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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