Monday, March 25, 2013

ViaSat delays order, launch of ViaSat 2 satellite broadband platform to 2016


ViaSat has dropped hints that its ViaSat-2 broadband satellite may have to wait until 2016 at the earliest for manufacture and launch. The new satellite had originally been scheduled for launch in 2014 to expand and enhance the Company's Exede satellite broadband service.

The Company's CEO, Mark Dankberg, implied the delay during the “Satellite Broadband Comes of Age: The Ka-Band Equation” panel at SATELLITE 2013. He mentioned that ViaSat was planning to order a new satellite, but he also refused to set an exact date of purchase and settled for a vague, hopeful “soon.” He added that ViaSat was being assisted by several satellite manufacturers in configuring the planned broadband satellite.

According to CEO Dankberg, ViaSat's new satellite will certainly be able to transform the satellite industry. Ironically, this high expectation ended up being one of the factors that delayed the placement of the order.

CEO Dankberg reported that ViaSat-1 broadband satellite enjoyed excellent sales. 50% of its new subscribers came from terrestrial broadband, a percentage that vastly exceeded earlier expectations of 20%. This achievement, however, meant that ViaSat's next satellite must surpass ViaSat-1 in order to secure the economic model that the Company sought out.

North American consumers have been migrating to ViaSat at a good clip. More than 285,000 subscribers have signed up for the company’s Exede residential broadband service during ViaSat-1's first year of operation. Half a million consumers currently subscribe to ViaSat satellite broadband services.

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