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[Satellite News 12-02-11] ViaSat U.K. is making a concerted effort to target the government and enterprise market in the United Kingdom with a slew of new products and services. Late last month the company announced that it was introducing new SurfBeam communications services offerings that includes satellite broadband for businesses and government departments in the United Kingdom. The company said its SurfBeam service would provide a range of connectivity speed options and include packages tailored for both fixed and mobile users. SurfBeam services start at 6 Megabits-per-second (Mbs) downlink and 1 Mbs uplink, and top off at 20 Mbs downlink and 10 Mbs uplink.
Chris McIntosh, CEO, ViaSat U.K., told Satellite News that one of the key items during the next 12 months will be educating the market regarding the levels of throughput, efficiency and security that the company can offer with its services. “(We are talking about) next-generation Ka-band satellite broadband services through our partners in Europe and the United Kingdom, but also extends to UHF satcom, network encryption, secure media for data storage and next-generation Blue Force Tracking to name a few. Applications include news broadcasters (BBC, CNN…) in need of streaming video from the field to a central news station; consumers streaming HD video to the home; military personnel tracking and protection; and securing critical, classified information stored on computer hard drives and other storage media. In addition, we are hoping to achieve some market penetration of the U.K. developed security products into the U.S. security market this next year,” he said.
ViaSat’s U.K. strategy really began to take shape in 2010 when the company acquired the Stonewood Group, a company that designs, manufactures and delivers data at rest encryption products and services. McIntosh had previously been CEO of the Stonewood Group. He is confident this background can translate into success overall for ViaSat in the United Kingdom. “We actually have a U.K. heritage that we are building from, so we think we are well positioned to be successful. The acquisition of Stonewood brought with it a group of people who have extensive experience and knowledge of the local market. They are not transplants from the United States or another region. We have a track record of success in providing advanced family of encrypted hard drives to U.K. and NATO customers, so we know the regional players and what they need. We think those relationships and that knowledge is not easy to duplicate. Through our regional partners, ViaSat can provide services and technologies to customers giving them more capabilities at lower price points than they are accustomed to. We think that U.K. and European based customers will find this attractive,” he said.
The launch of new services represents “a key milestone” for the company as it looks to build its presence in both the United Kingdom and Europe. “Part of the acquisition strategy of ViaSat was to use our U.K. presence as a stepping stone into promoting ViaSat products and services into the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Therefore, this initial launch of communications products is a key milestone in our international development and growth strategy,” said McIntosh. “The types of communication demands for enterprise are similar to that of governments and militaries: they are simply lagging by a few years. Enterprise may not require a similar level of communication products right now. However, as things change in the future, it is inevitable that the enterprise will then seek products at levels similar to those used by governments.”
The company is launching products into the government market at a time of austerity and rampant government cuts across the board. However, despite this, McIntosh is optimistic that the market is still strong for the company for its services. “There is certainly a demand for these types of services in the United Kingdom, particularly in the military where procurement has been plagued by overspending, delayed and under-performing equipment programs. It is essential that the U.K. government and military reduce procurement risk and costs by purchasing proven products that have already been de-risked and developed elsewhere. Furthermore, the economic situation, huge costs associated with independent research and development, and the quality, performance and technology involved in the ViaSat products have created a high demand in the United Kingdom, NATO and the rest of Europe,” he said.
While the Stonewood Group had more specialized security, the remit now for ViaSat U.K. is different. This represents perhaps the key challenge for McIntosh and his team going forward. “Probably the key challenge is continuing to build on our successful security business in the United Kingdom, while taking on this new large communications portfolio that ViaSat offers. It is a challenge, but is exciting too because much of what we offer is something the industry has not seen before and there is tremendous growth opportunity,” he added.
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