ABI Research revealed that the total annual satellite services revenues at a global level will reach $124.6 billion by the end of the decade
Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) mobile connections worldwide are forecasted to reach 175 million by 2030, according to new research from analyst firm ABI Research.
According to the new white paper, dubbed “The Ascending Satellite NTN Market”, the growing adoption of satellite services in the communication sector is chiefly driven by the deployment of satellite constellations for low-latency, high-throughput network applications and extending terrestrial network coverage.
The white paper also revealed that the total annual satellite services revenues at a global level will reach $124.6 billion by the end of the decade.
“Satellite communications services have seen a new wave of enthusiasm and convergence with terrestrial networks looking to extend past their coverage zones and bridge the digital divide. We are witnessing a growing trend of operators leveraging software-defined satellites and multi-orbit solutions to meet the connectivity demands of the future,” said Andrew Cavalier, satellite communications industry analyst at ABI Research.
ABI Research also noted that the Third Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) initiative is having a profound impact on the satellite communications (SatCom) industry, with a wave of relevant satellite operators looking to take advantage of the market opportunity being created by the convergence of satellite communications and terrestrial cellular networks. Additionally, smartphone manufacturers and chipset makers are making moves that highlight excitement for consumer-grade devices supporting satellite communications via Narrowband (NB)-NTN, NTN unmodified and eventually, 5G New Radio (NR)-NTN, ABI Research added.
“Much of this growth is thanks to the smaller form factor of satellites, as well as reduced launch costs by 98%, thanks to reusable rockets by SpaceX, and better economies of scale thanks to standardized satellite bus and payload design. All these developments make it more affordable to launch satellites into orbit and offer SatCom services to a wider audience, driving further market developments,” Jake Saunders, VP of Asia Pacific at ABI Research added.
A previous report by ABI Research noted the NTN-mobile segment has the potential to reach a market value of at least $18 billion, with up to 200 million connections by 2031.
Cavalier had previously said that the revenue growth in this sector will be driven primarily by the introduction of NR-NTN satellite services, which is expected in 2026. Cavalier argues that the potential adoption of NTN satellite services in consumer vehicles for mobile emergencies, messaging, voice, and data communications use cases would also drive the growth of NTN-Mobile connections.
