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Does Kacific offer the best satellite broadband connectivity in Rural cities in the Philippines?

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The Philippines is an archipelago with about 7,640 islands, one of the major reasons why fiber and mobile internet connectivity are weak or sometimes not available in some areas at all. One of the most viable and affordable solutions to that problem is satellite internet technology.
Does Kacific offer the best satellite broadband connectivity in Rural cities in the Philippines?
A Kacific satellite dish and an actual speed test of the service

To keep it simple, satellite internet services will solve the specific problem of not having an internet connection in areas that cannot be reached by fiber or cable.

Enter Kacific, one of the few providers in the country with the said solution.

We recently had a brief chance to try them and here's what we think. Read on.

Who is Kacific?

Kacific in space
Kacific in space

According to its website, Kacific is a "next-generation" broadband satellite operator founded by Christian Patouraux in 2013. In 2019, the group launched Ka-band high throughput satellite, Kacific1 to provide reliable broadband to rural and suburban areas of the Pacific and South East Asia, including the Philippines.

It is a geostationary satellite, orbiting at 35,786 km above the equator, providing connectivity to over 25 countries. The company has partnered with several global giants in the industry like Boeing, SpaceX, and Kratos, among others to launch Kacific1, which was co-funded by the Asia Development Bank. 

Kacific works with many local internet service providers that distribute its services in the country to cater to a wide range of customers from enterprises to households, telecommunication operators, and local government agencies.


What made Kacific different from other satellite broadband operators?

Ka-band vs the rest
Ka-band vs the rest

Kacific1 satellite is a High Throughput Satellite. This means the same spectrum (frequencies) is reused multiple times in the 56 spot beams resulting in higher efficiency, lowering the cost per bandwidth, and making it more affordable than the predecessor technology such as C-band and Ku-band.

Because the satellite antennas concentrate the spot beams for frequency reuse, the resulting beams are also high power – resulting in availabilities between 99.5 percent and 99.9 percent in the Philippines.

Kacific1 satellite transmits data over Ka-band and has state-of-the-art gateways in Australia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The latter two locations use site diversity arrangements to allow for the best uplink availability possible.

The difference between Ka-band, Ku-band and C-band:

One of the company's key selling points is its use of the Ka-band. The company explained to us that Ka-band achieves higher speeds in small remote sites with affordable rates which is a better alternative to other bands like Ku and Cu.

Keeping it simple, Ka-band has a concentrated coverage with a high throughput of 26 to 40 GHz frequency allowing for higher throughput speeds as compared to Ku-band and C-band, which are only in the 12 to 18GHz and 4 to 8GHz ranges, respectively. These higher frequencies for Ka-band mean higher download and upload rates that provide you with better internet performance. Ka-band also allows lower prices per Mbps (Megabits per second) or per GB (Gigabyte).

Ka-band is also compatible with a smaller antenna size for easier deployment versus other bands with each dish having a size of at least 1.2 m only. With a small satellite dish, deployment becomes faster and more affordable for both businesses and local customers in rural areas.

Kacific also has ways to mitigate Rain Fade. In particular, the company deployed techniques like diverse uplink availability wherein Kacific has two local teleports located in Subic Bay and Clark as its backup sites to ensure that connectivity remains available even in bad weather.

Modern technologies such as Satellite Automatic Level Control (ALC) and Adaptive Coding Modulation (ACM) are also used to maintain a high level of availability and ultimately, improve the quality of service and user experience, despite inclement weather.
Kacific coverage in the Philippines
Kacific coverage in the Philippines

Kacific also has nationwide coverage and only needs a clear light of sight for its infra to be deployed in your area. Their solution is also plug and play using VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technology that can be quickly installed in just a few hours.

The unit is a small, easy-to-install, portable 1.2m antenna, and can also be sustainably powered using solar panels.

Kacific even has a locally embedded network of 150+ authorized distributors to connect remote communities and provide fast aftersales service. With their nationwide distribution network, Kacific was able to quickly install and activate equipment to service over 2,000+ sites catering to internet requirements for households and enterprises across the Philippines.

Who is it for?

It is a slim and small yet capable dish
It is a slim and small yet capable dish

Satellite internet is a technology designed for households and enterprises that require connectivity over satellite, especially in remote underserved areas.

Moreover, satellite technology can also serve as redundancy to internet connectivity as requires minimal power and simply connects via a clear line of sight between the dish and the Kacific1 satellite in space to provide speeds up to 100 Mbps or higher.

For example, it can be used to connect your homes, enterprises, government facilities, schools, and even hospitals in remote areas. Let's say the far away barrios.

Kacific is also being used as a backup internet for call centers, banks, and other businesses that need to stay connected always in case their main provider is experiencing an outage.

Satellite internet could also be used for disaster response to provide immediate internet connectivity in affected areas.

Our experience

Our actual usage
Our actual usage

We were able to try Kacific a few weeks back in one of their spots in the metro. It is an unlimited data plan with up to 30 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed.

It is quite consistent and reliable!

In our speed test, we got an average of about 15 Mbps of download speed. It may look not that fast at first. But, the 15 Mbps that we got is not bad considering that our team had 4 devices connected to the network all at the same time. Others in the building are likely connected to the same wireless network as well.

We tried using it to watch an NBA game replay on YouTube on my foldable smartphone Mate Xs 2 and browse the internet and do some work on my MSI Creator Z16 laptop.

Loading time is reasonably fast and there is no buffering default on YouTube.

We also tried to stream Netflix at HD resolution on my laptop and another YouTube clip on my phone at the same time and both loads with little to no delay.

It also covered the entire rooftop bar and other areas on the rooftop of the building where we tried it pretty well.

Where to avail it?

Kacific's partners offer unlimited plans
Kacific's partners offer unlimited plans

Those who are interested may visit any of their local resellers (see bottom of the article) to inquire. It is available on both unlimited and capped plans for home use, different businesses, and even enterprises.

Kacific’s partners offer Unlimited Plans starting at PHP 5,940 in the Philippines. Terminals are offered for a one-time terminal fee of PHP 34,000 or PHP 52,000 depending on the model. A one-time installation fee of PHP 10,000 is charged by distributors to install the terminal in a specific area.

At first look, it is quite pricey. But satellite services aren't cheap, to begin with.

Versus its satellite broadband competitors who are not utilizing the Ka-band, Kacific's service is more affordable and value-packed.

For example, they have this competitor with starting plan of 2 Mbps speed capped at 30 GB priced at PHP 5,000 per month. The other one is 2 Mbps unlimited data for PHP 6,500 per month.

Quick thoughts

Back view of the dish

At the moment, we think that Kacific offers the best Satellite broadband connectivity in the country so far. 

They are using newer technologies for better speed and reliability and are priced more affordably at the same time.

If your area has no internet and you badly need one, this could be a great option.

What do you guys think?

Anyway...

If you are interested and you need more affordable satellite internet services in your area, you may reach out to Kacific’s ISPs:

Transpacific Broadband Group, Inc. - Call (02) 8404 0239 or visit www.tbgi.net.ph
Stellarsat Solutions, Inc. - Call 0917 626 6694 or email info@stellarsat.com.ph 
Bambunet powered by Kloche Communications - Call 0998 555 3243 or visit www.bambunet.com
Limitless-Tech Solutions, Inc. powered by Kloche Communications - Call 0908 876 0419 or visit www.ltsi.ph

For more information on Kacific’s satellite technology, visit www.kacific.com or contact sales@kacific.com.

You may also apply to be a Kacific Authorized Distributor, visit https://kacific.com/distributor-network to know more. 

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