October 9, 2026
By Catie Owen, Regional Content & Insights Lead (Adapted and Expanded for Global Telecommunications Insights)
Executive Overview
For decades, the telecommunications industry pigeonholed satellite technology into a rigid, secondary category. It was widely perceived as a specialized, niche tool—a last-resort safety net deployed exclusively for maritime voyages, isolated rural outposts, and intrepid expeditions charting the most inhospitable corners of the globe. Terrestrial fibre and traditional mobile networks anchored the core of modern communication, leaving satellite on the periphery as an expensive, high-latency alternative.
That paradigm has fundamentally shattered.
Today, satellite communications (satcom) occupy a foundational, non-negotiable position within mainstream telecommunications infrastructure. Driven by exploding enterprise data demands, the imperative for robust business continuity, and rapid advancements in low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellations, satellite has evolved from a disconnected backstop into an integrated cornerstone of modern connectivity portfolios.
Ahead of the milestone 25th anniversary edition of Capacity Europe in London, Olivier Gommes, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CP) at managed network service provider Marlink, sat down to unpack this historic shift. As telecom operators scramble to meet escalating customer expectations for resilience and ubiquitous coverage, Gommes offers a masterclass in how hybrid networks, multi-orbit satellite solutions, and managed service architectures are redefining the future of digital infrastructure.
Detailed Chronology: The Evolution of Satcom in Mainstream Telecom
To understand the weight of today’s satellite integration, it is crucial to trace how the technology transitioned from isolated trial deployments to large-scale production environments supporting thousands of enterprise locations worldwide.
1. The Legacy Era: Niche and Isolated (Pre-2020)
Historically, satellite operations relied heavily on Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. While GEO platforms offered massive coverage footprints, they were plagued by high latency, limited bandwidth, and exorbitant hardware costs. Consequently, telecommunications operators treated satellite strictly as an edge-case solution. If a remote mining operation, a deep-sea vessel, or an emergency disaster-relief station needed connectivity, GEO satellite was the only game in town—but it remained entirely siloed from core enterprise telecom strategies.
2. The Multi-Orbit Awakening (2020–2023)
The launch and commercialization of Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and early Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations catalyzed a massive industry awakening. Suddenly, latency dropped drastically while throughput skyrocketed. Enterprises began experimenting with satellite not just as a lone lifeline for remote outposts, but as an experimental failover mechanism for urban and semi-urban branch offices. However, these deployments remained largely fragmented, constrained by complex hardware installations, incompatible software protocols, and steep learning curves for internal IT teams.
3. The Mainstream Production Boom (2024–2026)
Over the past 12 to 24 months, the market crossed a critical threshold. Isolated trials gave way to sweeping, enterprise-scale production environments. Service providers began embedding satellite directly into their core product portfolios. Rather than viewing satcom as a competitive threat to terrestrial networks, forward-thinking telcos recognized it as the ultimate complement.
Today, as Gommes points out, the conversation has shifted entirely. Satellite capacity is no longer an afterthought; it is actively engineered into LTE and 5G cellular backhaul, corporate backup strategies, and multi-cloud resilience frameworks.
Supporting Context & Market Dynamics: Shifting Customer Needs and Operational Realities
As satellite technology matures, the motivations driving its adoption have grown increasingly sophisticated. According to Marlink’s leadership, enterprise expectations have evolved from simple "always-on" connectivity to a complex triad of resilience, rapid deployment, and uncompromising application performance.
The Rise of Multi-Orbit Agility
Modern enterprise customers no longer want to choose a single connectivity pipe and cross their fingers. They demand hybrid architectures that seamlessly combine terrestrial fibre, 5G wireless, and multi-orbit satellite (GEO, MEO, and LEO).
However, this technological cornucopia creates a paradox of choice for telecommunications operators. With various constellations, orbits, and service models populating the market, navigating the ecosystem requires deep technical expertise. Service providers are increasingly reluctant to absorb the overhead costs associated with managing multiple satellite operators, individual technology roadmaps, rigorous certification processes, and disparate billing models.
This friction has opened a massive window for managed network service providers like Marlink. Operating strategically between the raw satellite ecosystem and the downstream service provider, Marlink harmonizes disparate networks and technologies into a single, unified, consumption-ready service.
Interdependence in the Digital Ecosystem
Gommes emphasizes that satellite connectivity cannot be viewed in isolation. In today’s hyper-digitized business environment, network performance, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, IT services, and mission-critical applications are deeply interdependent.
[Enterprise Customer]
│
▼
[Managed Service Layer (Marlink)] ── Integrates Security, Cloud, & IT
│
├──► Terrestrial Fibre / 5G
├──► GEO Satellites (Wide Coverage)
├──► MEO Satellites (Balanced Latency/Throughput)
└──► LEO Satellites (Starlink, OneWeb, Amazon Kuiper)A change or optimization in network routing directly impacts cloud application latency and cybersecurity posture. Therefore, telcos and enterprises must make holistic, mindful decisions when weaving satellite into their overarching digital architectures.
Official Perspectives: Insights from Olivier Gommes
Reflecting on the rapid transformation of the industry, Olivier Gommes highlights several critical pitfalls that telecommunications providers must avoid as they scale their satellite offerings.
The Danger of Focusing Solely on the Connectivity Product
One of the most common mistakes service providers make is obsessing over the raw connectivity product while ignoring the complex operational model required to support it.
"A service like Starlink can appear very straightforward initially," Gommes explains, "but enterprise-scale deployments quickly introduce additional requirements around billing, logistics, network integration, security, installation, support, and service management."
When enterprises deploy thousands of terminals globally, they expect enterprise-grade SLAs (Service Level Agreements) as standard. Telecommunications providers that attempt to manage these intricate operational layers in-house often find their customer service compromised as internal resources get bogged down by platform management. Partnering with specialized managed service providers allows telcos to offload backend complexities while maintaining front-end customer excellence.
Subsea Cable Resilience and Network Diversity
Beyond enterprise branch connectivity, satellite is proving to be an indispensable tool for macro-level network security. Ongoing industry discussions regarding the vulnerability and resilience of subsea fibre-optic cables have laid bare the fragility of purely terrestrial global networks.
Geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and physical damage to undersea cables can instantly sever continents from the digital grid. Satellite infrastructure provides a vital, independent out-of-band alternative—a robust insurance policy that reinforces terrestrial networks and guarantees uninterrupted business continuity.
Future Outlook: The Next Frontier for Telecommunications
Looking ahead, the trajectory of satellite communication points toward deeper integration, accelerated market awareness, and unprecedented commercial opportunities for telecommunications operators.
The LEO Explosion and 5G Integration
The coming years will see an intensification of competition and capability within low-Earth orbit. With established players like Starlink expanding their footprints, OneWeb scaling its global enterprise network, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper coming over the horizon, enterprise access to high-speed, low-latency satellite capacity will reach new heights.
These constellations will play an indispensable role in powering remote LTE and 5G cellular links, bridging the digital divide in rural corridors, and enabling Internet of Things (IoT) deployments in extreme environments where cellular towers are economically or physically unviable.
A Lucrative Business Opportunity for Telcos
For telecommunications operators, satellite is no longer a peripheral novelty—it is a prime revenue engine. As digital transformation accelerates across Europe and beyond, businesses cannot afford downtime. By embracing satellite as a core component of hybrid connectivity portfolios, telcos can unlock new enterprise verticals, guarantee bulletproof resilience, and future-proof their infrastructure against unforeseen disruptions.
Join the Conversation at Capacity Europe 2026
As the digital infrastructure community gathers in London from October 13–15, 2026, for the monumental 25th anniversary edition of Capacity Europe, conversations surrounding hybrid connectivity, subsea resilience, and satellite integration will take center stage.
Olivier Gommes will be taking part in the Snapshot Presentations: Key developments shaping Europe’s digital infrastructure, sharing the stage with other visionary leaders from across the fibre, data center, cloud, and AI sectors.
An estimated 4,000 industry decision-makers are expected to converge in London to network, collaborate, and chart the next quarter-century of global connectivity. To secure your place among industry pioneers, register for the event here.
