The end of the month is setting up to be a milestone period for Carlsbad-based ViaSat.
The communications company is looking to usher in a new era of satellite Internet with the launch of a satellite that promises to expand the quality, capacity and availability of high-speed broadband satellite service in North America.
The satellite, ViaSat-1, is scheduled to be aboard a proton rocket that will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the last week of September. International Launch Services is handling the launch.
The Ka-band satellite has an estimated capacity of 150 gigabytes per second (gbps), which would make it the highest-capacity Internet satellite in the world.
According to the company, the satellite, "is designed to transform the economics and quality of service that satellite broadband can provide, with the capacity to serve the accelerating growth in bandwidth demand for multimedia Internet access over the next decade."
The company says that when it's up and running, the ViaSat-1 will feature download and upload speeds that will be faster than anything that has been offered by other satellite providers so far.
The launch was scheduled to take place in August, but was delayed when a solar array onboard the Telstar 14R communications satellite , which was launched in May, failed to fully deploy. After testing and additional work, the ViaSat-1 was declared ready for flight.
A ViaSat-1 launch information page has been added to the ViaSat website at www.viasat.com/viasat-1-launch. Visitors will be able to view mission information, news updates, links to partner sites and a live broadcast on the day of the launch.
The interview below is a Q&A interview with Marc Agnew, the vice president and general manager of broadband systems for ViaSat Inc.
Can you describe the ViaSat-1 program and how it differs from other satellite systems?
Global demand for bandwidth by Internet consumers is growing so fast that it is doubling every two to three years. The satellite system architecture of the past cannot adequately satisfy that demand. Our new high-capacity satellite system, including ViaSat-1, is designed with the objective of maximizing total bandwidth capacity on the satellite. We have shifted to the higher-frequency Ka-band and we use a number of advanced techniques that allowed us to increase total capacity by a factor of 10, for only slightly more capital cost than today's satellites. ViaSat-1, at a total designed capacity of about 150 gigabits-per-second, is capable of more data throughput by itself than all other satellites already in space over North America combined. With this huge quantity of low-cost bits in space, we can offer around ten times the speed and more monthly data volume to customers for about the same price they pay now.
What do you think is the market for satellite-based broadband Internet, and what does ViaSat expect to do to tap that market?
The original use for satellite broadband was to reach unserved rural populations. In other words, it was the broadband connection of last resort, just a notch above dialup. The satellite service provider we own, called WildBlue, estimates that in the U.S. there are 10 to 15 million potential unserved homes, so that in itself is a good market. But our new high-capacity system will deliver service on a performance level that will now enable satellite-based Internet service to compete in areas that are already served by DSL, 4G mobile wireless, and even some cable broadband systems. That addition of the "underserved" to the unserved populations pushes the total addressable market up to over 20 million households.
What are some of the applications that these faster speeds will allow people to do online?
Watching video is one obvious application and our new system is especially adept at delivering rich media content, either by real-time streaming or download for later viewing. Online video accounts for about 90 percent of the total Internet bandwidth consumed, and is the fastest growing component. Our new system also includes acceleration technology that will enable much faster and more efficient browsing of media-heavy websites, use of web applications (or "apps") online shopping, and videoconferencing like Skype.
How do you see this changing people's lives, and what kind of technological advances can satellite-delivered broadband usher?
Since satellite can reach virtually any location without a lengthy, and perhaps uneconomical build-out of terrestrial infrastructure, it is a great way to enable people anywhere in the country to do business online, telecommute rather than drive to an office, get an online education and have more choices in Internet service. Satellite can also be a great tool in bridging the digital divide between those that have fast service and those that have slow service or none at all.
How does this ViaSat-1 fit into your company's plans for the future, both immediate and long-term?
It's important to note that ViaSat didn't really change from a product company to an Internet service provider. Instead, we acquired our long-time customer WildBlue, a satellite ISP based in Denver. They already had more than 400,000 subscribers and all the expertise to acquire, service, and manage those customers. The high capacity satellite system, including ViaSat-1 and our new SurfBeam 2 ground system, simply enables them to accelerate subscriber growth with a much better level of service. We see the potential to add one million subscribers in the next two to three years. Looking more long term, we plan to build even more powerful and higher-capacity satellites that will continue to keep competitive with the constant improvements in terrestrial broadband service.
What are the risks of the launch and what are the challenges of launching this satellite?
Any time you are dealing with rockets and spacecraft, there is inherent risk. Plus, we are building one of the largest communications satellites ever built. We also have faced financial hurdles in funding the project and in dealing with two delays in the satellite construction schedule due to circumstances beyond our control. We are past most of these now, with only the launch remaining, and believe the upside is well worth the risks and investment.
How will ViaSat-1 change people's experience of the web and other applications?
It's going to be an experience that surprises those who've previously experienced satellite broadband because of the "snappiness" of the response they're going to get. There is a very pervasive perception of satellite broadband as always being an inferior service just because it's satellite. We've done a number of over-the-satellite service demonstrations with our new SurfBeam 2 system using the same bandwidth allocation and speed that ViaSat-1 will provide and the people who see it are always surprised at the fast download times and overall performance. That's why we say we are transforming satellite broadband with this new system.
What are some of the things taking place at ViaSat as the date of the launch approaches?
As mentioned, the satellite is only part of the complete system. We've leased high-speed terrestrial fiber trunks that the system will connect to and we've built a series of gateway antenna systems across the U.S. and Canada. Those gateways tie the satellite system into that fiber Internet backbone. We've also moved the WildBlue organization to a new building in Denver to expand our customer service organization and network operations center. We're hiring more people to serve our anticipated subscriber growth, including a recent job fair, again in Denver, to fill 40 open positions. And finally, we're creating new service plans and preparing a marketing campaign to spread awareness and capture subscribers for the new services.
Is there anything else you'd like to mention about the ViaSat-1 program?
When we first announced this initiative 3 1/2 years ago, there were many questions about whether we could pull this off and about the viability of Ka-band technology. Now, Ka-band is widely acknowledged as the next big thing in the satellite communications industry.
Our high-capacity system is already up and operating in European on a satellite called KA-SAT, owned by Eutelsat, one of the world's largest satellite operators. Even our biggest competitor has followed us by ordering a similar high-capacity satellite.
We look forward to the launch at the end of September and rolling out services in December.
The communications company is looking to usher in a new era of satellite Internet with the launch of a satellite that promises to expand the quality, capacity and availability of high-speed broadband satellite service in North America.
The satellite, ViaSat-1, is scheduled to be aboard a proton rocket that will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the last week of September. International Launch Services is handling the launch.
The Ka-band satellite has an estimated capacity of 150 gigabytes per second (gbps), which would make it the highest-capacity Internet satellite in the world.
According to the company, the satellite, "is designed to transform the economics and quality of service that satellite broadband can provide, with the capacity to serve the accelerating growth in bandwidth demand for multimedia Internet access over the next decade."
The company says that when it's up and running, the ViaSat-1 will feature download and upload speeds that will be faster than anything that has been offered by other satellite providers so far.
The launch was scheduled to take place in August, but was delayed when a solar array onboard the Telstar 14R communications satellite , which was launched in May, failed to fully deploy. After testing and additional work, the ViaSat-1 was declared ready for flight.
A ViaSat-1 launch information page has been added to the ViaSat website at www.viasat.com/viasat-1-launch. Visitors will be able to view mission information, news updates, links to partner sites and a live broadcast on the day of the launch.
The interview below is a Q&A interview with Marc Agnew, the vice president and general manager of broadband systems for ViaSat Inc.
Can you describe the ViaSat-1 program and how it differs from other satellite systems?
Global demand for bandwidth by Internet consumers is growing so fast that it is doubling every two to three years. The satellite system architecture of the past cannot adequately satisfy that demand. Our new high-capacity satellite system, including ViaSat-1, is designed with the objective of maximizing total bandwidth capacity on the satellite. We have shifted to the higher-frequency Ka-band and we use a number of advanced techniques that allowed us to increase total capacity by a factor of 10, for only slightly more capital cost than today's satellites. ViaSat-1, at a total designed capacity of about 150 gigabits-per-second, is capable of more data throughput by itself than all other satellites already in space over North America combined. With this huge quantity of low-cost bits in space, we can offer around ten times the speed and more monthly data volume to customers for about the same price they pay now.
What do you think is the market for satellite-based broadband Internet, and what does ViaSat expect to do to tap that market?
The original use for satellite broadband was to reach unserved rural populations. In other words, it was the broadband connection of last resort, just a notch above dialup. The satellite service provider we own, called WildBlue, estimates that in the U.S. there are 10 to 15 million potential unserved homes, so that in itself is a good market. But our new high-capacity system will deliver service on a performance level that will now enable satellite-based Internet service to compete in areas that are already served by DSL, 4G mobile wireless, and even some cable broadband systems. That addition of the "underserved" to the unserved populations pushes the total addressable market up to over 20 million households.
What are some of the applications that these faster speeds will allow people to do online?
Watching video is one obvious application and our new system is especially adept at delivering rich media content, either by real-time streaming or download for later viewing. Online video accounts for about 90 percent of the total Internet bandwidth consumed, and is the fastest growing component. Our new system also includes acceleration technology that will enable much faster and more efficient browsing of media-heavy websites, use of web applications (or "apps") online shopping, and videoconferencing like Skype.
How do you see this changing people's lives, and what kind of technological advances can satellite-delivered broadband usher?
Since satellite can reach virtually any location without a lengthy, and perhaps uneconomical build-out of terrestrial infrastructure, it is a great way to enable people anywhere in the country to do business online, telecommute rather than drive to an office, get an online education and have more choices in Internet service. Satellite can also be a great tool in bridging the digital divide between those that have fast service and those that have slow service or none at all.
How does this ViaSat-1 fit into your company's plans for the future, both immediate and long-term?
It's important to note that ViaSat didn't really change from a product company to an Internet service provider. Instead, we acquired our long-time customer WildBlue, a satellite ISP based in Denver. They already had more than 400,000 subscribers and all the expertise to acquire, service, and manage those customers. The high capacity satellite system, including ViaSat-1 and our new SurfBeam 2 ground system, simply enables them to accelerate subscriber growth with a much better level of service. We see the potential to add one million subscribers in the next two to three years. Looking more long term, we plan to build even more powerful and higher-capacity satellites that will continue to keep competitive with the constant improvements in terrestrial broadband service.
What are the risks of the launch and what are the challenges of launching this satellite?
Any time you are dealing with rockets and spacecraft, there is inherent risk. Plus, we are building one of the largest communications satellites ever built. We also have faced financial hurdles in funding the project and in dealing with two delays in the satellite construction schedule due to circumstances beyond our control. We are past most of these now, with only the launch remaining, and believe the upside is well worth the risks and investment.
How will ViaSat-1 change people's experience of the web and other applications?
It's going to be an experience that surprises those who've previously experienced satellite broadband because of the "snappiness" of the response they're going to get. There is a very pervasive perception of satellite broadband as always being an inferior service just because it's satellite. We've done a number of over-the-satellite service demonstrations with our new SurfBeam 2 system using the same bandwidth allocation and speed that ViaSat-1 will provide and the people who see it are always surprised at the fast download times and overall performance. That's why we say we are transforming satellite broadband with this new system.
What are some of the things taking place at ViaSat as the date of the launch approaches?
As mentioned, the satellite is only part of the complete system. We've leased high-speed terrestrial fiber trunks that the system will connect to and we've built a series of gateway antenna systems across the U.S. and Canada. Those gateways tie the satellite system into that fiber Internet backbone. We've also moved the WildBlue organization to a new building in Denver to expand our customer service organization and network operations center. We're hiring more people to serve our anticipated subscriber growth, including a recent job fair, again in Denver, to fill 40 open positions. And finally, we're creating new service plans and preparing a marketing campaign to spread awareness and capture subscribers for the new services.
Is there anything else you'd like to mention about the ViaSat-1 program?
When we first announced this initiative 3 1/2 years ago, there were many questions about whether we could pull this off and about the viability of Ka-band technology. Now, Ka-band is widely acknowledged as the next big thing in the satellite communications industry.
Our high-capacity system is already up and operating in European on a satellite called KA-SAT, owned by Eutelsat, one of the world's largest satellite operators. Even our biggest competitor has followed us by ordering a similar high-capacity satellite.
We look forward to the launch at the end of September and rolling out services in December.