ViaSat's Exede Business Talks Up Sky-High Broadband Contracts

CHANNEL PARTNERS EVOLUTION — ViaSat, the parent company of Exede Business (Booth F70), has some “high-flying” new deals to discuss with partners this week.

The company, which describes itself as a broadband provider and not a satellite operator, recently landed contracts to provide Internet service on Air Force One, American Airlines’ new Boeing 737 MAX fleet, and Australia’s Qantas Airways, to name a few. ViaSat already provides in-flight internet service for JetBlue and select aircraft within United Airlines, Virgin America and El Al Israel fleets.

ViaSat offers broadband connectivity to nearly 700,000 residential subscribers and thousands of businesses across North America under the Exede brand, and more than 1,200 commercial, business and government aircraft that fly globally.

“The ViaSat technology that enables broadband connectivity to more than 1,500 flights daily and hundreds of thousands of U.S. business and residential subscribers is fundamentally the same core platform,” noted Dan Turak, vice president, Exede Business. “Our ability to secure prestigious in-flight connectivity customers, while maintaining a scalable ‘on the ground’ business is a testament to the quality and reliability of our network and value-added service offering.”{ad}

ViaSat says it takes a different approach to satellite services than its traditional competitors.

“Every agent feels the pain of cable fallout,” Turak told Channel Partners.  “We’re filling those cable and telco coverage gaps so partners can make more sales while providing their customers with the high-speed solutions they’ve been seeking. We’re not trying to sell where Comcast sells; we’re targeting areas where [customers] can’t get Comcast or where their current service is inadequate.”

The Exede Business service offers download speeds of up to 15 Mbps, “and we deliver that service (usually installed in just three-to-four business days) to businesses that often fall in the gaps traditional ISPs may never fill,” Turak said.

ViaSat’s future in satellite broadband technology appears to be bright. The company owns and operates an advanced high capacity Ka-band satellite system, which includes ViaSat-1 (in service today), ViaSat-2 (launches in 2017) and ViaSat-3 (launches the first of three satellite platforms in 2019).

The operator calls the ViaSat-3 platform the next big step in fulfilling its ambition of delivering a global broadband network with enough capacity (more than 1-Terabit per second of network capacity) to deliver more affordable consumer internet options. To put the capacity in perspective, the first two ViaSat-3 class satellites will deliver more than twice the total network capacity of the approximately 400 commercial communications satellites in space today — combined.

“As ViaSat adds new satellites to its network, it will add both capacity and coverage, and in particular, Exede Business users with multiple locations, domestic and foreign, will have the ability to service them all with one provider,” Turak added. “We know many businesses struggle with a patchwork of providers, so what we’re looking to offer is a simple answer that’s easy to order and quick to install – a one-stop internet service shop – that provides reliable, affordable high-speed primary connectivity service in hard-to-reach areas, and diverse access backup connectivity just about anywhere else.”

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