ViaSat Hopes To Lure Rural [US] Subscribers with Unlimited Bandwidth


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Interesting given SpaceX and WorldVu developing a low-fee international system.

ViaSat-2 goes up on a Falcon Heavy in 2016.

http://www.spacenews.com/article/satellite-telecom/42556viasat-hopes-to-lure-rural-subscribers-with-unlimited-bandwidth?utm_content=bufferaa982&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

ViaSat Hopes To Lure Rural [uS] Subscribers with Unlimited Bandwidth

PARIS ? Satellite broadband hardware and services provider ViaSat outlined its strategy for penetrating more deeply into DSL- and cable-served areas once its ViaSat-2 satellite is in orbit, a strategy it has begun to test now in low-demand areas.

As is the case with its competitor, the EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems? HughesNet service, ViaSat?s Exede consumer satellite broadband growth is slowing as high-demand areas fill up the beams allocated to them.

ViaSat has said in the past it is determined not to open up new capacity on these beams by reducing service quality, meaning the only path to growth in the next two years will be luring customers in regions where demand has been lowest ? the rural areas of the United States.

Offering unlimited bandwidth, which is not an option for customers in densely populated areas, should lure new subscribers and give Carlsbad, California-based ViaSat a real-world test as it plots ViaSat-2 strategy, ViaSat said in a Nov. 7 conference call with investors.

Until ViaSat-2 arrives, ViaSat said, its goal will be to reduce churn ? customer turnover ? and test customer reaction to the no-limit bandwidth packages.

ViaSat said that in the three months ending Sept. 30, its consumer broadband service grew its customer base by some 4.3 percent, to 657,000 subscribers. In an earlier conference call, Englewood, Colorado-based EchoStar said Hughes? consumer broadband offering grew by 2.7 percent, to 960,000 subscribers, in the same period.

ViaSat Chief Executive Mark D. Dankberg said during the call that recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data show that many U.S. households have only one or two options for terrestrial broadband. As the standard for what constitutes ?broadband? gets higher in terms of throughput and bandwidth, so do the numbers of homes with few high-quality terrestrial options.

It is this population that ViaSat hopes to attract with the ViaSat-1 and ViaSat-2 tandem, once the latter is in service in late 2016.

The FCC data also show that a substantial number of would-be subscribers are turned off by the bandwidth limits placed on satellite services, even if the throughput speeds are satisfactory. Putting enough bandwidth in orbit to satisfy these people, even if it forces them to pay a premium, is ViaSat?s plan. ViaSat said that for the three months ending Sept. 30, an average of 2.7 percent of its consumer broadband customers quit the service each month down from 2.9 percent earlier in the year.

Asked whether he viewed any of the potential Silicon Valley-generated satellite Internet constellations as a threat, Dankberg said that if they materialize they could present more of an opportunity than a threat if they use ViaSat technology.

ViaSat and ViaSat-2 prime contractor Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo, California, have been trying to sell replicas of the ViaSat-2 satellite outside the United States, with no success so far.

ViaSat has said ViaSat-2 will cost it about $600 million including the satellite?s construction, launch, insurance and ground infrastructure.

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