Iganico Sanchis, CCO of Hispasat shares insights into the company’s strategic evolution from a traditional satellite operator to a multi-orbit service provider offering integrated solutions across GEO, LEO, and third-party networks
Gulraiz Khalid: Can you tell us a little bit about your background? How long you’ve been at Hispasat and how you began your journey in this industry.
Iganico Sanchis: I joined Hispasat about 12 years ago. Honestly, I didn’t expect to stay this long, but time has flown. Before that, I worked at Nagra Vision, a company focused on pay-TV applications and technology. Prior to that, I spent nearly 10 years at Philips, the Dutch consumer electronics company.
In my 12 years at Hispasat, I’ve witnessed the tail end of the traditional satellite era. When I first joined, we were still in the habit of simply replacing each satellite at the end of its lifespan with a similar one. Our business was heavily dependent on broadcasting and video applications. I experienced some of that in my initial years, but the landscape has changed dramatically over time. It’s been a fascinating place to observe—and contribute to—the transformation of the satellite industry.
Gulraiz: Have you seen a major shift during this time—from GEO to LEO, especially with Starlink expanding the addressable market?
Iganico: We’ve seen many changes—some of the most notable being within GEO itself, evolving from one type of GEO architecture to another. About 12 years ago, we began implementing HTS (High Throughput Satellites) and spot beam-type payloads. In fact, we were the first to deploy a Ka-band satellite in Latin America, more than a decade ago.
The architecture of GEO satellites has evolved from wide-beam, video-centric models to connectivity-focused ones with multiple spot beams and, more recently, digital processors for flexibility. Of course, the emergence of non-GEO constellations—LEO and MEO—has been the biggest industry shift we’ve seen.
In response, we made a key strategic decision to evolve from being a pure infrastructure player to becoming a value-added service provider. Traditionally, satellite operators like us leased infrastructure—megahertz and capacity on our space assets. While we continue doing that, we also aimed to move up the value chain by offering integrated services and solutions. Over the last four years, we’ve pursued this both organically and through acquisitions.
For example, we acquired ‘Media Networks’ from the Telefónica Group, a managed video services provider in Latin America. They handled DTH operations for multiple telcos, reaching millions of homes. By integrating them with our satellite capacity, we’ve become one of the largest video service providers in the region.
We also expanded into streaming video services, offering OTT solutions to telcos and wholesale partners.
More importantly, in the connectivity space, we acquired ‘Axess Networks,’ one of Latin America’s leading SATCOM service providers, with operations in the Middle East and Africa. Today, we offer end-to-end connectivity solutions to telcos, enterprises, and governments. In fact, services now account for about half of our total business—a shift we’ve achieved in just 3–4 years.
Coming back to LEO and non-GEO: unlike traditional infrastructure-only operators, our service model allows us to use any available infrastructure. We use our own satellites, but also third-party GEO, LEO, and MEO constellations. This enables us to tailor solutions to customer needs.
At Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, we showcased our multi-orbit solution. We demonstrated, for instance, that while LEO offers lower latency, it’s more variable. GEO latency is higher but far more stable—something critical for certain applications. LEO may experience higher packet loss due to micro-interruptions, which GEO avoids. Blending and managing these infrastructures effectively is where we add value—through unified monitoring, SLAs, and consistent KPIs across networks.
This ability to provide integrated, reliable, and hybrid solutions gives us a unique position in the market. We have no issue using LEO services from third parties—we embrace it. That’s how we see the market, and that’s where we are today.
Gulraiz: Can you share more about your applications and services for telcos—especially what you’re showcasing in Barcelona?
Iganico: Certainly. In our core markets—Europe and Latin America, and to some extent North America—we primarily work with telcos and MNOs. In fact, six of our top ten customers are operators.
The largest segment of this business is cellular backhaul in Latin America. We’re the region’s leading independent provider in this domain, serving more than 4,000 cell sites—mostly 4G, some still 3G—for various MNOs. We do this using a combination of our satellites and third-party capacity, including LEO. We’re among the first to implement pure multi-orbit cellular backhaul—blending GEO and LEO—for MNOs, which has been successful both technically and commercially. The GEO portion helps MNOs manage their costs, especially amid shifting commercial terms on non-GEO solutions. We act as a trusted end-to-end partner for these customers.
We also work alongside telcos to deliver enterprise and government solutions—particularly in areas like telemedicine and tele-education. For example, we offer a fully integrated solution to digitize rural schools, often in partnership with local telcos. We also support areas like cybersecurity and cloud, although telcos usually manage those directly. So, in terms of commercial services, these are our key offerings specifically for telcos.
“IRIS² will use 5G NTN protocols, promoting seamless integration by enabling the use of shared chipsets and technologies across satellite and terrestrial systems”
Gulraiz: With the growing buzz around non-terrestrial networks and direct-to-device connectivity, where do you think this will take the industry? Will it be competitive, collaborative, or lead to consolidation? And what’s Hispasat’s outlook?
Iganico: First and foremost, these developments—non-GEO broadband and direct-to-device services—are helping elevate the satellite industry’s relevance in the broader telecom landscape. At this year’s Mobile World Congress, satellite was everywhere. For the first time, it’s not seen as a niche—it’s now a central part of telecom’s present and future. That’s exciting and full of opportunity.
We’ve always engaged with telcos, but now they’re proactively coming to us and other space players. That’s a significant shift.
Regarding industry direction, we firmly believe satellite networks will become increasingly integrated with terrestrial networks. Achieving this requires alignment on standards, and 5G NTN (non-terrestrial networks) is a major step forward. Hispasat is part of the SpaceRise Consortium, which was awarded the IRIS² project by the European Commission. IRIS² will use 5G NTN protocols, promoting seamless integration by enabling the use of shared chipsets and technologies across satellite and terrestrial systems. This will dramatically improve scale and affordability—long-standing challenges for satellite services.
As for direct-to-device: yes, it’s going to play a role in mobile communications. How exactly, and by whom, remains to be seen. There are currently two main approaches:
Using terrestrial spectrum.
Using satellite-specific spectrum, such as L-band or S-band.
Each has pros and cons. Terrestrial spectrum allows faster adoption due to existing device compatibility, but there are questions about technical and commercial execution with MNOs. Players like Starlink and AST are pushing this route. In the long term, the industry may gravitate toward dedicated satellite spectrum as devices and regulations catch up.
At Hispasat, we don’t have the scale for a standalone direct-to-device venture, but we’re actively exploring participation through partnerships—just as we’ve done with IRIS². We’re open to collaboration in this space and will pursue opportunities that align with our strengths.
Gulraiz: What are your technical priorities for the next 3–5 years?
Iganico: That’s a tricky one! We’re currently preparing our strategic plan for 2026–2030, so many of those decisions will be finalized in the coming months. If you ask me again in six months, I’ll have a more concrete answer. But here are a few general ideas:
Smart management of multi-orbit networks is a key focus. We’re very interested in how AI can optimize performance, efficiency, and seamless integration across GEO, MEO, and LEO.
Personally, I believe user terminals are an area where the industry has historically underinvested. As someone who leads the commercial side, I see huge value in improving this aspect. It’s also crucial to the success of initiatives like IRIS². Whether through direct investment or partnerships, we want to contribute to advancing user terminal technology.
So those are two areas—smart multi-orbit management and user terminal development—where I expect to see growth. But again, the detailed roadmap will be clearer soon.
Gulraiz: Are there any plans to expand in the Middle East, especially given Axess Networks’ existing presence?
Iganico: Yes, Axess Networks already has operations in the Middle East. For instance, we’re active in the UAE through a partnership with ‘du’. The region shows strong demand, which presents opportunities. At the same time, it’s a competitive space with well-established players. We’re definitely exploring ways to expand our presence. To what extent and through what strategies will likely be defined in our upcoming strategic plan.
