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Consulting Report
12 May 2026

The Global Value of LEO Satellite Broadband Services

A report for Amazon LEO by Oxford Economics

Expanding Low Earth Orbit satellite broadband could help narrow global connectivity gaps and generate substantial economic benefits by extending high-quality internet access to unserved and underserved communities.

Reliable, high-speed internet has become essential to participation in the modern economy, yet 2.6 billion people worldwide remained offline in 2024 and many more continue to face poor-quality or unaffordable service. This report examines how Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband can help address these gaps, particularly in rural, remote, and hard-to-serve areas where terrestrial networks are costly or impractical to deploy. Drawing on geospatial analysis, evidence from the academic and policy literature, and Oxford Economics’ in-house models, the study assesses how wider LEO-enabled connectivity could improve access to digital services, support business productivity, strengthen resilience, and expand socioeconomic opportunity.

Under three scenarios for adoption through 2035, the analysis finds that LEO satellite broadband could support between 78 million and 421 million users globally and raise world GDP by between USD 32 billion and USD 863 billion, depending on competitiveness, affordability, and the policy environment.

The experts behind the research
  • Henry Worthington

    Henry Worthington

    Managing Director, Economic Consulting
    Henry Worthington

    Managing Director, Economic Consulting

    Henry Worthington is the Managing Director for Economic Consulting in Oxford Economics’ consultancy division managing a team of economists in London across a diverse range of projects featuring economic impact modelling, macroeconomic modelling and forecasting and scenario analysis.

    He joined Oxford Economics in 2008, originally as part of the global macroeconomics team. As part of the macro team Henry assumed forecasting responsibility for a number of countries including Russia, Poland and Hungary. In 2010, Henry moved to the consultancy team. He has since led and managed a wide range of projects, notably an evaluation of the economic benefits of unconventional oil and gas extraction in Tunisia, research into the economic impact of hotel investments on behalf of the IFC, building a macroeconomic model for forecasting and scenario analysis in Abu Dhabi and developing a macroeconomic model to assess the implications of the introduction of VAT in the Bahamas.

    Henry was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he gained a first-class degree in Economics, becoming the William Stone Scholar of Economics, and an MPhil in Modern Society and Global Transformations.

  • Laurence Wilse-Samson

    Laurence Wilse-Samson

    Lead Economist, Economic Impact
    Laurence Wilse-Samson

    Lead Economist, Economic Impact

    Laurence is a Lead Economist in the economic consulting team in New York. He was previously Director of Policy Research and Economics at Bird, the electric scooter company. He has extensive experience performing economic modeling, research and analysis for private and public organizations and has worked doing economic analysis for litigation consulting at companies in the US and UK. He has also lectured at the University of Johannesburg, the University of Cape Town, and NYU. He has a PhD in economics from Columbia University.

  • Fabian Juarez Padilla

    Fabian Juarez Padilla

    Assistant Economist, Economic Impact
    Fabian Juarez Padilla

    Assistant Economist, Economic Impact

    Fabian joined our Economic Impact team in 2023, bringing over five years of experience in economic research in both Spanish and English. He holds a master’s degree from NYU and has a proven track record of managing large-scale projects in partnership with the World Bank and other international development institutions. At Oxford, Fabian has specialized in survey analysis for economic impact and consumer valuation projects, leveraging his background to deliver insightful and actionable results for our clients.

  • Anubhav Mohanty

    Anubhav Mohanty

    Director, Economic Impact
    Anubhav Mohanty

    Director, Economic Impact

    Anubhav Mohanty is a Director in the Economic Impact Consulting team. He has led projects with clients across a range of industries helping them understand how economic trends and Government policy can affect their markets. Experience in the private sector includes work for Snapchat, Meta, Amazon, Visa, Accenture, and Bain, among others.

    He has also worked with Governments helping them understand how policy changes can affect the wider economy. Experience in the public sector includes work for the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the UK Home Office, HMRC, and the Department for Transport.

    Anubhav joined Oxford Economics in January 2018 with more than 7 years of experience in econometric analysis. Previously, Anubhav worked as an economist with Compass Lexecon and at PwC.

    Anubhav has an MSc in Economics (Distinction) from the London School of Economics (LSE) where he also taught economics as a graduate teaching assistant.

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