ViaSat (NASDAQ:VSAT) has received an order for 5,000 SurfBeam®
Ka-band broadband terminals from OpenSky for the launch of Eutelsat
Tooway consumer broadband service in Italy. OpenSky is projecting that
the 5,000 terminals are approximately a three-month supply.
The Tooway service will enable OpenSky to extend high speed Internet to
areas in Italy that are unserved or underserved by ADSL. It is estimated
that approximately 12 million households, more than half of the Italian
population, do not have access to high
speed Internet service. In adding the Tooway service, OpenSky is
gaining a way to reach that population more quickly and with more
capital cost-efficiency compared to building out terrestrial
infrastructure in hard to reach areas.
"The Tooway service is a very attractive way
for us to expand the reach of our broadband services to all of Italy,”
said Paolo Dalla Chiara, president of OpenSky. "Going
with Ka-band leaders like Eutelsat and ViaSat is an easy choice and we’re
excited about the next leap in high capacity satellite broadband with
the new KA-SAT as well. We completed our infrastructure by partnering
with a consortium of installers, CTA and CTA trade, that provide the
logistic and installation all over Italy, so we can provide excellent
customer service from installation to activation.”
"OpenSky is an important distributor for
Skylogic and ViaSat in opening access to satellite broadband services in
Italy,” said Jack Tassos, vice president of
ViaSat Satellite Products. "The simplicity of
connecting into the full-service Tooway network makes it easy to gain
the pricing and throughput advantages that our SurfBeam system offers,
and that is proving to be a great value proposition all across Europe.”
Launched in Europe late last year, Tooway uses Ka-band capacity on
Eutelsat's HOT BIRD™ 6 satellite and the
ViaSat SurfBeam DOCSIS®-based
broadband satellite system as the ground segment. Over 390,000
subscribers in North America already use the SurfBeam system to access
ADSL-like services over satellite. ViaSat and Eutelsat are also working
together to launch two new satellites that will significantly expand the
quality, capability and availability of high-speed broadband satellite
services for U.S., Canadian, and European consumers and enterprises.
About ViaSat
ViaSat produces innovative satellite and other digital communication
products that enable fast, secure, and efficient communications to any
location. The company provides networking products and managed network
services for enterprise IP applications; is a key supplier of
network-centric military communications and encryption technologies to
the U.S. government; and is the primary technology partner for gateway
and customer-premises equipment for consumer and mobile satellite
broadband services. The company has five subsidiaries: US Monolithics,
Efficient Channel Coding, Enerdyne Technologies, Intelligent Compression
Technologies and JAST. These companies design and produce complementary
products such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits, DVB-S2
satellite communication components, video data link systems, data
acceleration and compression products, and mobile satellite antenna
systems. ViaSat has locations in Carlsbad, CA, and Duluth, GA, along
with its Comsat Laboratories division in Germantown, MD. Additional
field offices are located in Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Washington DC,
Australia, China, India, Italy, and Spain.
Forward-Looking Statements
Portions of this release, particularly statements about the
collaboration of ViaSat and Eutelsat with regard to the launch of two
new satellites and performance and deliveries of ViaSat products and
technology, may contain forward-looking statements regarding future
events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. ViaSat wishes to
caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially, including but not limited to: contractual
problems, product defects, manufacturing issues or delays, regulatory
issues, technologies not being developed according to anticipated
schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations; and
increased competition and other factors affecting the telecommunications
industry generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors
contained in ViaSat’s SEC filings available
at www.sec.gov,
including without limitation, ViaSat’s annual
reports on Form 10-K and ViaSat’s quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on
which they are made. ViaSat undertakes no obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements for any reason.
SurfBeam is a registered trademark of ViaSat.
Tooway is a trademark of Eutelsat.
HOT BIRD is a registered trademark of Eutelsat.
DOCSIS is a registered trademark of Cable Television Laboratories Inc.
Comsat Labs and Comsat Laboratories are tradenames of ViaSat, Inc.
Neither Comsat Labs nor Comsat Laboratories is affiliated with COMSAT
Corporation. "Comsat”
is a registered trademark of COMSAT Corporation. All additional products
are trademarks of their respective owners.