Mr. Minister, for participating in the awards ceremony.

It's a pleasure for me to be with you today in Colombo from this studio in Bombay. Of course, this is possible because of the technological magic of communication satellites.

This also is a fitting occasion to salute the pioneering vision of Dr. Clarke, who first recognized the promise of geosynchronous satellites for global communication.

And today's much discussed global information infrastructure, which allows this videoconference to happen, is a reality, thanks to satellite technology.

Of course, not even a science fiction writer and futurist such as Dr. Clarke could have foreseen the rapid creation, development, and operation of a global communications satellite system - nor its myriad effects upon global culture, business and politics. Indeed, writing in February 1945, Dr. Clarke indicated that he did not expect a global satellite system to be created for about 50 years. I believe that in this case, we can all agree that technology moved much more rapidly than science fiction.

Dr. Clarke's thoughts launched the era of satellite communications. He is now recognized worldwide as the father of satellite communications - and for his pivotal role in making global satellite communications a reality for people around the world.

Dr. Clarke's writings started a revolution in 1945 - a communications revolution. And, in turn, the availability of communications around the globe - from anywhere to anywhere - has unleashed the free flow of information across national borders, bringing economic opportunity, health and social benefits, to people around the world.

These days, the latest buzzwords in our business are the international information infrastructure. But, as if to prove that there really is nothing new under the sun, Dr. Clarke was writing about the information superhighway 50 years ago - he just didn't call it that!

If Dr. Clarke is the father of communications satellites, then he must also be the godfather of INTELSAT. On August 20, 1964, INTELSAT was born - a blend of high space science, global communications technology and international political cooperation. And it worked. In April 1965, "Early Bird" translated theory into fact by becoming the world's first international commercial satellite.

Early Bird began to knit the world together through telephone, through telegraph, and for the first time, through live transoceanic television broadcasting. The INTELSAT system, born so modestly, now works full time, 24-hours-a-day, to unite some 170 different countries, territories, and jurisdictions.

Today, INTELSAT operates a global satellite fleet of 24 spacecraft - and we're launching eight new spacecrafts over the course of the next two years.

The futurists predict that new scientific and technical marvels await us. Yet, we're still trying to assess the meaning of the science and technology revolution that's already upon us.

Everyone agrees that the speed of scientific and technical change over the past 100 years has been phenomenal - even over just the last 50. And it has kept accelerating. Dr. Clarke has said that science and technology are fore multipliers. Telecommunications is the swiftest and most powerful of all, and the satellite industry is one of its major drivers.

Satellite technology has been for telecommunications what the Model T car was for the automobile industry - a means for changing every level of society. In the cast of the Model T, it was transportation. In the case of satellite technology, it is information.

According to Dr. Clarke, information processing is our ultimate life purpose. He bases this conclusion on the fact that human beings love to communicate. How much do we like to communicate? Clarke says experiments in sensory deprivation show we can survive longer without food - even without water - than without information.

If you question this, just remember how frustrated you were the last time your computer went off-line, your cable TV system went down, or your morning newspaper failed to arrive.

I firmly believe that information will be the new hard currency fostering economic prosperity in the 21st century. Societies and people who have it will prosper. Those who do not will struggle.

This information gap is something that should be of concern of all of us. Our society is so interconnected - in so many ways - that lack of adequate phone service in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, or China surprises us. This lack of service affects not only the people who live in these countries, but the rest of the world as well. Countries lacking in basic communications infrastructure simply will not be able to compete - or even enter - in the global economy.

Last October, Nelson Mandela spoke to a prestigious international forum in which I participate. In his remarks, he provided a very graphic example of how great this disparity is. He said: "There are more telephones in Manhattan, than in all of sub-Saharan Africa."

The bad news is that there are large areas of Africa and Asia that still have only one main telephone line, or less, per 100 people. And this figure applies to almost 50 countries, with over half the world's population. Waiting lists for phone connections are growing, and most of those waiting, the longest, are in developing countries.

The good news is that there are satellites, and they play an increasingly important role in meeting the needs of the developing world. This, in turn, benefits global society as a whole, because all nations can become full participants in the global economy.

This means that we in the telecommunications industry must provide reliable, cost-effective services. We have a good choice of tools to do this. Communications satellites are one of the most valuable. They've helped us extend the leading edge of the communications revolution by making it possible for anyone to travel the information super-highway.

Less than 50 years ago, we didn't even have reliable transoceanic phone service. All of that changed forever with the launch of Early Bird.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I know of no industry that has accomplished so much for so many in so short a time span. How has this happened?

The communications satellite industry has been in a unique position. It has exploited advances in other technologies and adapted them to offer better, cheaper, and more reliable global communications. Microelectronics, digital technology, advanced computer and software capabilities - our industry has used them all. The result is a global information infrastructure that is available to anyone.

The industry has done so well, that our once technical marvels, like live global TV, are taken for granted. Our challenges are no longer engineering driven. They are market driven.

Choice and convenience: these are two qualities satellite communications have in abundance. And both of these features are driving double-digit growth, especially in the video market and the then to medium route voice video/data market.

When Early Bird went into service, live television was an interesting and exceptional by-product. But live television pictures had a charisma that enthralled a growing number of devotees. The medium was the message, and the message was visual.

The phrase, "Live Via Satellite," helped promote satellite technology to global audiences. Audiences who wanted their news when it happened. Audiences who wanted the best seats in the house at sporting events. Well, we gave them the best seats! More than three billion front-row seats for the most spectacular events of our time! And demand is still increasing.

Satellites are just as essential for thin-route, rural, and remote communications. Remote areas, areas with hostile terrain, areas with few inhabitants -- these are the places where satellites thrive.

No one appreciates this fact more than developing nations. They rely on satellite technology for their basic communications service. The industry is developing even easier and cheaper ways for these countries to communicate. VSAT technology and applications like DAMA will bring them even more capacity at affordable rates.

Satellites are the engines powering the information economy. The global connectivity and reliability of the INTELSAT satellite network is making access to the information economy easier for people around the world - in essence, bridging the information gap.

We are honored to play a key role in information exchange on a global basis. And, I am honored to be with you today and to accept this award.

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