Viasat acquisition in Europe set to have major impact on connectivity

Evan Dixon, VP of Global Fixed Broadband Services, describes what’s to come for Europe with full operation of the KA-SAT satellite and upcoming ViaSat-3 constellation

Viasat President & CEO reviews the year ahead

With a global satellite constellation ready to launch in the near future and a number of changes recently announced, Viasat President & CEO Rick Baldridge has his hands full with a growing and diverse company.

In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller speaks with Baldridge about his new role as CEO, along with other topics:

• A renewed focus on customer centricity;
• Executing the launch of ViaSat-3, a global constellation, in the coming years;
• How Viasat’s diverse business profile has helped it during the pandemic and will set it up for success in the years ahead; and
• Some thoughts on how he uses reflective time and extensive reading to continually renew how he approaches his job.

Viasat’s Mark Dankberg on the perils and challenges of space pollution

The company’s executive chairman addresses a growing threat to access to space presented by the rise of satellite mega-constellations in low-earth orbit (LEO)

Viasat’s Marc Agnew on the evolution of satellite ground networks

Satellites launched by rockets into space may get a lot of attention, but equally important is the ground system back on Earth. Those connections are essential for making the link between the internet, the satellite and the end user.

In this episode of the Viasat podcast, host Alex Miller talks with Marc Agnew, who’s been working on this technology for decades at the company. As Vice President of Commercial Networks, Agnew has seen the technology for ground systems change dramatically, and he outlines some of those developments in this podcast.

With the upcoming ViaSat-3 global constellation, Agnew talks about how the miniaturization of the equipment, along with a shift of processing into the cloud, will enable the network to handle terabits of information.

Other topics discussed include:

• How ground systems work and a bit about their history;
• The growth of Viasat as a fiber optic player;
• The changes to the equipment at the home or business;
• The benefits of Ka-band for managing data; and
• The greater challenge low-earth orbit satellites have with antennas.

John Williams and Viasat Real-Time Earth

In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller talks to John Williams, Vice President of Real-Time Earth (RTE) at the company. Following the news that RTE (LINK) is now a ground station ecosystem partner in the new Microsoft Azure Orbital service offering, Williams addresses what that means for the companies and their customers and what lies ahead for RTE.

Other topics covered in this podcast include:

• An overview of the RTE network, how it works and plans for growth;
• Williams’s outlook on Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) as a business in the coming years;
• How RTE enables more timely data downloads for earth observation and remote-sensing satellites;
• Some of the excitement and challenges surrounding the construction of the RTE site in Alice Springs, Australia; and
• Upcoming sites in the works for Northern Europe, Africa and beyond.

Satellite for businesses with Eric Stark

In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller catches up with Eric Stark, director of sales for Viasat’s Global Business Services. Stark goes into the benefits of Viasat Business service, which includes primary and redundant service, Wi-Fi hotspots, SD-WAN and more.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Myths of satellite internet regarding how fast it is, how well it works for VoIP and its reliability;
• How many construction managers rely on Viasat to stand up internet in places where terrestrial infrastructure doesn’t yet exist;
• How businesses with multiple locations can streamline their broadband needs with Viasat as opposed to using a patchwork of regional providers;
• How businesses can expand their broadband service with the business hotspot product; and
• Viasat’s plans to expand internationally.

In the new Space Force, Viasat sees a valuable partner

In 2019, the division of the U.S. Air Force charged with managing the Department of Defense’s space assets and operations was split out into a new branch of the military. The Space Force is of particular interest to Viasat as a satellite communications company, and in this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller catches up with Ken Peterman, President of the Government Systems division at Viasat.

Peterman talks about some of the historic context behind the U.S. military’s service branches, as well as how space is being defined as a new fighting domain — just as land, sea and air are.

Some of the topics touched on in this podcast include:

• The vision of the Space Force and the critical role that will be played by commercial SATCOM providers such as Viasat;
• The unique strengths and capabilities that satellite communications providers to the American warfighter;
• The ability of services on commercial satellites to “hide in plain sight” from adversaries;
• How a flexible network that uses multiple technologies can form a resilient and seamless line of communication;
• The rapid advancement of SATCOM technology and how Viasat will play a role in that evolution going forward.

Managing a network during the COVID-19 crisis

Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people to adapt to work-at-home practices, it’s created an enormous shift in the data traffic patterns for internet service providers like Viasat. In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller catches up with Evan Dixon, Vice President and Head of Residential for The Americas. Topics covered include:

• How demand has spiked during the pandemic, and how data usage has changed demands on our network.
• What Viasat is doing to prioritize work-from-home and school-from-home applications during the pandemic. Plus, how the company is working to deliver as much capacity as possible to our customers.
• How managing data traffic across the network helps ensure all our subscribers continue to get good service.
• Ways in which customers can adjust their own behavior to improve their experience in their homes and across the network.
• How what we’ve learned during this period will help improve and expand our service going forward.

Viasat’s Chief People Officer on what makes the company such an appealing workplace

In this episode of the Viasat podcast, host Alex Miller talks with Melinda Kimbro, Senior Vice President — People and Culture. As Viasat’s Chief People Officer, Kimbro oversees the company’s human resources and recruitment activities, and in this interview she talks about what makes Viasat such a desirable company to work for.

Viasat’s Claudio D’Amico on the changing world of business-jet Wi-Fi

In this episode of the Viasat podcast, host Alex Miller talks with Claudio D’Amico about the changes happening in the world of connected aircraft. D’Amico is director of business aviation at Viasat, and in that role he’s focused on smaller jets operated by corporations, fleets and high net-worth individuals.