Spotlight: CapRock, ViaSat Eye Oil And Gas Sector

Houston-based CapRock Communications and Carlsbad, Calif.-based ViaSat [VSAT] combined their respective marketplace and technical strengths to form a global VSAT (very small aperture terminal) alliance to serve the oil and gas industry.

The agreement calls for CapRock to serve as the exclusive oil and gas industry partner for ViaSat’s VSAT Networks division. The alliance lets ViaSat help to leverage CapRock’s global network and industry relationships.

The partnership would enable CapRock to focus on its core competency of delivering advanced satellite communications service to the harshest and most remote locations in the world, CapRock officials said. ViaSat, in turn, would supply and support communications equipment for CapRock’s customers around the globe.

CapRock has grown its network coverage during the past year by enhancing its service to regions that include Africa, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and South America, its officials said. The relationship between ViaSat and CapRock offers both companies an “excellent opportunity” to expand service to the oil and gas industry, said Chris Leber, vice president and general manager of ViaSat’s VSAT Networks.

CapRock, founded in 1981, provides communications services to the extreme locations that are commonplace in the drilling industry. The company caters to the oil and gas sector by offering managed telecommunications to harsh and difficult to reach environments.

In recent years, CapRock has branched out to serve additional markets that include the military, homeland security, cruise lines, construction and others. ViaSat, on the other hand, is a fast-growing satellite equipment services provider that has expanded its business largely by focusing on the development of products to fill market niches that offer high potential for satellite communications providers.

–Paul Dykewicz

(Chris Leber, CapRock Communications, 832/668-2300; Bruce Rowe, ViaSat, 760/476-2200)