AST Australia Minority Shares Purchased by AST

Applied Satellite Technology Ltd (AST), has purchased the minority interest in AST Australia, and that it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AST.

The new management team will be led by Richard Coston, in the role of General Manager and Sales Director, supported by Grant Jamieson, Technical Manager and Neil Jamieson, Regional Manager.  Sandy Johnson, Business Strategy Director of AST, will also be joining as a newly appointed Board Member.

AST Australia has recently been awarded a sizable and long term contract with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) for the supply of a Long Range Communications Equipment and Satellite Network Services solution which includes Cobham BGAN hardware, Cobham Push-To-Talk (PTT), Inmarsat airtime connectivity, Iridium handsets with airtime services and Beam satellite docking units.

Richard Coston, AST Australia General Manager and Sales Director said “This is an important contract for AST Australia and the AST Group.  As a leading Inmarsat and Iridium solutions provider in the Australian region, we are pleased to be working with ACBPS in providing them with various satellite solutions for their remote deployable teams. Key operational requirements were to provide a reliable, lightweight, easy to use, satellite broadband connectivity solution to send and receive secure email and pictures with a quality voice service.”

Gregory Darling, Managing Director of AST commented; ‘This is a very positive move for the AST Group, and we will continue to invest in the growth of AST Australia, which has some exciting products and solutions to take to market.’